How much fruit do I want to add to my beer?
The amount you’ll need depends on the recipe and the fruit being used, but it’s usually between 3 and 7 lbs. Fresh fruit is a little more difficult to use, because there is a lot of preparation that needs to be done prior to adding it to your beer. First of all, it will need to be mashed up, try using a potato masher or a food processor. Then the fruit will need to be pasteurized to kill off any unwanted yeasts or bacteria. There are a couple ways to do this. You may add the mashed up fruit to the brew kettle, but you don’t want to add it while it’s still boiling. This may release the pectins in the fruit which will make for a mess in your fermenter and a hazy beer. So you want to wait until the wort is chilled somewhat, say to below 180ºF. That should allow enough time for the fruit to be pasteurized. We don’t feel you will get as much flavor out of the fruit if it’s placed in the primary, so Midwest suggests method number two. This requires pasteurizing the fruit before its added to the secondary. To do this, put your mashed up fruit into a medium saucepan and add a little water. Slowly heat this mixture, stirring often, up to 170ºF. Hold it at this temp for 5-10 minutes, and you should be good. Now just follow either of the “schools of thought” listed below the fruit table.
| Raspberry and Blackberry (fresh/frozen) | Use berries at less than 1 lb/gal. wort to minimize haze. Usually 3 – 5 pounds is plenty for a 5 gallon batch. |
| Chili Pepper (fresh) | To stay on the safe side, add chili peppers to the secondary, let them steep a few days, and then taste the beer. If it needs more heat, add more and try again. |
| Cherry (fresh/frozen) | Use about 2 lbs/gal. wort. | Blueberry (fresh/frozen) | Use 2 lbs/gal. wort to get a good blueberry flavor. Use less for subtle flavors. |
| Strawberry (fresh/frozen) | Use 1.5 to 2 lbs/gal. wort. |
| Peach and Apricot (fresh/frozen) | Use 1.5-2 lbs/gal. wort. Cut into small pieces. |
| Mango (fresh) | Use 1.5 lbs/gal. wort. Chop before using. |
| Passion Fruit (fresh) | Use less than 1 lb/gal. wort. Slice before using. |
| Pumpkin (fresh/canned) | Use 5-10 lbs/5 gal. batch. |
School one: Adding fruit puree to the primary fermenter
Some brewers don’t like to add fruit to the secondary because the resulting mini-fermentation may bubble over in a 5 gallon carboy. We find that this only occurs when a large quantity of fruit is added (say, more than 10 lbs.). That much fruit doesn’t leave a whole lot of head space, plus there is a decent amount of fermentable sugar present in that much fruit. For this reason, you may choose to follow this school of thought. You’ll want to wait until the primary fermentation is nearly complete. If you take a hydrometer reading and its around 1.020, that should be about the right time. If you don’t have a hydrometer, wait until you’re seeing 3-5 bubbles a minute coming out of the airlock. Then simply let it ferment out and rack to the secondary as usual. Midwest suggests using a secondary when adding fresh fruit or purees to a beer to allow the additional fruit sediment to settle out.
School two: Adding fruit puree to the secondary fermenter
This is definitely the easiest method of using purees. One drawback is that it is somewhat difficult to rack off of the fruit after fermentation is complete, so some brewers like to perform a tertiary (or third) fermentation. For the uninitiated, this simply means racking the beer into another carboy after 2-3 weeks in the secondary. After primary fermentation is complete, get ready to rack as you normally would (sanitize the carboy, equipment, etc.). Then place a funnel into the neck of your carboy, and pour the fruit puree in. Now just siphon your beer on top of the fruit, add your airlock (or blowoff tube if you think there may be a risk of it bubbling over), and wait. Since you will be seeing some active fermentation, you’ll want to keep it in the secondary a bit longer than usual, 2-8 weeks. At this time you may choose to rack it off the fruit, or you can bottle or keg it.
A few fruits you want to use fresh because they do not store in a freezer well. Fresh is usually the better way to go, but availability can dictate having to use frozen fruit. Don’t be afraid to experiment with the amounts depending on how much fruit flavor you want in your beer.
Hint: Use a straining bag or muslin bag to hold the fruit. This way you end up with less mess to clean up in your fermenter.
