I will be adding fruit to my secondary. How much can I expect my FG to drop? I added honey to my primary once and it made it drop so much that it turned out way too bitter. I was thinking about shooting for a FG of 1.016 before fruit, then like 1.011 - 1.012 after 2 weeks in the secondary on the fruit? Is this realistic? I also don't want it super sweet.
How much will og drop when adding fruit?
- Thread starter anico4704
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First off, I think you mean FG. Your original gravity will actually be raised rather than dropped due to the addition of more fermentable material. Your final gravity will probably be a bit lower, but maybe not. In any case you will have a higher alcohol content due to the higher OG to FG ratio.
It all depends on what fruit and how much of it. What are you thinking?
It all depends on what fruit and how much of it. What are you thinking?
anico4704
Well-Known Member
Haha whoops ya, my bad, I just had OG in my head for some reason, I just changed the OP. I will probably be using 3lb's of blueberry puree in a 5 gallon batch. Or 6 lbs of fresh blueberries. Not sure yet.
From a little internet search, it looks like blueberries contain between 4% and 15% sugar, 6lbs of fresh would add between .25 and 1 lb of extra fermentable sugars. So this could have a large or negligible effect on the gravity of the beer depending on what your base beer is.
It shouldn't make the beer "sweet" in that the the remaining yeast in secondary should eat right through the the fermentables in the blueberries and dry the beer out a bit. That said maybe there are some sugars in blueberries that yeast can't break down and you may get some residual sweetness. You should at least get some of the aroma, tartness, and certainly the color of the blueberries. I've heard that freezing and then thawing makes them easier for yeast to break down.
Hopefully someone else will have more experience with blueberries. Good luck!
It shouldn't make the beer "sweet" in that the the remaining yeast in secondary should eat right through the the fermentables in the blueberries and dry the beer out a bit. That said maybe there are some sugars in blueberries that yeast can't break down and you may get some residual sweetness. You should at least get some of the aroma, tartness, and certainly the color of the blueberries. I've heard that freezing and then thawing makes them easier for yeast to break down.
Hopefully someone else will have more experience with blueberries. Good luck!
anico4704
Well-Known Member
Thanks alot thats some good info
dukeredhair
Well-Known Member
I am actually doing this same thing right now. I calculated based on a few blueberry winemaker charts and blogs that 2.5 lbs of frozen blueberries is about equivalent to .25lb sugar added to your OG. I am brewing a saison that was already down to 1.005 FG prior to the secondary blueberry addition. I'm really hoping there are some un-fermentable sugar to round out the dryness. I'm not at all sure how it is going to effect the final gravity but I'll be happy to let you know.
anico4704
Well-Known Member
Yikes 1.005 is already real low, that should turn out interesting. Definitely keep me updated!
dukeredhair
Well-Known Member
Just to update. I pulled it off of the blueberries this morning. It was there for 6 days and the gravity is still at 1.005. I guess the blueberries must have added some un-fermentable sugars since it fermented for a few days after I added them but ended up in the same place. Actually tastes really nice. I might add a touch of malto dextrin to give it a bit more body but he taste is going to be really refreshing on a hot day.
Is it BLUE?
Actually, it sounds like the sugars from the blueberries were highly fermentable. If you added them, and the SG was 1.005, I bet they raised the SG by at least 15-25 points, and then fermented completely out, back to 1.005.
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