Soaking Fruit in Alcohol

[dotf]

I will finally have enough of my own raspberries this summer to brew with them. Before I was using purée or frozen berries. A pro brewer told me to soak the berries in vodka to kill off any bacteria.

I should have asked him these questions but I didn’t. So first, how long do I soak them for? Do I totally submerge them? And will this effect the overall flavor of the fruit?
Thanks!!!

 

[3 Dawg Night]

I've read recommendations to freeze and then thaw fresh fruit anyway. It causes the cell wall to rupture, getting more of the fruity goodness into your beer. I'm not sure if freezing will also kill off bacteria.

 

[Dr_Jeff]

I'm not sure if freezing will also kill off bacteria.

I wouldn't think so.

 

[3 Dawg Night]

I wouldn't think so.

Well, he's a doctor.

 

[hotbeer]

IMO, freezing just makes viruses and bacteria go dormant. Especially just the somewhat mild freezing temps our kitchen freezers get too.

There is a lot to be said for just rinsing your fruit off in clean water and counting on the alcohol and yeast population already in the beer that is in the fermenter to keep other wild stuff at bay. Or just to be safe, use some vodka or such. Your choice.

 

[dotf]

So I’ve gathered that lots has been said but no one actually knows.

 

[hotbeer]

I know that I've added stuff to the fermenter with just a rinse and not had any issues. It's not a guaranty of success every single time. However I feel the risk minimal. It's not like I've ruined the only batch I can ever make.

 

[Jag75]

I've done many sours and blondes with fruit. I use frozen . I just thaw and dump in . There's a chance of something wild infecting the beer but it's minimal. I've never had an issue doing it this way . If you want to use vodka a quick dunk would work or even spraying out of a bottle . You don't want to soak too much as you'll start extracting flavor and color.

 

[day_trippr]

fwiw, I do a raspberry hibiscus wheat beer with a pound of berries per gallon. I dump still-frozen berries in a big lidded pot, stir in a quart of still-warm hibiscus tea (6 ounces of flowers steeped in a quart of boiled water for 20 minutes) flowers and all, add two teaspoons of pectinase enzyme, a cup of corn sugar, and bring the whole thing up to 140°F and hold it there for 30 minutes, for sanitation.

Then I hit it with a hand-held blender, chill it down, dump it in a fresh fermentor and rack the beer on top. Between the berry sugars and the corn sugar there will be some fermentation and once that settles down (4-5 days tops) I crash and keg.

I would not trust freezing, and can't imagine how much vodka I'd need for a 10 gallon batch

Cheers!

 

[dotf]

I dump still-frozen berries in

How does that not shock your yeast?

 

[Jag75]

How does that not shock your yeast?

He puts it in a pot and brings it to 140f .

 

[RCope]

I've made a bunch of fruit beers. If I use fresh fruit, I freeze it until a few days prior to use, thaw and puree in a blender with 4 oz of vodka per 3 lbs of fruit. I usually use 6 lbs. I've used mango (a lot), strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, pineapple, kiwi, plantains, passionfruit, dragon fruit, star fruit, blood orange, limes, you name it . It usually is about 2/3 gallon of puree, which I refrigerate overnight since the blender forces a lot of air into the mix. If I use a commercial product (blackberry, black currant) I use it straight since it's pasteurized.

I add it around the 3rd day of fermentation directly into primary. It kicks up another round of fermentation and usually adds about the right amount of flavor without overwhelming the beer. Your mileage may vary...Cheers!

 

[GoodTruble]

I've done most of the above methods and had success with all of them. There is some amount of risk in almost any merhod.

Heating to sanitize is probably THE safest, but it also can be less convenient and can alter the flavor a bit (and still isn't entirely risk free).

In the end, it's just about limiting the (minimal) risks and balancing the convenience and flavor you are going for.

Freezing fresh berries will help break down the cells but won't do much to sanitize.

If I were working with fresh raspberries & sanitizing with vodka, I would wash the berries, them soak them 1-2 minutes (you want vodka to make contact on all sides), and air dry a few minutes before dumping in. But I would also suggest doing the same but then freezing, thawing, and mashing in the bag a bit before dumping (just to get the raspberries to break down a but more).