Suggested Fruits for secondary additions in an American Wheat...

We are going to brew up 12 gallons of an American wheat. 6 gallons will go directly to a carboy, however the other 6 gallons will be put into 1 gallon carboys and fermented with different types of fruit.

"American Wheat"
Type: All Grain
Batch Size: 12.00 gal
Brewer: Tony
Boil Size: 14.84 gal
Boil Time: 60 min
Equipment: Brew Pot (15 Gal) and Igloo/Gott Cooler (10 Gal)
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.00

Ingredients

Amount Item Type % or IBU
10 lbs White Wheat Malt (2.4 SRM) Grain 55.56 %
8 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 44.44 %
1.00 oz Cascade [7.80 %] (60 min) Hops 12.5 IBU
0.50 oz Amarillo Gold [8.50 %] (15 min) Hops 3.4 IBU
0.50 oz Amarillo Gold [8.50 %] (5 min) Hops 1.4 IBU
2 Pkgs American Wheat Ale (Wyeast Labs #1010) Yeast-Ale

So far, I'm considering blueberries, raspberries, black berries, and maybe cherries. I know that the cherries will lend a sour effect to the beer. Anyone have other suggestions?

I made a raspberry wheat last spring which is one of those that isn't my favorite, but pretty much everybody liked - especially those who aren't big bear drinkers.

That being said, why stop at one? Maybe make a Very Berry Wheat? Or you could pick up a few one gallon jugs and do a little of each for sampling

I've tried raspberries, black berries, and peaches. The black berry was the only one that I would ever think to repeat but my wife, sister, and mom thought the peach was pretty good. It was very peachy, tasted like peach pie or something - kind of overwhelming to my tastes. You might give the peaches a try though, if you're only making a gallon of each fruit its probably not that risky.

I considered peaches, but I was concerned about just what you stated... I want some nice fruit notes, however I don't want an overwhelming slap to your face...

So far I'm going to do:
Raspberry
Blackberry
Cherry
Cherry/Pomegranate (girlfriends request)
Blueberry

+1 for Peach's, also how about oranges/tangerine/clementines

orange is going to be in the base wheat recipe... When I get home I'll post the base recipe so you can know what I'm working with...

Most people don't realize the most popular fruit in the world(that also works well in beer) is mango. Mango wheat is wonderful

How about some Apricots? Wheat version of Magic Hat #9?

Strawberry!

I have read that strawberry is a VERY difficult flavor to impart in a beer without using a fruit flavored extract. The delicate flavor of the strawberries doesn't seem to come through easily in a beer. If someone could give advice, I'd definitely try it out...

I've had an Elderberry Black Ale...never in a wheat though.

I've done blueberry once... It was AWESOME!!! It was pleasant, not the slap you in the face fruit flavor. I did 5 lbs in a 5 gal batch. I think my perfect balance would have been 6 lbs in 5 gallons. Last summer swmbo and I picked 70 lbs of blueberries. She went nuts on baking this that and the other but I managed to hide away 20lbs for beer. Oh yeah....

Ok. I Editted the Original Post with my recipe...

Cascade and Amarillo seem like unusual additions in an American wheat; I'm assuming that you are ostensibly trying to bring out some citrusy notes? I prefer spicy noble hops in my American wheats, personally.

Initially I was going to suggest watermelon...

With that hop schedule, I'd definitely reserve some small samples and do some blending and tasting first.

The hop schedule is up for debate as well... I just want to accentuate the citrusy flavors...

My vote is apricot. Try an Ithaca Brewery Apricot Wheat sometime. It's by far my favorite hot weather beer. I tried making it once and would never use the extract apricot flavoring again, it doesn't taste like real apricot.

I won't be using anything but fresh fruit or fresh fruit puree... I made a blueberry wheat last year with fruit extract that makes me think of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory... "Violet, You're turning Violet" Only one of my buddies likes that Blueberry Wheat of ours, and he was recently given the remaining 2 cases of the batch...

Anthony_Lopez said:

The hop schedule is up for debate as well... I just want to accentuate the citrusy flavors...

Click to expand...

You really want it to be hop neutral then, IMO.
Citrusy hops is not the same as citrusy fruit.

I think there was a recent BYO on this very topic.

I have gallons of a mango wheat in my secondary fermenter. I haven't tried it yet but it smells really mango-y. I was looking for a subtle taste but it doesnt smell like that is going to happen. I'll see how it comes out in another 2 weeks.

*5 gallons

Anyone try pomegranite or lingonberries?