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Pages: 1

Bottle conditioning fruit beer



Ok, had a couple of questions about a strawberry wheat beer I bottled a week ago.  This has been conditioning in my beer closet, which is probably the warmest spot in the house (guessing around 76-78 degrees).  Should I be keeping this in a cooler climate because of the added fruit? I used a strawberry puree in the secondary for this batch.  Also, I've noticed quiet a bit of sediment in the bottles with some of it floating at the very top.  This is a bit of a surprise after having it sit in a secondary for a week, in a third for 10 days, and filtering while racking to my bottling bucket.  The beer is about crystal clear, but there's a decent amount of sediment like I said.   I'm hoping this all settles to the bottom once I refrigerate.  My second question is should I avoid mixing this into the beer when drinking?  Or would you guys recommend pouring 3/4 of the bottle and then swishing around the remaining 1/4 and adding it to the glass.  I'm thinking I should try to avoid it.



 

When you carbonate in the bottle you'll get a sediment on the bottom. I might try keeping the beer closer to 70 degrees. But since it's been a week already most of the carbonation is close to done. Once it is carbonated you can refrigerate it. Better kept cold than at room temp. Let us know how it tastes. Sounds good.
When drinking it just pour all but the sediment part into a cold glass. It won't filter out. It will taste yeasty. Sometimes I just drink it. Most of the time I just pour the beer into a glass and leave the sediment in the bottle.

DC

 

Depending on the recipe, the sediment may add or detract from the quaff... wheat beers can sometimes be improved with a little yeasty goodness! I'd say, go ahead, give a couple of them a swirl and try it - then you'll know for sure.  smile

 

Thanks for the info guys.   I plan on trying my first one tonight and I'm pretty excited.  I'll give the swirl method a try and see how it is.  Do you guys really think this is yeast sediment?  I just figured it was little strawberry bits that made it through the strainer.  Maybe it's a little bit of both.

I guess I need to find a cooler spot to store these.  I'd hate for the beer to go bad so soon.  I've heard beer flavored with fruit can develop a "musty" taste after a while.  I hope I've got enough room in my fridge!



 

We popped the first of the Wild Raspberry Weizen on Saturday.  The ladies loved it.  I did avoid pouring out any of the sediment. 
If your Strawberry Wheat goes over as well as my Raspberry, you won't have any issues with long term storage.

 

I live right down the road from a berry patch so in season, I make a lot of wines and beers out of the berries (black berries, strawberries and raspberries).  Strawberries are notoriously hard to get cleared all the way.  If it's not seeds and pulp its those bloody damned tiny little hairs.

The sediment is likley mostly yeast with some of it being micro-fine strawberry detrius which is too light to settle.  I find that the increasing pressure of the carbonating beer is often responsible for forcing a lot of it to the bottom.

I don't like to drink the sediment, I think it lends a sharp taste to the drink, but my husband and the guys who drink my beer love the stuff and they don't seem to care if it's sediment free or not.  I think it's a personal preference issue

 

I did the famous Strawberry Blonde this summer and got a few bottles with some strawberry shreds in it (I used mashed fresh berries). No one complained, and in fact it made it a bit more authentic.

Bloody good recipe too.

 

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