Hard question, Easy answer

[T8rSalad]

Semi-rookie question here: I want to brew a Blackberry Wheat beer using Mr Beer WWW and a bag of booster, 2 cans of WWW (1.21# cans) with Lactose

AND

fresh Blackberries. I want to add the blackberries 5-7 days prior to cold-crashing and bottling. I know I need to add sanitized pureed blackberries. How do I accomplish this fairly easy task? Puree and then boil the pureed blackberries or boil then puree (and then cool of course) prior to adding them to the fermenter??? I ask the Book of Knowledge called the BORG...

TIA and Salud to ye all who respond

[The_Professor]

I think I would just rinse the blackberries well and puree them. Of course every container they are in after rinsing would be sterilized including the blender jar. Have a way to strain the beer off the blackberries before bottling.

If you wanna get paranoid - you could rinse the berries in a really light bleach solution.

[swenocha]

I'm with the always-wise professor on this one. Rinse, puree, sanitize everything along the way.

[alb]

I'd avoid bleach. No telling what that will do to the flavor of the beer if there's any residual. I would soak the whole berries in some vodka then puree them, with or without the vodka, depending on if you want to give the FG a bump.

[BigPapaG]

I like the neutral spirit method that Alb suggests...

Should kill most bad bugs if not all...

Or, you could drop them into 170*F water and hold them at that temp for 20 minutes and then drain, cool, puree (or just squash them good, easier to get out later).

You could also just use pasturized, no preservative, blackberry juice in the late secondary. I had good luck with 16-32 ounces of Pommegranite juice in a wheat beer I made last year... Was a big hit and all I did was sanitize the outside of the bottle, open it up, pour it in and wait until the yeast were full!

Whatever you do, you don't want to boil them as this will create a pectin problem that cannot be corrected (haze, lots of haze... Will never clear!)

Good luck, let us know how it turns out!

[mashani]

I use vodka to make a "tincture" of spices, herbs, zest I want to add post boil, etc. often. It works nicely.

And like Big Papa G said, I've done the right out of the bottle with tart cherry juice a few times. Same thing, just sanitize an unopened bottle, open it, and pour it in. Used the whole foods tart cherry with good results.

[RickBeer]

All is right on the money. Bleach to me is a bad idea, it would likely impact taste.

[jivex5k]

I racked on raspberries recently.
They were frozen, so I thawed them, froze them again, then thawed them. Worked great, basically liquified the berries real easy to work with.

[DaYooper]

All is right on the money. Bleach to me is a bad idea, it would likely impact taste.

I guess if paranoid I would ditch the bleach and toss them in some OneStep for a few just like you would a muslin bag when dry hopping.

[T8rSalad]

guys and gals...either vodka and/or sanitizing all utensils and cans like normal works for me.

Salud and may the farsi or pashto be with you.

[Dawg LB Steve]

When I did my Cherry Stout, I used the Oregon Brand canned that MB supplies, sanitized the blender and hop sack and large measuring cup, poured the pureed cherries thru the hop sack and kept the solids in the sack and added it all, juice and sack, to the LBK.

[dbrowning]

I think I would just rinse the blackberries well and puree them. Of course every container they are in after rinsing would be sterilized including the blender jar. Have a way to strain the beer off the blackberries before bottling.

If you wanna get paranoid - you could rinse the berries in a really light bleach solution.

Bleach will DESTROY blackberry flavor
Rinse well in COLD water
Puree ... then boil 7 minutes
Adda small amount of water if you need to

Strain into secondary

[braukasper]

I would nix the bleach, it is a bad idea. Rum or vodka to sanitize the berries, starsan for everything else. I do use bleach as my main sanitizer. I have years of using it as a no rinse sanitizer in food service. If you are unfamiliar with using bleach don't.
A little info on the matter Use of Chlorine Bleach as a Sanitizer
You may also use a campden tablet with the fruit to kill the wildlings or live dangerously and embrace the funk the wild yeast will give

[The_Professor]

Here's the kinda thing I have read about using a light bleach solution. Note that it talks about using "food grade" bleach anf that the solutions mentioned are 1% and 3.5%. Clorox is more like 5%, with the concentrated being around 8%. This always seemed overboard to me unless there was some reason one HAD to use questionable fruit or vegetables. Not a normal situation.

Here is another (newer) article about not using bleach to sanitize fruits or vegetables.

I have also read some people recommend rinsing the fruit well and then freezing it. Supposedly inhibiting bacterial growth and allowing more fruit flavor by bursting some of the (membranes?) in the fruit.

I would still go with rinse and puree myself.

I never do anything with hard alcohol that is going into my beer. I do not soak oak chips in whiskey before using them. I found another method where the wood chips are steamed a couple times to sanitize them.

EDIT: I almost forgot to add that if the fruit is being added to secondary there is already the hop and alcohol presence to inhibit bacterial growth.

[T8rSalad]

Along this same recipe line, when should I add the lactose??? I appreciate the great response and assistance