Wild Raspberry Addition

[Woodyswoodchuck]

Hey everyone,

So looking to brew an American pale ale with wild raspberries added. I've made this recipe a couple times before and while its my wife favorite beer that I make I'm never as happy with it as I'd like to be. Mostly I seem to have problems with full fermentation as my beer seems to go into a second fermentation once its bottled, even though I've secondaried it with the raspberries prior to bottle in an attempt to prevent this. of course this makes way for unpleasant bottle bombs. Could this be related to the fruit and is there anyway to stop this?
Secondly, I am looking for the best way to add the fruit. In the past I have frozen the raspberries after harvest and added them whole into the secondary in a cheese cloth. I have heard that pureeing them can be more effective however and was looking for advice. I harvest the raspberries from a nearby park and am always very careful about sanitizing them before I add them.

 

[MHBT]

Maybe campden tablet a day before bottling? secondary longer? Be cool to hear what somebody with fruit beer experience has to say

 

[65C]

if you're adding it late you're basically adding almost pure sugar again - so it's going to take a week or two to ferment again no?

 

[Woodyswoodchuck]

I've tried to account for the extra time needed for the added sugar from the fruit. It seems to get stuck though and not ferment out, meaning all that sugar stays in the beer until I bottle, creating bottle bombs. Trying to figure out how to make sure all that sugar from the fruit ferments out.

 

[65C]

there is less yeast in a secondary - can you not add to primary (sorry if I didn't read back whole thread)

 

[AZCoolerBrewer]

I'm wondering if the fruit might have introduced some wild yeast or bacteria which take over in the bottles making the bottle bombs. Maybe try pasturizing the fruit at 170 degrees. Freezing the fruit wouldn't do much to kill off bugs just burst the cell walls and allow the juices out. Seems like I saw something about pectin though that makes pasteurization not an attractive way to sanitize fruit.

 

[65C]

I've read quite a bit advising against pasteurising and using freezer to kill the beasties

you're adding to alcohol too at that point so it's got to be a strong force to cause an issue

 

[AZCoolerBrewer]

I've been wanting to do a raspberry beer, they make one that I really like at Barrio Brewing in Tucson. What has kept me away though is my concerns about infection. There is a type of bacteria that eats alcohol and turns it into vinegar. Back in the old days beer would go sour because of it, so they would try to keep their kegs cool and drink them fast enough to stay ahead of it. That stuff will be on the raspberries and won't be killed by freezing or by the alcohol at levels that are present in most beer (below 20% ABV). I am not trying to be a smarty pants. You have more experience at fruit ales than I do, but if someone could help me (and perhaps you) to mitigate the risk of infection from fruit, I would love to do some fruit ales.