How to use fruit in home brew beer and cider - how to add fruit to primary fermentation.

The five things we thing you need to know to add fruit to your home brew beer or cider - adding fruit during primary fermentation.
To demonstrate some of the key points we made a brew - an Apple and Feijoa Cider!
We talk about what fruits to use and how much, how to prepare the fruit, how to add the fruit to fermentation, when to add the fruit to fermentation and the impact on ABV.
We didn't talk massively about the result of our brew but we were really happy. More of a Feijoa and Apple Cider than an Apple and Feijoa Cider. We didn't use the sweetener in the kit but retrospectively we would. But a well received brew by our friends.
We did make this brew from an extract kit but the same methods and principles can be applied to other methods of brewing like all-grain.
Enjoy and feel free to comment!

[@jaybellanzgmail]

Thanks for the advice Russ, that’s much appreciated 👍

[@jaybellanzgmail]

Hey Russ, have only just seen this video now, thanks heaps for making it, we’ve still got the MJ Apple Cider kit that we got from you, got the feijoas from the tree set so are going to put down the brew this morning following your instructions, got the wife helping me as she loves cider!

[@homebrewrepublic1993]

No probs Jay. Hope you guys enjoy!

[@jaybellanzgmail]

Hey Russ, we put down this apple cider brew last Monday with the addition of 4kgs of Feijoas, I put the fermenter in the fridge with an Inkbird controller and heat pad and have maintained a steady 22 degrees C, I took a OSG and it was 1060, the air lock has been going crazy this week, I took a reading yesterday as the airlock has stopped bubbling and it’s reading 1009, I’ve taken another reading today and it’s 1008, do you think the fermenting has just about stopped and go to cold crashing? I was just surprised how quickly it’s fermented (6 days)!

[@homebrewrepublic1993]

@@jaybellanzgmail Based on that OG and current gravity reading that's 6.83%. NICE! In this case I would look for gravity to be stable for 3 days, before you cold crash. I say three days as there is a lot of additional sugars in the brew and there may be a slow tail. You want 3 days of gravity at a constant reading before you cold crash. If you cold crash before fermentation is fully complete you will stop fermentation prematurely and risk over-carbonation once bottled. Hope that helps.