Blueberry Wheat Help

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Dionysos911

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I just ordered some wheat extract and WLP400 Belgium Wit yeast and would love to experiment making a blueberry wheat beer but have no experience working with fruit yet. Any tips or advice for the best way to go about adding the fruit and getting a nice deep color out of it?

Also any recipe ideas would be great!
 
this is my first post in what seems like ages.

I'm currently fermenting a blueberry blonde. There are several ways to add fruit flavor to your beers. All have pros and cons. You could buy extracts, canned purees, or use fresh / frozen fruit. From what I've read here a lot of people agree that if you use an extract you can end up with a weird extract like twinge to your final product. I haven't heard anything bad about canned puree, but when I looked into using some for this brew the price made me turn away and try for using fresh / frozen fruit. A rule of thumb that I read on BYO was that you should start off adding roughly a half pound of fruit per gallon of beer. For my batch here I added 3 lbs (a half pound extra because I didn't want to hold onto the extra half pound). To sanitize the fruit I pureed it in my food processor added it to a pot with a cup or two of water (in an effort to stop the berries from turning to jelly while I boiled them, i've also read that you can mix fresh fruit puree with campden tablets that are used with making wine) and boiled for 10 minutes. I funneled them into an empty secondary then siphoned the primary on top. It gave the blonde an interesting purple color. after about 3 to 4 weeks in the secondary I siphoned into a tertiary as there was a huge amount of sediment in the bottom. while siphoning the color in the siphoning tube looked really great, not too purple, almost like a beer I've had from bluepoint breweries on Long Island where I'm originally from. Next week I will be bottling, the beer will only have been in the tertiary for one week, just an effort to drop any other fruit bits that might still have been stuck in suspension and to help further clear it. I'll be priming with a full cup of corn sugar as its been explained to me that a slightly higher carbonation will hell the aromatics of the final product.

My recipe for the "Blue Eyed Blonde" is as follows:
3.3 lbs extra light dme
3.3 lbs light dme
.5 lbs carapils
1 oz cascade @ 60 min
1 oz cascade @ 15 min
Pitched Wyeast 1056 American Ale
3 lbs Frozen Blueberries (in secondary)


here is a good article on byo regarding adding fruit to beer
Brew Your Own: The How-To Homebrew Beer Magazine - Recipes - Fruit Brew, Part 2: Techniques


hope this helped out!
 
That blue eyed blonde sounds GREAT!

I think I will try the frozen blueberry tactic. That sounds safest with the best results. Thanks for the tips! I look forward to hearing about your blonde. :mug:
 
I hate to ask a dumb question but uh.......what is a "tertiary?" I've never heard that term before. Though, it sounds like a secondary fermentation device. By the way, that Blue Eyed Blonde sounds absolutely orgasmic! I'm going to give that baby a try one of these days:rockin:
 
I just cracked open a blueberry wheat i made this week i used 2 oz of extract it came out a little syrupy. I think real fruit would be much better!
 
I hate to ask a dumb question but uh.......what is a "tertiary?" I've never heard that term before. Though, it sounds like a secondary fermentation device. By the way, that Blue Eyed Blonde sounds absolutely orgasmic! I'm going to give that baby a try one of these days:rockin:

tertiary would just be a the next step after a secondary (honestly i've never heard of anyone ever doing this). I only did it because there was so much yeast and blueberry sediment in my secondary that I felt nothing more was going to settle out until I got the beer off of it. Only doing the 3rd stage for a week then bottling. Only thing i'm a little worried about is if there will be enough yeast in suspension to carb, or will i need to pitch some for bottling. Sure do wish I had a keg setup so i could force carb.

Thanks, its my second fruit beer and first real try after reading the BYO article. I'm hoping it comes out nice. I've been brewing with the seasons this year. I'm not a major fruit beer fan, but figured it'd be a nice end of summer beer.
 
Pics of blue-Eyed Blonde: click here

I used canned Oregon blueberries... 3 lbs added to 2ndary. I racked to tertiary (3rd fermentor) to clear it. Loads of color, and just the right amount of flavor!

One of my favorites ever.
 
Pics of blue-Eyed Blonde: click here

I used canned Oregon blueberries... 3 lbs added to 2ndary. I racked to tertiary (3rd fermentor) to clear it. Loads of color, and just the right amount of flavor!

One of my favorites ever.

wow Dubbel! thats what mine is looking to finish like. Also whats that "Brew America" thing all about? Are they kits? I thought I was being original with the name "Blue Eyed Blonde" but now that I think about it I suppose it makes sense that theres one out there already.

Timid - I guess that makes sense. when adding fruit going into "secondary" do you move down to a 5 gallon carboy or do you use another 6 gal so you don't lose beer due to the volume of fruit? When I racked to the tertiary I noticed how much I actually lost by adding to a 5 gal secondary rather than something larger.
 
Pics of blue-Eyed Blonde: click here

I used canned Oregon blueberries... 3 lbs added to 2ndary. I racked to tertiary (3rd fermentor) to clear it. Loads of color, and just the right amount of flavor!

One of my favorites ever.

a very sexy brew indeed. I am going to do s simple wheat tomorrow (ag) and I am thinking of using real blueberries as well. I ma thinking 6-7lbs in the secondary.
 
this is my first post in what seems like ages.

From what I've read here a lot of people agree that if you use an extract you can end up with a weird extract like twinge to your final product.

I'm sure fresh fruit is a better option, but fwiw, I've had *fantastic* results with fruit extracts from NB. I made their raspberry wheat a while back and it was great.
 
wow Dubbel! thats what mine is looking to finish like. Also whats that "Brew America" thing all about? Are they kits? I thought I was being original with the name "Blue Eyed Blonde" but now that I think about it I suppose it makes sense that theres one out there already.

Nahhh, that's just me. Someone on here mentioned red, white and blue beers - I can't find the post anymore - but it got me thinking. So this is what I came up with: Beermerica.

So not kits, but I'm flattered that it looks that way... I'm a graphic artist. Must be doing something right!

The blonde recipe is Biermuncher's Centennial Blonde, and the saison is my friend Jay's Saison de Trubbel. Just added fruit to each. The wit is an amalgam of about 5 wit recipes I found on here. All three are top notch though!

Finally, my wife is a "Blue-Eyed Blonde", so.... :D
 
Oh, and I did fruit/secondary in a bucket... Extra headspace, easy access (no carboy necks) and I didn't want to risk staining my Better Bottles.

Primary: 6 gal. Better Bottle > 2ndary: Ale Pail > 3rdary: 5 gallon glass carboy
 
How does this look? I'll add about 6lbs of frozen blueberries in secondary. I am also going to attempt a stove top partial mash :) .. Any suggestions on ingredients or general tips?

Type: Partial Mash
Batch Size: 5.50 gal
Brewer: Lance
Boil Size: 4.00 gal
Boil Time: 60 min Equipment: Brew Pot (5 Gallon)
Brewhouse Efficiency: 65.00 (guessing)

Ingredients

Amount Item Type % or IBU
4.00 lb Wheat Dry Extract (8.0 SRM) Dry Extract 34.78 %
6.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 52.17 %
1.00 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 10L (10.0 SRM) Grain 8.70 %
0.50 lb Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM) Grain 4.35 %
0.50 oz Northern Brewer [8.50 %] (60 min) Hops 10.3 IBU
0.50 oz Cascade [5.50 %] (30 min) Hops 5.1 IBU
0.50 oz Cascade [5.50 %] (15 min) Hops 3.3 IBU
1.00 items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 15.0 min) Misc
5.00 gal Seattle, WA Water
1 Pkgs Belgian Wit Ale (White Labs #WLP400) Yeast-Wheat

Beer Profile

Est Original Gravity: 1.064 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.015 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 6.40 %
Bitterness: 18.7 IBU Calories: 43 cal/pint
Est Color: 7.2 SRM
 
I think these recipes sound great. But won't you see a second fermentation with the addition of real fruit (fructose). And how would you account for this change in gravity?
 
wow Dubbel! thats what mine is looking to finish like. Also whats that "Brew America" thing all about? Are they kits? I thought I was being original with the name "Blue Eyed Blonde" but now that I think about it I suppose it makes sense that theres one out there already.

Timid - I guess that makes sense. when adding fruit going into "secondary" do you move down to a 5 gallon carboy or do you use another 6 gal so you don't lose beer due to the volume of fruit? When I racked to the tertiary I noticed how much I actually lost by adding to a 5 gal secondary rather than something larger.
I have always used another 6 gallon (or 7.5 gallon) whichever size I have. Can't remember. But someone mentioned using a bucket and wow, that sounds way easier. Might try that next time.
 
I have always used another 6 gallon (or 7.5 gallon) whichever size I have. Can't remember. But someone mentioned using a bucket and wow, that sounds way easier. Might try that next time.

yeah a bucket does seem to make more sense for cleaning

woolseal - adding the additional fruit causes another krausen to form, but in the grand scheme of things the level of fermenting that goes on from the addition of the fruit is nothing in comparison to the primary ferment. It may throw off the final gravity but only by a very small amount. or am I totally off on this?
 
How does this look? I'll add about 6lbs of frozen blueberries in secondary. I am also going to attempt a stove top partial mash :) .. Any suggestions on ingredients or general tips?

Type: Partial Mash
Batch Size: 5.50 gal
Brewer: Lance
Boil Size: 4.00 gal
Boil Time: 60 min Equipment: Brew Pot (5 Gallon)
Brewhouse Efficiency: 65.00 (guessing)

Ingredients

Amount Item Type % or IBU
4.00 lb Wheat Dry Extract (8.0 SRM) Dry Extract 34.78 %
6.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 52.17 %
1.00 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 10L (10.0 SRM) Grain 8.70 %
0.50 lb Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM) Grain 4.35 %
0.50 oz Northern Brewer [8.50 %] (60 min) Hops 10.3 IBU
0.50 oz Cascade [5.50 %] (30 min) Hops 5.1 IBU
0.50 oz Cascade [5.50 %] (15 min) Hops 3.3 IBU
1.00 items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 15.0 min) Misc
5.00 gal Seattle, WA Water
1 Pkgs Belgian Wit Ale (White Labs #WLP400) Yeast-Wheat

Beer Profile

Est Original Gravity: 1.064 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.015 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 6.40 %
Bitterness: 18.7 IBU Calories: 43 cal/pint
Est Color: 7.2 SRM

Only answering because you asked:

There is too much going on with this brew if it's your first time with fruit. I'd tone it down in ABV%, hops, and the yeast to save on cost until you know that you can handle the extra process of adding sanitary fruit to your beer. First, if you're mashing 6+lbs. of grain why add extract at all? Just do an all-grain brew with a few more lbs of grain. Second, a bittering hop addition only keeps things simple and makes the fruit the star of the show. Third, the belgian strains like temps. a bit warmer and the esters produced will only muddy the aroma and taste of your blueberry.

These are my opinions to someone looking to brew their first fruit beer. I've made a few and the ones that are requested for a repeat are always low in abv beers fermented with a clean yeast (S-05 almost always) and are pretty lightly hopped to let the fruit sing.

Just my .02
 
Only answering because you asked:

There is too much going on with this brew if it's your first time with fruit. I'd tone it down in ABV%, hops, and the yeast to save on cost until you know that you can handle the extra process of adding sanitary fruit to your beer. First, if you're mashing 6+lbs. of grain why add extract at all? Just do an all-grain brew with a few more lbs of grain. Second, a bittering hop addition only keeps things simple and makes the fruit the star of the show. Third, the belgian strains like temps. a bit warmer and the esters produced will only muddy the aroma and taste of your blueberry.

These are my opinions to someone looking to brew their first fruit beer. I've made a few and the ones that are requested for a repeat are always low in abv beers fermented with a clean yeast (S-05 almost always) and are pretty lightly hopped to let the fruit sing.

Just my .02

Thanks for your feedback, I think you are right. This is also my first attempt at a partial mash. Simpler probably would be better. I mostly wanted to use up some stuff I have on hand. Any suggestions based on what I have?

2- 3lb bags of dry wheat extract
3- 3lb bags of dry light extract
3- 6lb bags of liquid light extract
0.50 oz Northern Brewer [8.50 %]
1- Pkgs Belgian Wit Ale (White Labs #WLP400)
1- package of Safale04


I can pick up hops and grain from my local brew store to complete whatever. I like IPAs, Pales, Blondes, Reds, Hefs.. I currently have a hef on tap right now so would prefer to shy from that a bit unless you have an idea for something great.. Anything jump out at you?
 
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