Hi all - been AWOL for a couple weeks on this... busy with work, school, and of course getting ready for a baby! I'm down to the wire on this one. JUST enough time to brew, bottle, and condition before the due date. Read through all the suggestions, and talked with my LHBS owner and decided on pomegranate juice for color/flavor.
Using a pound of carapils, with a little vienna, malt to get some head and body, and 6lbs of light DME. 2oz of Liberty for a full 60min is the hops bill. S-04 yeast. Wish I would have seen the hibiscus petals comment before today, though!
Now, I am debating on doing the juice in the primary or adding it to the secondary after a (shortish) 7 day fermentation, then letting it ferment a second time and check the color. What do you guys think? My gut says add it now so I can check the color when racking to a carboy (out of the primary bucket).
If it's not pink enough I am going to boil and reduce some sliced beets and add my bottling sugar to the concentrated coloring on bottle day. Will the beets add an appreciable amount of sugar? I assume so, looking at the nutritional data says maybe 30 grams of sugar in a pound of beets. How will this affect my bottling sugar amounts? Should I do the beet concentrate (if I decide I need more color) before bottling to let it ferment out?
Also considering a small amount of lactose to sweeten it up some (and match the sweetness to the fruit flavor and color) at that point. Maybe .5lbs or so?
I've got grains steeping now, so I have about two or three hours to decide wether to add the juice now or later. I really appreciate all the advice up to this point, and some help now!
Thanks!