So update. I heat pasteurized 5# of strawberry and then froze for a week or so. Thawed and poured into my carboy. Racked beer into the carboy, making sure the hose was right on top of the berries.
I had the autosiphon go “dry” at times and had to restart it, but overall it was fine.
Took a taste sample today and it’s not the best beer I’ve ever made, but not the worst either. It has a taste that I can’t quite describe. At first it feels like there’s not much flavor at all, and then I sort of taste the alcohol (it fermented to a higher abv than expected)… Then you get a little bit of a honey taste, but obviously not sweet. There’s a slight tartness to it, probably from the berries. It mixes to more than bland but definitely not what I hoped for. I really was hoping for a strawberry mixed with a Magic Hat “circus boy”. I think I’m going to add a small bit of strawberry extract to get that flavor into it. Not planning on lactose unless it is a giant mess.
Any chance bottle aging will change the flavor in a medium to large amount?
Edit: I did draw off the top where lots of berries were floating. I may have gotten some of that “fermented fruit” taste that wouldn’t represent my actual beer. Not sure