So I've brewed a couple of fruit beers using canned puree that turned out fine, but I'm wanting to step it up and try out some fresh fruit. The only thing I'm really trying to figure out is how to avoid the fruit while racking. I could either ferment and carbonate in 1 single Sabco fermenter, or rack into a 2nd one and carbonate in that. But how would I could the fresh fruit that remained floating once the fermenter was almost empty from clogging the racking arm? Or the fruit that sank to the bottom? The arm rotates completely but I still feel like some will get drawn in and cause problems. Has anyone done this or have any ideas for me?
I'm thinking of doing some with blueberries, raspberries, peaches, apricots and maybe a few other fruits. I also realize it takes a lot of fresh fruit. I usually use 2 of the 49 oz canned purees from Vintner's Harvest for a 10 gallon batch. Any idea how much fresh fruit that would work out to? And is it better to puree the fruit yourself and avoid the racking issues? How does this affect flavor?
I'm thinking of doing some with blueberries, raspberries, peaches, apricots and maybe a few other fruits. I also realize it takes a lot of fresh fruit. I usually use 2 of the 49 oz canned purees from Vintner's Harvest for a 10 gallon batch. Any idea how much fresh fruit that would work out to? And is it better to puree the fruit yourself and avoid the racking issues? How does this affect flavor?
