Fruit Beer Raspberry Belgian Ale

This was one of my early beers in my brewing career. It is probably still the best beer I have made. Unlike most fruit beers, this one is not too sweet, and the raspberry flavor is pronounced with a roasted caramel after taste (with raspberries still). Has a very complex flavor.

Grain:
2 lbs Castle Belgian pale ale malt
1 lb light crystal malt
1 lb special B
1 lb Cara-Vienna malt
1 lb Belgian aromatic malt (yes, a whole pound)
8 oz malted oats

Other:
1.5 lbs raspberries (smashed)
2x vanilla beans
0.5 oz Irish moss
8 oz dark Belgian candi sugar
1 cup honey

Hop Schedule:
0.25 oz Golding (60 min)
0.25 oz German Hersbrucker (60 min)
0.25 oz Fuggles (60 min)
0.25 oz Fuggles (15 min)
0.10 oz Cascade (15 min)

Mashed grains at 153 degrees for 50 minutes. Boil for 60 minutes. At 15 minutes before the end of the boil, add raspberries, brown sugar, honey, vanilla beans, and Irish moss. Strain solids out of the wort into the primary.

I got visible fermentation in two hours after pitching. Really violent, quick fermentation.

I will definitely try this one again. I will try for higher alcohol content. The head was like snow, and the flavors were excellent!

Aaron, sounds like a good summer brew. I've been looking for something like this. I'll brew a batch up soon. Could you tell me which yeast you used and your fermentation schedule? Thanks.

AlkiBrewing said:

Aaron, sounds like a good summer brew. I've been looking for something like this. I'll brew a batch up soon. Could you tell me which yeast you used and your fermentation schedule? Thanks.

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Sure thing!

I used Wyeast 3787 Trappist High Gravity. I wanted a dry beer, and this yeast can go to 11-12% ABV. My apartment did not have air conditioning, and this yeast ferments best between 64-78 F (18-25 C).

I did not make a starter, and just let the Wyeast bag get all puffed up. Two hours after pitching the yeast I had visual fermentation. The first day and a half was really violent fermentation, and I racked into secondary after just two days because it had slowed down and there was a lot of sediment. On day eight, I bottled the beer.

I would consider adding a bit more candi sugar to increase the ABV a bit. Also, I would recommend adding the candi sugar later, once the primary has slowed. This will help the yeast ferment further, and get a lighter beer. To do this, once the fermentation has slowed, boil the candi sugar in just enough water to dissolve it, and then add that to the carboy.

What is Irish Moss?

bejaan said:

What is Irish Moss?

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Irish moss is a seaweed that is dried and can be purchased at your homebrew store. It is used as a flocculant, which will help particulates to fall out of your brew, and produce a clearer beer. What you do is add it at ~15 minutes before the end of your brew.

What temp did you ferment at? I tried 67'F and so far nothing has started. It's been over 48 hours. I raised to 76'F....we'll see what happens

atsorrento said:

What temp did you ferment at? I tried 67'F and so far nothing has started. It's been over 48 hours. I raised to 76'F....we'll see what happens

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Wyeast 3787 should ferment between 64 and 78 degrees F, so it should have started at 67. Raising the temperature should get it started. It could be old yeast. Did you use a starter? Even though it's a smack=pack, you could still use a starter to get it going; it would be especially helpful if your yeast is old.

It finally started after about 1 day of raising the temp to 76'F. After seeing little white dots on the top of the wort I crashed back down to 67'F (12/12/2012). After 3 days of primary I added the honey and dark belgian candi sugar (12/15/2012). It's still going strong. Krausen hasn't backed down one bit.

This sounds like a beer I would enjoy making and would be great in the Arizona summer. I am however an extract brewer still.


BeerSmith 2 Recipe Printout - http://www.beersmith.com
Recipe: Raspberry Belgian Ale
Brewer:
Asst Brewer:
Style: Belgian Specialty Ale
TYPE: Extract
Taste: (30.0)

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Boil Size: 4.27 gal
Post Boil Volume: 3.90 gal
Batch Size (fermenter): 5.00 gal
Bottling Volume: 4.60 gal
Estimated OG: 1.052 SG
Estimated Color: 27.6 SRM
Estimated IBU: 22.5 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 72.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 0.0 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
1 lbs 5.5 oz Special B Malt (180.0 SRM) Grain 4 8.7 %
2 lbs 10.4 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 10L (10.0 SRM) Grain 2 17.2 %
3 lbs 14.6 oz Caravienne Malt (22.0 SRM) Grain 1 25.4 %
1 lbs 7.6 oz Carafoam (2.0 SRM) Grain 3 9.6 %
0.49 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.00 %] - Boil 60.0 Hop 7 6.7 IBUs
0.49 oz Hallertauer Hersbrucker [4.00 %] - Boil Hop 8 5.4 IBUs
0.49 oz Fuggles [4.50 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 6 6.0 IBUs
0.49 oz Fuggles [4.50 %] - Boil 15.0 min Hop 10 3.0 IBUs
0.20 oz Cascade [5.50 %] - Boil 15.0 min Hop 11 1.5 IBUs
6 lbs Pale Liquid Extract (8.0 SRM) Extract 5 39.0 %
1.0 pkg Trappist High Gravity (Wyeast Labs #3787 Yeast 12 -
0.50 oz Irish Moss (Boil 15.0 mins) Fining 9 -


Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Light Body, No Mash Out
Total Grain Weight: 15 lbs 6.2 oz
----------------------------

Sparge: Remove grains, and prepare to boil wort
Notes:
------
Other:
1.5 lbs raspberries (smashed)
2x vanilla beans
8 oz dark Belgian candi sugar
1 cup honey

All added at 15 minutes left of boil.


Does this extract recipe make sense? Would love your input on this as I would love to give this beer a try.

That recipe looks good to me. Just reading it makes me want to brew this beer again.

Hey, this sounds tasty, thank you for sharing this recipe. I am thinking of trying a half batch of this using a BIAB technique. Would it be as straightforward as halving the ingredients listed?

Ok, this recipe is friggin awesome! I calculated ~8.5% ABV and based on my staggering wife (after 2 16 oz glasses) I believe that's about right.....LOL!!! Thank you for an awesome recipe!!!

garethliam said:

Hey, this sounds tasty, thank you for sharing this recipe. I am thinking of trying a half batch of this using a BIAB technique. Would it be as straightforward as halving the ingredients listed?

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Halving the recipe sounds logical to me too. I was thinking of redoing this recipe myself. I'm so glad it is bringing such joy to others! Happy brewing!

I just brewed this, AG BIAB. Sitting in my fermenter right now. Smells fantastic, strong raspberry smell.

Aaron said:

This was one of my early beers in my brewing career. It is probably still the best beer I have made. Unlike most fruit beers, this one is not too sweet, and the raspberry flavor is pronounced with a roasted caramel after taste (with raspberries still). Has a very complex flavor.

Grain:
2 lbs Castle Belgian pale ale malt
1 lb light crystal malt
1 lb special B
1 lb Cara-Vienna malt
1 lb Belgian aromatic malt (yes, a whole pound)
8 oz malted oats

Other:
1.5 lbs raspberries (smashed)
2x vanilla beans
0.5 oz Irish moss
8 oz dark Belgian candi sugar
1 cup honey

Hop Schedule:
0.25 oz Golding (60 min)
0.25 oz German Hersbrucker (60 min)
0.25 oz Fuggles (60 min)
0.25 oz Fuggles (15 min)
0.10 oz Cascade (15 min)

Mashed grains at 153 degrees for 50 minutes. Boil for 60 minutes. At 15 minutes before the end of the boil, add raspberries, brown sugar, honey, vanilla beans, and Irish moss. Strain solids out of the wort into the primary.

I got visible fermentation in two hours after pitching. Really violent, quick fermentation.

I will definitely try this one again. I will try for higher alcohol content. The head was like snow, and the flavors were excellent!

Click to expand...

Sounds great. Might try for my first biab

Subscribed. I am a new brewer and this sounds like a great one! Thanks!! I will let u know how it turns out!

Was this based on a five gallon batch. And Did you make the wort with the full five gallons of water or did you use less water and top off the carboy? Thanks

spclarke said:

Was this based on a five gallon batch. And Did you make the wort with the full five gallons of water or did you use less water and top off the carboy? Thanks

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I believe the original is for 3 gallons and the previous is for 5.

When I first did this (based on the original recipe) I used raspberry extract at kegging time. Oh boy was that a mistake.....WAY too much raspberry taste!!! Next attempt will be with real raspberries either at the end of the boil or in secondary. Has anyone else tried variations on this recipe?

why all the different bittering hops in this? can you still taste the raspberries with this even though all those hops espectially the late additions? and also why all the specialty grains? It seems as though some are there for the same reasons?? Any ideas? Thanks

ayupbrewing said:

why all the different bittering hops in this? can you still taste the raspberries with this even though all those hops espectially the late additions? and also why all the specialty grains? It seems as though some are there for the same reasons?? Any ideas? Thanks

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Q: Why the hops in the recipe?

A: It is only 0.75 oz of bittering hops, and 0.35 oz of late additions, which isn't that much. Also, the beer has 1 lb of light crystal, which leaves residual sweetness that needs some bitterness to balance. Why the variety of hops? Well, that's what I had left over, honestly.

Q: Why all the specialty grains?

A: Well, first disclaimer is that this was one of my first beers I made. "Why add plain grain when I can add specialty,awesome tasting grain?," I imagine I thought to myself. Malted oats for head retention. Belgian aromatic because it's a Belgian and I wanted it to smell like one even with the raspberry. Special B because I love the flavor, but in hindsight it does not go well with the raspberry. Vienna for the flavor and red color. Light crystal for residual sweetness. Small grain bill is supplemented by the honey and candi sugar.

So I could get away with one type of bittering hop...? Also, so you see the Red from vienna even with the dark belgian candi that gives a SRM of about 38 according to Beer Smith - higher than I have ever done so far even a pretty dark porter? Thanks appreciate your reply..just trying to simplify a little if I can.

You can probably get away with almost any hop for bittering. Notice that the hops I used are not high alpha hops.

With the grain bill, I would make some significant adjustments if I were to make this again. I have a lot more experience homebrewing since I made this beer.

The beer had a little haze the first time I made it. I believe it was caused by pectin because I used fresh raspberries. If I were to do this again, I may consider using a raspberry preserve of some sort or raspberry pie filling.

Cool, thanks. I have a ton of fresh ones clogging my freezer so fresh it is.. I'll let you know how it turns out, brewing a modified version Monday!

Here is what I decided to go with for my version of this recipe...

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Boil Size: 6.50 gal
Post Boil Volume: 5.25 gal
Batch Size (fermenter): 5.00 gal
Bottling Volume: 4.75 gal
Estimated OG: 1.068 SG
Estimated Color: 24.3 SRM
Estimated IBU: 27.0 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 70.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 70.0 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
6 lbs 8.0 oz Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 1 49.8 %
1 lbs 9.0 oz Caravienne Malt (22.0 SRM) Grain 2 12.0 %
1 lbs 9.0 oz Aromatic Malt (26.0 SRM) Grain 3 12.0 %
1 lbs 9.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 20L (20.0 SRM) Grain 4 12.0 %
10.0 oz Oats, Malted (1.0 SRM) Grain 5 4.8 %
0.75 oz Perle [8.00 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 6 21.5 IBUs
1.00 Items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 15.0 mins) Fining 7 -
0.25 oz Perle [8.00 %] - Boil 15.0 min Hop 8 3.6 IBUs
0.20 oz Cascade [5.50 %] - Boil 15.0 min Hop 9 2.0 IBUs
1.0 pkg Trappist High Gravity (Wyeast Labs #3787 Yeast 10 -
10.0 oz Candi Sugar, Dark (275.0 SRM) Sugar 11 4.8 %
10.0 oz Honey (1.0 SRM) Sugar 12 4.8 %


Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Medium Body
Total Grain Weight: 13 lbs 1.0 oz
----------------------------
Name Description Step Temperatur Step Time
Mash In Add 15.00 qt of water at 164.1 F 153.0 F 60 min
Mash Out Add 10.00 qt of water at 195.3 F 168.0 F 10 min

Sparge: Fly sparge with 1.67 gal water at 172.0 F

I am using US pale malt because that's what we have. Candi sugar and honey will be boiled with equal quantity of water to sterilize and added to primary after peak fermentation. I will then rack on to raspberries, 1lb/Gal, after primary ferment is almost complete and add vanilla pods and taste regularly so as not to over power the beer with vanilla, if that's possibly with 3 pods. Thanks for the base recipe Aaron!

Remember that you will want to sterilize your vanilla beans and raspberries.

Quick update....So, I brewed this....I missed my OG a bit, but kind of expected too as I'm still figuring out my system - anyone else find beer smith is way off on heat absorbed by grains...? - anyway, it fermented at 60 for 4 days, probably a bit hotter inside, then I added the candi sugar and honey and it's still fermenting away (10 days now) at about a bubble every 10 seconds...just measured gravity and it's 1.024. Started at 1.064 with 10 points added for the adjuncts. Took a taste of the hydrometer sample and boy was it sweet and as weird as it sounds it tasted like it had raspberries in it already....is that normal for this yeast? I'm thinking of waiting until it gets to about 1.015 before racking to secondary for raspberries...sound about right? I'm thinking the FG will be about 1.010..

Day 16 and gravity slowly falling. Now its 1.021. Fruity flavour described previously is gone...funny aroma now Will rack to raspberries Saturday...!

Day 20 racked 4.75 G off trub and onto 4.5 lbs of pasturized raspberries (15 mins@160 °F). Gravity = 1.018 and sample had lost the odd aroma from day 16 - assume some sulfur blow off or something...

It fermented for 2 days at 68 °F after moving to my racking area which is warmer so might add some nice belgiany estery flavours on top of what it already had started to show. Fermenting with the raspberries at 65 °F.

Will leave for 5 days and cold crash for 2 and rack off raspberries and vanilla. If its still fermenting I will leave it in a carboy until its done before bottling....excited for this one to finish!

Got a Korbininan Dopplebock starting to ferment now too...happy days.

Aaron, how clear did yours get...is it meant to be cloudy/hazy? I did forgot to add my whirlfloc but read that in time beers clear without such additives but mine has not cleared much at all...even before I added the fruit.

I could cold crash it or add gelatin but would rather not....for various reasons....

I started opening my Raspberry Belgian Ale about a week ago....tastes delicious. Went down well with Thanksgiving dinner. Had many compliments such as "best fruit beer ever had". It's got a nice real (not fake extract) raspberry flavour initially which subsides to leave a dry tartish beery/belgian yeasty flavoured taste. Here is a pic of it...from the side you see the red hue colour from the raspberries. Has a thin head, we didnt over carb this beer to try and let the delicate flavours shine...

Ayup!

Thinking about brewing this for my wife. The recipe lists basically an 8 day fermentation, which seems short. I only ever do 5 gallon batches. Is the 8 days because you're pitching the same amount of yeast, but for a 3 gallon batch? I guess I'm just more used to 3 weeks. Thanks!

atsorrento said:

Ok, this recipe is friggin awesome! I calculated ~8.5% ABV and based on my staggering wife (after 2 16 oz glasses) I believe that's about right.....LOL!!! Thank you for an awesome recipe!!!

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I know this is an old thread but what the heck. The reason I had an 8.5% abv was that I forgot to dilute the wort before pitching the yeast. In other words, I forgot to take a specific gravity reading post-boil and pre-fermentation. Whoops! Hopefully that can help out someone else. :rockin: