Not to threadjack on the brewdays forum!
I'm looking into a blackberry stout.
From what I can see so far the only affect of using a pectin rich fruit (blackberries are classed as having medium levels of pectin) in a beer would be to cause a protien haze.
Now that's not a big issue for a stout.
I've seen some recipes on American forums where they use blackberries in lighter beers and seem to get on all right with them as well.
Has anyone got any experience of using fruit in your beers and do you treat it with anything special, pectic enzyme or such or is that the preserve of wine makers?
I'm actully considering using a pot of my home-made BB jam for this, anyone see disadvantages of this, its pure fruit and cane sugar nothing else. It'll be more an imperial stout so I'm not concerned about the sugar content, it will be small over all!
Fruit in beers
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symptomlesscoma
Re: Fruit in beers
Heres a thread about fruit beers that might help you, take a look.
viewtopic.php?f=2&t=34170
viewtopic.php?f=2&t=34170
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kay-jay
Re: Fruit in beers
i have not used jam in beer but i have done it in cider and i have to say it doesn't impart much ,if any flavour of the fruit at all.
you may get better results with the fruit itself.
KJ
you may get better results with the fruit itself.
KJ
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dave-o
Re: Fruit in beers
The issue is that you need to use vast quantities of it. For a 23l brew you'd need aat least 2 kilos of BBs, probably more if you want to notice it over the roastiness of a stout.
If you were to do it though, here's the method i recommend:
Brew ale as normal, begin primary fermentation
When initial vigorous fermentation has died down:
-Put fruit in large pan with enough water to just cover it
-Add 1/4 tsp of sodium metabisulphate (probably not neccesary but i like to be on the safe side)
-Bring to boil and simmer gently for 10 minutes
-Allow to cool
-Add pectic enzyme (yes i recommend this whatever you're making)
-Add to FV and allow to ferment.
The yeast will go crazy with all that fruit sugar, hence why i recommend letting it eat through most of the ale first.
If you were to do it though, here's the method i recommend:
Brew ale as normal, begin primary fermentation
When initial vigorous fermentation has died down:
-Put fruit in large pan with enough water to just cover it
-Add 1/4 tsp of sodium metabisulphate (probably not neccesary but i like to be on the safe side)
-Bring to boil and simmer gently for 10 minutes
-Allow to cool
-Add pectic enzyme (yes i recommend this whatever you're making)
-Add to FV and allow to ferment.
The yeast will go crazy with all that fruit sugar, hence why i recommend letting it eat through most of the ale first.
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raiderman
Re: Fruit in beers
I have never done this - so I may be talking bollocks, but I did fancy the idea of fruit based ales a few years ago and looked into it. I came to the conclusion that it comes down to adding enough juice to influence the final flavour - which is quite a lot and that youre better off trying to flavour a light beer than a dark one - less competing flavours. Look up kreik recipes they call for a lot of fruit. To do something dark you'd need a huge amount of somthing which leaves a dominate flavour - elderberry? Closest I've come was a coffee stot in san francisco, but it was orrible! Good luck.
Ingredients:
3 lbs. pilsner malt
2 lbs. malted wheat
1 lb. flaked wheat
2 lbs. unhopped light dry malt extract (DME)
4 AAU well-aged aroma hops: such as Saaz, East Kent Goldings or Tettnang
(1 oz. at 4% alpha acid)
Belgian ale yeast slurry (White Labs WLP550 or Wyeast 1762)
Lambic yeast or bacteria culture (recultured yeast from commercial lambic, Wyeast 3278 or both)
6 to 9 lbs. cherries, raspberries, peaches or other fruit (picked fresh, washed, cut up and frozen until ready to use)
1 cup unhopped light dry malt extract (DME) to prime
Ingredients:
3 lbs. pilsner malt
2 lbs. malted wheat
1 lb. flaked wheat
2 lbs. unhopped light dry malt extract (DME)
4 AAU well-aged aroma hops: such as Saaz, East Kent Goldings or Tettnang
(1 oz. at 4% alpha acid)
Belgian ale yeast slurry (White Labs WLP550 or Wyeast 1762)
Lambic yeast or bacteria culture (recultured yeast from commercial lambic, Wyeast 3278 or both)
6 to 9 lbs. cherries, raspberries, peaches or other fruit (picked fresh, washed, cut up and frozen until ready to use)
1 cup unhopped light dry malt extract (DME) to prime
Re: Fruit in beers
I'm hoping to brew an elderberry IPA (although it will obviously no longer be very pale - more like and IPA with loads of blackcurrant cordial).
It is elderberry time folks, so you can nip out in to the country just about anywhere north of london and pick a carrier bag full of ripe berries in under half an hour. I did this on Saturday and have gently pressed just over 1 litre of juice from the berries with my fruit presss. I could have got more, but hey, they are free and I didn't want to wring the heck out of them.
I intend to brew an additional 6 pints with my next IPA brew. As per the suggestion above, I will ferment this 6 pints in a bucket first, then plop in the boiled and then cooled elderberry juice. I will also dry hop.
My thinking is that some strong hop flavours would complement this beer and a pale ale is the way to go, but I am quite prepared for chucking the lot down the drain - hence just adding another 6 pints to a beer I am already brewing.
Good luck with your brew.
It is elderberry time folks, so you can nip out in to the country just about anywhere north of london and pick a carrier bag full of ripe berries in under half an hour. I did this on Saturday and have gently pressed just over 1 litre of juice from the berries with my fruit presss. I could have got more, but hey, they are free and I didn't want to wring the heck out of them.
I intend to brew an additional 6 pints with my next IPA brew. As per the suggestion above, I will ferment this 6 pints in a bucket first, then plop in the boiled and then cooled elderberry juice. I will also dry hop.
My thinking is that some strong hop flavours would complement this beer and a pale ale is the way to go, but I am quite prepared for chucking the lot down the drain - hence just adding another 6 pints to a beer I am already brewing.
Good luck with your brew.