Damson beer?

[dean_wales]

Hi guys,

I have masses of my damson wine on the go (see thread here viewtopic.php?f=47&t=67775) but I would like to use some of the stock pile to make something less alcoholic.

Does anyone have any good all grain beer recipes where I could use damsons? I have heard of some stout recipes before but I am not mad on very dark beers.

I was thinking of some kind of funky Belgian fruit number. How about a pale but full bodied strong saision with a long secondary fermentation on some damsons?

Ideas very much welcome as I have a few brews coming up.

Dean.

[Mr. Dripping]

I've just done a rhubarb saison which has worked very nicely.
You have to think about how the flavours will meld; what will work with the character of the yeast you've chosen.
I'm not too sure what damsons taste of really....plummy?? That would probably work with the funky yeast.
I added my rhubarb to the fermenter after high krausen had subsided. I used half a kilo in 20 litres and the flavour has come through nicely, but isn't overwhelming.

[RobWalker]

I guess anything providing you don't bomb it out with dry hops so you can't taste the fruit.

Fruit Saison sounds ideal to me, I would go for a highish mash to get some sweetness in there personally but up to you.

[serum]

A saison would be great, also something like Poacher's Choice.

[Blackaddler]

I brewed a damson porter a couple of years ago, adding the damsons at the end of the boil. The method worked well with blackberries, but not so with the damsons.

There's a lot of pectin in damsons, apparently. The beer still hasn't cleared, 2 years on, and has never tasted very good.

A pectolase addition might have helped.

I now make jam with the damsons, which tastes much better!