Very pronounced spices, hops, and raspberries, balanced! Apparently, berries accentuated the hops. Slightly tart, dangerously drinkable. Well carbonated naturally under a month.

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[–] plactagonic@sopuli.xyz 3 points 2 months ago (4 children)

So you just throw some berries in to secondary?

I will finally make my cherry beer next week (had a issue with strong ale so I didn't had free fermenter), so I am interested in the use of berries.

My plan is to put some in primary and then put few in each bottle, because I don't have the setup to bottle from keg.

[–] alzymologist@sopuli.xyz 4 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Yes, it was fermented for a week or two before addition of berries, and about same time again on secondary. I do not use kegs at all, those are just glass jars with locks. Most simple gear. This gorgeous foam comes from just a bit of sugar priming on bottling.

Putting berries in primary is imo not very good approach: mostly because most of the flavor would bubble away, but also because there is somewhat higher contamination chance.

[–] portnull@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Do you freeze or sanatise the berries at all or just ride the wild yeast wave if it happens?

[–] alzymologist@sopuli.xyz 2 points 2 months ago (1 children)

There is no chance anything would survive with fresh vigorous yeast and at high alcohol levels/low oxygen on secondary. I used to sanitize berries in my first attempts, but later found it to be unnecessary. I even boiled my first mead!

Sometimes I freeze berries though, but only to save them till beer is ready, or to promote conversion in cranberries or rowan.

[–] portnull@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 2 months ago

I've staved off using fruit for those reasons but it's good to hear from someone who's done it that just dropping them in works just fine. Thanks

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