Is this a reasonable Frambozen tactic?

Question

I am considering making a frambozen for my next brew, as it should be a crowd-pleaser.

My plan for the raspberries is as follows:

Blanch raspberries
Pulp Raspberries (in a blender probably)
Separate (in water) the sucrose, reduce
Put pulp in an infuser

The bagged pulp and sugars I would then drop in to a brew after the first week or so.

I am trying to imagine how you might do this without too much transferring of materials (and I have one vat).

Does that seem reasonable, or am I way off the mark?

Answer 1

I'd say your plan sounds reasonable, if a bit involved. A stab at your primary question: to avoid hassle you'll want to use a mesh bag of some kind, to keep solids out, and the beer clear. It needs to be BIG so that you get good surface area exposed in solution. Also tie it to a string so you can pull it out when finished.

Also, a few thoughts went up in my head based on your description so here's that too: - In general I find it's better to make the beer, then worry about the fruit etc after primary fermentation dies down. You can taste-test before doing the addition, and there's more alcohol present for better flavor extraction. If you do a secondary rack, that might be a good time.

• I would definitely stress that you pasteurize all fruit that goes into your beer - not pasteurizing is a good way to get an infection! Frozen fruit can a good choice for this; dump it straight on in there. Beyond cleanliness, I'm wondering why you're troubling to process the berries as described. Still it all seems ok. But definitely pasteurize!

• You stated this is a framozen, out of curiosity are you doing a lambic fermentation (which takes a looong time) or some other kind of ale? Either way, my advice about using fruit is the same.