Homebrew cider advice needed!

Question

Hi folks!

I was given a kit recently for my birthday so i could start brewing.

I got a youngs brew buddy cider kit, but was wondering if it would be possible to add fruit such as strawberries or blackberries at any point during the process, just for a bit of a different flavour,as i have recently become quite partial to the jacques fruit cider and would like to create something similarly fruity!

Sorry if i sound really stupid asking this, but as i said, i am new to all this!

Any help or advice will be much appreciated!

Cheers

Answer 1

You sure could, that's the beauty of homebrewing.  I suggest using pre-made fruit purees but you can certainly use fresh fruit as long as you do your best introducing them to the cider without infecting it with wild bacteria or yeast.  

In brewing I think people generally do fruit additions for flavor towards the end of fermentation but long enough before bottling as to allow the additional sugars in the fruit to be mitigated.  If you're doing a 2 stage fermentation I'd just throw them in the secondary fermentor.  If you're doing a 1 stage fermentation then perhaps throw them in after a week or two of fermentation.

Answer 2

Sounds like a great idea. Real fruit is the way to go. But if it is more economically sound use a mix of juice and whole fruit. In the case of whole fruit I would crush it slightly to release some color and flavor into your brew. Also add about half of the fruit to the primary fermentation and half to the secondary-aging fermenter. This will give you more layers of fruit flavor thus more complexity.

The possibility of contaminating the beer is real so you make seek out a way to sanitize it safely. Perhaps just spraying the fruit with isopropyl alcohol (rubbing alcohol) will do. Or seek advise in soaking them in sulfites and rinsing with sterile water.

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-OR- Just go for it without worry.

Answer 3

I am new too but I say go for it.

These two give good advise so listen to them.

Do not make a beer-pop c**p. Using real fruit is a good plan.