Fruit Beer McMenamin's Ruby

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EvilTOJ

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 25, 2005
Messages
6,393
Reaction score
72
Location
Portland, OR
Recipe Type
All Grain
Yeast
dry
Yeast Starter
no
Batch Size (Gallons)
5.25
Original Gravity
1.042
Final Gravity
1.011
Boiling Time (Minutes)
90
IBU
19
Color
pink
Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp)
7 days at 65º
Secondary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp)
14 days at 65º
This is a clone of McMenamin's Ruby. McMenamin's is a chain of brewpubs in the greater Portland area.

8.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row)
1.00 oz Hallertauer (60 min)

6.00 lb pulverized raspberries (Boil 5.0 min)

Mash schedule;
Mash in with 2.5 gallons of water at 161º
Drain, then sparge with 3 gallons of water at 180º
Drain, then sparge again with 3 gallons of water at 180º

I went off of the ingredients list from McMenamin's website.
In 1985, McMenamins became the first brewery in the U.S.A. to legally use fruit in the creation of ales. While many other breweries have followed suit, we still make this Ruby exactly as we first did: Light, crisp and refreshingly fruity. Over 55 pounds of hand-macerated, fresh, whole raspberries are used in every batch. Taste the original!

Malts used: Pale Malt
Hops used: Vary
Fruit: Whole Raspberries

Original Gravity: 1.038; Terminal Gravity: 1.005
Alcohol by Volume: 4.39%
Calories: 170 per pint


They don't specify measurements so I had to wing it, and also based it off other recipes I found on the net. Also, the berries have to be boiled in order to get the pectin haze that is in the original. You can add them directly into the main boil if you want a subtle aroma, or if you want stronger berry flavor boil them then add to secondary. Be forewarned, that 6 lbs of raspberries takes up about a gallon of space, so be prepared for that.
 
I have it in secondary now to help get rid of raspberry guts, has a hint of raspberry and beer aroma and it's a beautiful deep pinkurple. It will be bottled this weekend and status reports will be given!

I also have a 22 oz bomber with the Ruby label still on it and some green caps, I will be doing a blind taste test/color comparison once it's carbed.
 
Yep it's in bottles right now. I had to make another batch, as the first batch soured really bad. I need to pick up a bomber of Ruby to compare, but it looks identical, and tastes pretty close as far as I can tell.
 
Well? any taste tests, reports etc? I am dying to make this but am really curious what wrong in your first batch.. I dont want to make the same mistake.. How much is 6# of raspberries?
 
Wow, I didn't know there was traffic in this thread. Yea the first batch looked just beautiful, nice color, but was ruined. The second batch.... well, it did the same thing, but at a much slower rate. It was the air in my old apartment that was spoiling the batch, but for the first few weeks after bottling my second batch was delicious and was indistinguishable from McMenamin's version.
 
It was the air in my old apartment that was spoiling the batch, but for the first few weeks after bottling my second batch was delicious and was indistinguishable from McMenamin's version.


huh?? That must have been some nasty air! And isn't your beer closed off from air? How did the air ruin it in the bottle, and what do you mean by spoiling/ruined? Did the flavor just go sour or was it infected?
 
I was having an air quality issue at the time. I didn't know it, but brewing and fermenting would go as planned, but once the beer was exposed to air for any length of time (meaning during bottling) it would pick up something from air, enough to ruin the batch. It took a lot of cleaning of everything in the apartment to get it back to manageable levels, but it was still a chronic problem. Hey what can I say, my roommate was a slob!

My solution was to move :drunk: I have tasty beers now.
 
im going to brew this. im gonna try the oregon puree raspberries and probably use willamette hops because i have a pound. what yeast did you use? im either going to use notty, us05 or s04
 
I forget which yeast I used when I originally made this, it was probably US05 or Nottingham, since those were what I had for neutral flavored yeasts at the time. I actually have a batch in the fermenter right now with Safbrew WB-06 Dry Wheat and I'm going to see how that turns out.
 
Ok I brewed this yesterday. Dropped the grain to 7lb to hit 1.038 w/ 75% efficiency. Except that I hit 92% efficiency and screwed things up. Either my new barley crusher is a miracle worker or my grain measuring buddy miscalculated things... So this will be a little strong. I also dropped the raspberries down to 3lb of Oregon Puree. I didn't want it to be too fruity the first time through. I have heard good things about this puree but this is my first fruit beer so I don't really have a baseline. I boiled the puree for the last few minutes of the boil to try to induce the fruit haze of the original beer.

Pitched the s04 english ale yeast at about 11pm last night and it was bubbling nicely this morning.
 
Hydro sample was very tasty. Crisp and dry despite being fruity. Nice raspberry flavor from the puree, and had the cloudiness of the McMenamin's version. Sorry but no photo. It is in the keg now but there are 3 kegs ahead of this one in the rotation. Guess we better get to drinking over here.

Here is the recipe I used:

7.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 100.00 %
0.75 oz Willamette [7.60 %] (90 min) (First Wort Hop) Hops 27.3 IBU
3lbs Oregon Puree Raspberry
1 Pkgs SafAle English Ale (DCL Yeast #S-04) Yeast-Ale
 
Just put this in the fridge on gas. I leapfrogged a couple other beers in the keg rotation since it is so hot here and this sounds refreshing. I'm going to try to carb this quickly at 30psi so I should have some tasting notes in the next couple days.

I happened to be at McMenamin's roadhouse the other day and tried a "Purple People Eater" which was basically a ruby with boysenberries instead of raspberries. It was extremely bland and I wouldn't have it again. My hydro sample tasted much better! I have a couple bombers of Ruby to compare to it when it is cold and carbed, so I'll report back.
 
Ok so this crappy cell phone pic doesn't really do it justice, but you can see the pinkish haze! It tastes pretty good. Not fully carbed yet but definite raspberry fruitiness and nice crisp finish. Later tonight I'll have a few people compare it to the McMenamin's bombers and see what they like about each.

126.jpg
 
So I compared this to the 22oz of Ruby I bought a couple weeks ago. Totally different beers.

The Ruby was barely pink, just a very very light tinge. This was accompanied by not much raspberry flavor, very light, and a bit of sweetness.

My beer on the other hand was much darker, more pink. Much hazier. Also, it was very tart and there was a lot more raspberry flavor. It was a bit puckering but it was refreshing. People liked it, but one guy wanted it to be sweeter.

From my experiences of dozens of pitchers of ruby, I remember it being cloudier than this bottled version. I will have to go refresh my memory.

if I was trying to get closer to the flavor of ruby and the color of the bottled one, id reduce the puree further from 3lbs and probably boil it for less time or add it at cooling.

I need to let this sit around a bit before I decide where to go with it, but I am enjoying it so far.
 
Looks nice. Have you considered adding lactose to sweeten it up. Why put berries in the boil instead of secondary?

I haven't really thought about tweaking this batch yet as we've only had a pitcher and a bit so far. If I make adjustments, it will probably be to the next batch. Also, I enjoy the tartness. It was one of my friends who wanted it more sweet. With it being so hot out, that tart flavor is quite refreshing.

I put the berry puree in the boil to induce the haze (yes I know it's weird) but the original (at least on draft) is pretty hazy.
 
I love this beer and appreciate all the info. I'm a Portland ex-pat stuck in Wichita and hope to brew this beer often during the summers.

Do you think there would be any advantage or disadvantage to adding the puree to secondary?

How much raspberry puree do you intend to use next time? If I recall the Ruby has a subtle fruitiness, was 3 pounds too much?

I was planning on cutting the amount of puree down to 1.5 pounds unless somebody has a better idea.

Thanks in advance.








I haven't really thought about tweaking this batch yet as we've only had a pitcher and a bit so far. If I make adjustments, it will probably be to the next batch. Also, I enjoy the tartness. It was one of my friends who wanted it more sweet. With it being so hot out, that tart flavor is quite refreshing.

I put the berry puree in the boil to induce the haze (yes I know it's weird) but the original (at least on draft) is pretty hazy.
 
I love this beer and appreciate all the info. I'm a Portland ex-pat stuck in Wichita and hope to brew this beer often during the summers.

Do you think there would be any advantage or disadvantage to adding the puree to secondary?

How much raspberry puree do you intend to use next time? If I recall the Ruby has a subtle fruitiness, was 3 pounds too much?

I was planning on cutting the amount of puree down to 1.5 pounds unless somebody has a better idea.

Thanks in advance.

I would cut the fruit down a bit. I did 3lbs and it is good but quite fruity. 2lbs or 1.5lbs would be more subtle. If you add the puree to the secondary, you won't get the pectin haze, but maybe that is what you want?:fro:
 
Made an 11-gallon batch yesterday. Went with 16lb of 2-row and 4.5lb berries. Half pound in the mash and four in the boil. Great color, subtle aroma. Depending on flavor at 10 days we might do a pound or so in secondary too. OG after all was said and done, 1.042.
 
My first attempt was OK but it needs more cow bell: it was too light and mild compared to the Ruby as I remember it. The raspberry flavor was very subtle.

The recipe was:

7.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row)
1.00 lb Wheat
1.00 oz Willamette (60 min)
1.50 lb Oregon raspberry puree (Boil 5.0 min)

For my second attempt I will modify this to:

8.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row)
2.00 lb Wheat
1.50 oz Willamette (60 min)
2.00 lb Oregon raspberry puree (Boil 5.0 min)
 
Hi kenny, sorry it was a bit mild for you! Mine was much more tart/fruity than the "official" ruby (at 3lbs puree). I'm not sure when I'm going to make this again - next time, I'll probably add the puree to the secondary even tho that isn't going to result in the cloudy factor.
 
I made this last spring according to your recipe. Very tart the first few months. I had one this evening and I am VERY pleased with this beer now (I've never had the original). That bomber went too fast! It has inspired me to try:

10 lbs pale malt
.5 lb 40L
.5 honey malt (These are approximates as I will be using up some grains I have.)
and perhaps some wheat flakes

into a secondary over 8 lbs of blackberries!!
 
I made this last spring according to your recipe. Very tart the first few months. I had one this evening and I am VERY pleased with this beer now (I've never had the original). That bomber went too fast! It has inspired me to try:

10 lbs pale malt
.5 lb 40L
.5 honey malt (These are approximates as I will be using up some grains I have.)
and perhaps some wheat flakes

into a secondary over 8 lbs of blackberries!!


that sounds awesome!
 
Just a note, I had a chance to brew 220 gallons of Ruby with a friend of mine at one of the McMenamins breweries, and they use Chinook as the bittering hop, not Hallertauer. So if you want to create an authentic clone, you gotta use Chinook.
 
That's interesting. The bittering really shouldn't matter since all the aroma and flavor is boiled away; but I think I'll try it next time.
 
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