How to make fruit beer...

Brewski · Post by **Brewski** » Tue Feb 05, 2008 10:50 am

hey guys, i'm new to this whole brewing thing... just brewed my first batch about a week ago. it tastes great, but with lower alcohol content than i expected. i'm guessing that is due to weak fermentation, as the bubbles through my airlock weren't as aggressive as i expected. not aggressive at all actually, only about a bubble every second or two which lasted for a few days....

anyways, i'm about to start up batch number two and i was thinking about doing a blueberry beer. i have the flavoring that is supposed to be added at bottling, but was wondering if anyone had some tips for more natural blueberry flavor. i have some dried wild blueberries that i was thinking about steeping in the wort, and some real blueberries that i was thinking about pureeing and adding to a secondary fermenter. on my first batch i only did a primary fermentation, but i do have two buckets so i was thinking i'd get a little creative this time. the two buckets are both 6.5 gallon plastic buckets, and i realize this isn't ideal for a secondary fermenter but do you think this would work? i would like to keep the initial recipe pretty basic so i don't mess with the primary fermentation since this is when the alcohol is made and i don't want to run into the same problem as last time. i'm thinking that if i do a secondary fermentation then i can add the natural blueberries in to that and let it sit for a few days... hopefully providing a more natural blueberry flavor.

alright i just kinda rambled a bit, any feedback would be welcome. thanks.

Rezzin · Post by **Rezzin** » Tue Feb 05, 2008 11:12 am

I've never brewed a fruit beer before but I did just skim through Brewing Classic Styles and here are few tips from the fruit beer section:

* Make sure you have a good base beer first. Adding fruit will not make the beer better.
* If you want a sweeter beer, you'll need to lower the hop bitterness to let the sweetness though.
* The more sour the fruit you use, the lower the bittering level.
* No late hop additions - just use it for bittering. Apparently hops and most fruit flavors don't mend exceptionally well.
* Canned fruit puree is recommended since it's consistent and easy to use.
* The less specialty or dark malts you use, the less fruit you need.
* Pay attention to the fruit - some are bolder than others. Raspberries have a bold flavor and make a big impact on a beer while strawberries tend to be lighter and take much more to get them to shine through.
* Do not add fruit to the boil. Jamil recommends adding fruit when the active part of fermentation is slowing down. Just an FYI, for the most part - Jamil doesn't use a secondary.

In his book he's got a recipe for an apricot wheat and a raspberry porter.

Hopefully this gets you started on the right foot and perhaps someone with more experience can chime in here!

dhempy · Post by **dhempy** » Tue Feb 05, 2008 12:13 pm

Jared:

First welcome to the BC board! Please be sure to keep us posted of your progress.

Rezzin's points are very well taken .. especially on the base beer. I would search around and see what others have used as a base beer with blueberries (especially commercial micro breweries) rather than to guess. Just off the top of my head, I would think a lighter ale or lager would be a good starting point. I know that raspberry is typical with the stout / porter crowd because chocolate and raspberry is a good combination ... I'm not sure that blueberry would have the same "chemistry" with the darker styles.

On your fermentation, be sure to watch your temps ... is it possible that your fermentation was too cold? Did you use a yeast starter? (highly recommended) There is generally a optimum temperature range for any particular yeast. Post up what yeast you're using and someone here can probably quickly tell you what the preferred range is. That may help on your next batch.

Good luck and we hope to see you here frequently!

Dan

spkrtoy · Post by **spkrtoy** » Tue Feb 05, 2008 12:16 pm

I seem to remember that the Sam Adams Longshot from last year's comp had a blueberry wheat from one of the workers at Sam Adams. It was too sweet for my palate but was based on a wheat beer.

bwarbiany · Post by **bwarbiany** » Tue Feb 05, 2008 1:42 pm

spkrtoy wrote:I seem to remember that the Sam Adams Longshot from last year's comp had a blueberry wheat from one of the workers at Sam Adams. It was too sweet for my palate but was based on a wheat beer.

Last year was a Boysenberry Wheat, I believe.

The employee winner this year was a Grape Ale... They had a RyePA as one of the other employee batches, but the brewer of the Grape Ale was female, outgoing, and attractive, so she got lots of votes at the GABF!

spkrtoy · Post by **spkrtoy** » Tue Feb 05, 2008 1:44 pm

OOPS

I just remembered it as a fruit beer, so sorry for the misinformation.
I've had blueberry mead though, and it's pretty amazing stuff.

bwarbiany · Post by **bwarbiany** » Tue Feb 05, 2008 1:49 pm

I did a raspberry wheat last year that turned out pretty good. I used about 2/3 of a 49 oz can of Oregon Fruit Products Raspberry Puree. The can is good because it's seedless and it's sterile.

You can get a list of what they offer here (this is the per-box pricing, not per-can): http://www.oregonfruit.com/of.pl?pg=io

They've got blueberry. Depending on the base beer (wheat is always an easy one for a fruit beer) you'll have to determine what quantity you need. Just pour in during secondary (if you use one) or primary after fermentation has ceased. Let sit for a few days, and you're good to go.

bwarbiany · Post by **bwarbiany** » Tue Feb 05, 2008 1:51 pm

Anyone ever try a watermelon wheat? I did the raspberry wheat last spring, and although I liked it, I want to try something a little different this spring. I'd like to have a nice summer easy-drinker, and watermelon just seems like it might work.

Post by **brahn** » Tue Feb 05, 2008 2:00 pm

21st Amendment in SF makes a watermelon wheat that they sell in cans, but they don't distribute to So Cal yet. They hope to be distributing down here sometime in 2008. I've heard it's quite tasty, but I've never had it.

jward · Post by **jward** » Tue Feb 05, 2008 4:17 pm

bwarbiany wrote:Anyone ever try a watermelon wheat?

I have heard of a watermelon wit and even tasted whatever it was called. However you did not hear from me that the watermelon flavor came from Jolly Rancher candy. Nope, you didn't hear that from me. I never said it.

bwarbiany · Post by **bwarbiany** » Tue Feb 05, 2008 8:13 pm

jward wrote:
bwarbiany wrote:Anyone ever try a watermelon wheat?
I have heard of a watermelon wit and even tasted whatever it was called. However you did not hear from me that the watermelon flavor came from Jolly Rancher candy. Nope, you didn't hear that from me. I never said it.

Just how fermentable is a Jolly Rancher, anyway?

craigsdickson · Post by **craigsdickson** » Wed Feb 06, 2008 3:38 am

brahn wrote:21st Amendment in SF makes a watermelon wheat that they sell in cans, but they don't distribute to So Cal yet. They hope to be distributing down here sometime in 2008. I've heard it's quite tasty, but I've never had it.

I had it last May when I was up there for JavaOne.

The watermelon flavor is very subtle, too subtle for my tastes. IMHO if you are going to go to the effort of adding a special flavor to a beer, there should be no need for the drinker to struggle to discern and guess what it is. Go big or don't bother!

They also offer their IPA in can form as well.

jward · Post by **jward** » Wed Feb 06, 2008 10:03 am

bwarbiany wrote:Just how fermentable is a Jolly Rancher, anyway?

Each candy is 14g with 13g of carbohydrates. 7g are listed as sugar. Hershey didn't list what the other 6g of carbs are or what the missing 1g is other then 20mg of sodium.

Brewski · Post by **Brewski** » Wed Feb 06, 2008 8:50 pm

hey whats up fellas. so i created the wort and started the fermentation process. i just did a very basic beer recipe with munton's light malt extract and a little dried wheat extract, added a small amount of hops in the beginning, some irish moss, and yeast nutrient.

one question for ya though... i use dry yeast, and i'm not sure if i'm doing things correctly. i started the yeast re-hydration process around the same time that i started boiling the wort. i added the yeast to warm water in a jar, waited a few minutes, then added a little sugar and mixed. the yeast started foaming after 10 minutes or so, but the wort wasn't nearly ready. the yeast was in the jar foaming for at least an hour by the time i pitched it to the cooled wort. i'm wondering if this will negatively effect my fermentation b/c i read somewhere that if the yeast isn't "actively" foaming you should retry with a backup yeast package. mine still had foam in it, but i'm not really sure if it was "active". i just pitched it last night, and the airlock was bubbling by this morning, but not as aggressively as i would like it to. do i have anything to worry about? i'm a little paranoid b/c my last brew wasn't as strong as i thought it would be...

bwarbiany · Post by **bwarbiany** » Wed Feb 06, 2008 9:35 pm

Brewski,

Your yeast was fine. When they say it should be "actively" foaming, they're mainly saying that the yeast has to be proven viable and not dead. Because your yeast started foaming when you added warm water and sugar, it's definitely viable.

Your fermentation will be just fine.