Raspberry Hibiscus Weiss

Before I started home-brewing my absolute favorite beer was Leinenkugel's Berry Weiss.... Yes I know... But I really AM a girl. Now a year into brewing I finally got up the nerve to attempt a recipe entirely for me, and as sweet as the real thing. This recipe is not difficult by any means, but the key is getting the sweetening right. I brewed it as a 3 gal batch, but I will scale it up to the 5 gal standard.

Raspberry Hibiscus Weiss
OG 1.047
FG 1.011

5 # Belgian pilsner
5 # Belgian wheat
1 oz. hallertau hops (3.7%AA) @ 45 min ~ 12 IBUs
1/2 tsp Wyeast beer nutrient
O2 for 1 1/2 min
Wyeast 3333 German Wheat

Mash grains @ 154 for 60 min. Sparge. (for this original batch it was a BIAB). 60 min boil, hops @ 45 min. Nutrient at 10 min. Chill well. I chilled to 69 deg. Oxygenated for 1 1/2 min and pitched. Fermented primary in basement at 60-61 deg ambient.

At the end of primary (6 days for me) move to secondary with 5 -12 oz bags of unsweetened raspberries, and 3-4 large tea bags of hibiscus flowers steeped in 180 deg water. Pour tea bags and water into secondary. Add pectic enzyme according to directions on package, and rack beer over berries and tea bags. Let sit in secondary at least 7 days. At this point I got really busy (Christmastime) and was unable to bottle until 1/8/12. This beer was in secondary with fruit for 24 days.

Now for the sweetening. I did several tests with different non fermentable sweeteners and decided that a 50/50 blend of xylitol and erythritol tasted best. I also like the level of sweetness that you get from 2 tsp of "sugar" per cup. For a 5 gal batch 1 2/3 cup each of xylitol & erythritol sweeteners. Use 5 oz priming sugar for the 5 gal batch. I boiled all the measured sugar in 3 cups water and racked into the co2 purged bottling bucket. Bottle as usual.

1 week later I tasted my first sample. Amazing. Very much like a Berry Weiss, especially in the sweetness level, but the hibiscus lends a nice complexity the original is lacking. Definitely a girly beer, but I wouldn't have it any other way. This may become a house brew... 3 gallons will go fast once my sisters find out about this one.

here is the pic I promised. My mom loves it. I have less than 12 bottles left. Time to brew up another batch.

Just wondering how sweet do you make it? I'm not familiar with the reference beer you were mentioning, can you compare to a fruit cooler? Other than that I like the look of this recipe a lot. Thanks for sharing!

It's sweet, but not super sweet. Maybe 1/2 the sweetness of a wine cooler. If you need to try it out, make 8 oz of a fruit tea, then add 2 tsp of sugar to it, or try it with the xylitol & erythritol. 1 tsp of each. It's a pretty parallel comparison. I actually have a raspberry & hibiscus tea that gave me the idea for the beer.

Great thanks! 1/2 a cooler is about what I was looking for. I can't find the sweeteners you mentioned, only lactose. I'm a ways from startin on this, ill let you know when I try it.

Ive been dying to use hibiscus since they grow all over the island I live on. I was thinking of using them for my 4th of July Red, White and Blue IPA. Something like red raspberry, blueberry, white hibiscus pairing with; Liberty, Olympic, and Warrior hops. Glad I read your thread its def encouraging me to go ahead with the idea.

Edit- im reformulating this recipe...in my research Ive found out White Hibiscus is poisonous and cannot be used

mattpavone: Try Amazon.com for brand name Xylosweet for the xylitol. I started out using it to sweeten my ciders, but use it in my coffee now. It's a good sugar substitute with NO diet aftertaste (which is a deal breaker for me).

macbethenstein: Where do you source hibiscus flowers?

DubbelDach said:

Macbethenstein: Where do you source hibiscus flowers?

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Local Mexican food store. It's used to make a drink called jamaica.

mcbethenstein said:

It's sweet, but not super sweet. Maybe 1/2 the sweetness of a wine cooler. If you need to try it out, make 8 oz of a fruit tea, then add 2 tsp of sugar to it, or try it with the xylitol & erythritol. 1 tsp of each. It's a pretty parallel comparison. I actually have a raspberry & hibiscus tea that gave me the idea for the beer.

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I have xylitol, but im not familiar with with erythritol. What about stevia?

Chefjp said:

I have xylitol, but im not familiar with with erythritol. What about stevia?

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I would sub xylitol for the erythritol, making a total of 3 1/3 cups of xylitol for a finished 5 gal batch. Stevia will work, but it tends to give an interesting bitter/sharp aftertaste. I don't think it would blend well with the other flavors in the beer.