I have plenty of keg space right now (been a slow brewing season) so I’ve decided to split a batch of cream ale. Have any of you put fruit in a cream ale before? If so, what kind and how much? I’d prefer fresh/frozen fruit vs. extracts. I’ve never had an extract I’ve liked.
I’ve never used any fruits before so what’s the best way to do it? Put into a secondary for 7-10ish days? How do you sanitize to make sure the fruit has no “bugs”? Any thoughts or suggestions are appreciated!
Lime the national award winning brewer of this now puts a little lime in it. I’ll be brewing it as soon as winter is over which still seems a long way off. That ground hog needs to be shot.
Last year (brewed it in June) I split a batch of Cream Ale (was a extract plus kit from my LHBS). For the full 5 gallons, I added zest and juice of one lemon in the boil at T-5. After 2 weeks, 1/2 of the batch was bottled with the juice of another lemon. This turned out great, was a big hit with the ‘lawnmower beer’ drinkers in my family. The other 1/2 I added the zest of the lemon and 1.5 lb. of raspberries. These were frozen raspberries that I pasteurized by adding them to a quart of water that I boiled. Moved it to a secondary for 11 days. It’s a beautiful colored beer, but I don’t particularly like it. Too much like raspberry, not much beer character. However, certain persons, usually of the female persuasion, LOVE it.
This year, when I do the cream ale/summer ale , The whole batch will be lemon tinged, no raspberry.