Blackberries in beer

timmy · Post by **timmy** » Thursday Feb 15, 2007 2:40 pm

Just to deviate back to the subject matter...

I've got some Wyeast weizen smackpacks on the way - would this be a good one to use in a wheat-based fruit beer or am I better off sticking to K-97?

Cheers,

Tim

BierMeister · Post by **BierMeister** » Tuesday Feb 20, 2007 4:46 pm

I went and picked some more blackberries last wednesday total 2.8Kgs.

receipe I made on Thurs.

3700gm Ale malt
700gm Munich malt
300gm Crystal malt
130gm Choc malt
500gm Torrified Wheat

Mashed at 68C for 90mins

fly sparged to 30L (I over sparged on purpose to reduce the alcohol content)

60min boil
30gm Fuggles
15gm Tettnang

15gm Saaz last 15min

Added mashed blackberries for last 15mins

cooled, strained with strainer and stocking.

Result is 26L with OG 1042

Used Wyeast Belgian Abbey 1214

fermented at 22-24C as Adelaide was damn hot over the weekend. (It was 35C at 11pm on Saturday and only went down to 31C by the time the sun came up

) I actually wanted to ferment around this temp to experiment a little with getting some esters to add flavour so it was all good.

Smells great and I'll keep you posted as to flavour and FG in a day or two.

Timmy,
I'd go the wheat yeast over the 97 if you have a majority wheat base and if you want better flavour.

Ross · Post by **Ross** » Tuesday Feb 20, 2007 5:00 pm

I made this one late last year - was a big hit - The blackberries came straight out the freezer, through the blender & tipped into fermenter at end of primary ferment.

Blackberry hefe
Weizen/Weissbier

Type: All Grain
Date: 8/11/2006
Batch Size: 26.00 L
Brewer: Ross
Boil Size: 33.64 L
Boil Time: 90 min
Brewhouse Efficiency: 85.0

Ingredients
Amount Item Type % or IBU
2.50 kg Wheat Malt, Malt Craft (Joe White) (3.5 EBC) Grain 53.2 %
1.70 kg Pale Malt, Galaxy (Barrett Burston) (3.0 EBC) Grain 36.2 %
0.50 kg Munich Malt 1 (17.7 EBC) Grain 10.6 %
10.00 gm Bramling Cross [8.60%] (60 min) Hops 8.5 IBU
20.00 gm Bramling Cross [8.60%] (10 min) Hops 6.2 IBU
1.00 tsp Table Salt (Boil 90.0 min) Misc
2.00 kg Blackberries (Secondary 7.0 days) Misc
1 Pkgs Hefeweizen Ale (White Labs #WLP300) Yeast-Wheat

Est Original Gravity: 1.048 SG
Measured Original Gravity: 1.048 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.012 SG Measured Final Gravity: 1.012 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 4.7 % Actual Alcohol by Vol: 4.7 %
Bitterness: 14.7 IBU Calories: 449 cal/l
Est Color: 7.2 EBC

Ross · Post by **Ross** » Tuesday Feb 20, 2007 5:02 pm

timmy wrote:Just to deviate back to the subject matter...

I've got some Wyeast weizen smackpacks on the way - would this be a good one to use in a wheat-based fruit beer or am I better off sticking to K-97?

Cheers,

Tim

Tim, I used a weizen yeast & it was totally lost in the fruit. I'll certainly be saving my money & using a dried yeast next time.
My Banana Amber is the next up - now the banana price has subsided...

cheers Ross

Tipsy · Post by **Tipsy** » Tuesday Feb 20, 2007 7:34 pm

Ross wrote: My Banana Amber is the next up - now the banana price has subsided...

cheers Ross

You have got to give us some more info on this Ross, what have you got in mind?

SpillsMostOfIt · Post by **SpillsMostOfIt** » Tuesday Feb 20, 2007 8:08 pm

I gotta say that I was with you all when the berries were being discussed. I may even try to copy Ross' blackberry beer. I tried a raspberry beer at Greensborough Home Brew yesterday that weren't too bad.

But, honestly.... Banana? We do all we can to avoid banana taste in beer. Or at least I do - but I try to avoid banana taste in *everything*.

Bananas are evil. Pure, curved, yellow evil.

Ross · Post by **Ross** » Tuesday Feb 20, 2007 9:33 pm

Tipsy wrote:
Ross wrote: My Banana Amber is the next up - now the banana price has subsided...

cheers Ross
You have got to give us some more info on this Ross, what have you got in mind?

Brewed it before & it was a favourite from nearly all that tried it - even those that shivered at the thought. It's a fruity American amber with approx 4kg of frozen banana's added to secondary. Top stuff

cheers Ross

BierMeister · Post by **BierMeister** » Friday Feb 23, 2007 9:22 pm

Racked at 1010. Slight berry taste, not overly sweet at all or fruity, slightly tart, but the after taste is all blackberry. All up good so far. Will have to wait and see once it's done two weeks CC and bottled.

DarkFaerytale · Post by **DarkFaerytale** » Monday Mar 05, 2007 10:03 am

picked about 2kg over the weekend

now i just gotta figure out what i'm going to do with them

-Phill

rwh · Post by **rwh** » Monday Mar 05, 2007 11:13 am

Ha, I just made blackberry jam last night, now I'm regretting not thinking of using them in beer... maybe I can use some of my new jam in my next brew, say a Canadian or something? Might add it to secondary, and hope the sucrose in the jam doesn't cause so much fermentation that the CO2 scrubs out all the blackberry aromas...

Boonie · Post by **Boonie** » Monday Mar 05, 2007 11:30 am

Ross wrote:
Tipsy wrote:
Ross wrote: My Banana Amber is the next up - now the banana price has subsided...

cheers Ross
You have got to give us some more info on this Ross, what have you got in mind?
Brewed it before & it was a favourite from nearly all that tried it - even those that shivered at the thought. It's a fruity American amber with approx 4kg of frozen banana's added to secondary. Top stuff

cheers Ross

Blended?

BierMeister · Post by **BierMeister** » Monday Mar 05, 2007 12:02 pm

rwh wrote:Ha, I just made blackberry jam last night, now I'm regretting not thinking of using them in beer... maybe I can use some of my new jam in my next brew, say a Canadian or something? Might add it to secondary, and hope the sucrose in the jam doesn't cause so much fermentation that the CO2 scrubs out all the blackberry aromas...

probably not such a good idea to use jam in beer due to the pectin. clouds the beer apparently.

ozcah · Post by **ozcah** » Monday Mar 05, 2007 12:03 pm

Hiya,

Could you use Blackbeery Jam instead?
Or what about frozen berries from the supermarket?

Just curious to see how this turns out. I'm a fan of wheat beers myself and am always keen to try something a bit different.

Just wish the weather would cool down a bit more.

Catchya
Osc

BierMeister · Post by **BierMeister** » Monday Mar 05, 2007 12:11 pm

Frozen berries are good as the freezing action bursts the cell walls inside the berries and you get more bang for your buck. I wish I had known that before but there you go. I don't know about Black BEERY jam, is it high in alcohol?

DarkFaerytale · Post by **DarkFaerytale** » Monday Mar 05, 2007 12:20 pm

frozen berry's from the supermarket are fine but expensive unfortunately

-Phill

BierMeister · Post by **BierMeister** » Sunday Mar 25, 2007 3:02 pm

Well the Blackberry Ale has been in the bottle for 3 weeks and has been sampled.

Results.....

Its great. Really not overly berry in flavour, but its very fruity and light with a blackberry aftertaste. Definatly a summer beer as it's slightly tart and very refreshing. It's a winner and I'll be making it this time every year if I can forget all the thorn cuts I got.

Pale_Ale · Post by **Pale_Ale** » Sunday Mar 25, 2007 3:05 pm

Well done!

BierMeister · Post by **BierMeister** » Sunday Mar 25, 2007 3:08 pm

Thanks Pale.

All who have tried it so far have commented that it doesn't really taste like beer and they couldn't describe it, but I took it as a good sign that they came back for a second and then a third so it must have been resonable.

111222333 · Post by **111222333** » Sunday Mar 25, 2007 3:59 pm

Just something to keep in mind, by law all wild blackberry's are meant to be sprayed with poison to kill them (they are a feral weed). Found this out when I inquired about some blackberry's near 'rents hol house near marysville.

Pale_Ale · Post by **Pale_Ale** » Sunday Mar 25, 2007 4:15 pm

Yep the councils spend alot of money trying to keep them down.