Brewcraft flavorings

My husband made a 5 gallon batch of hef that wasn't all that great to begin with, but he didn't know it all the time. He split into 1 gallons and added different brewcraft flavorings to each, and none to the last. Well, nothing really turned out that well, but I keep looking at these brewcraft flavorings in my fridge thinking, "I should make something with that," and he is freaking out, worried that they would actually mess up something that was good.

Has anyone worked with this before?

I was thinking something with chocolate, and use the raspberry, strawberry, or raspberry flavors. I also saw that raspberry flavor post considering using flavors with skeeter pee, which my husband does seem to be freaking out ruining that less than ruining a chocolate batch, thought I've never attempted either. Any other suggestions?

Edit: Flavors I have include mango, cherry, raspberry, strawberry, and an unopened apple.

Make some apfelwein and experiment with it. It's about the cheapest thing you can brew this side of prison hooch, and apples blend well with other fruits. I'd make a 5-gallon batch using EdWort's recipe, and then divide it out into 1-gallon secondaries to experiment with the flavors.

Alternatively, you could try your hand at a homebrew version of those flavored malt beverage coolers. Use a pound or so of extra light DME and some sugar, pitch some ale yeast, ferment it out, flavor it to taste, and bottle carb. The only problem I see with this is if it works then all you've done is re-invent the malt cooler. Since they sell for about 80 cents apiece at Walmart it's not really worth the effort. On second thought, I'd stick with the apfelwein

jcobbs said:

I'd make a 5-gallon batch using EdWort's recipe, and then divide it out into 1-gallon secondaries to experiment with the flavors.

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Yup, that sounds exactly like what my husband did , except he left one plain and it still didn't turn out. It was his second attempt at a beer, and we knew when it went into primary that something was not right when the OG and the store's recipe did not agree. We were hoping it was the store (both of us hate going there - it is crowded, never fully stocked, and run by twits as the owner has abandoned it to start a winery).

Candle,

EdWort's recipe is for an apfelwein, not beer. As jcobs said, the residual apple flavor would be more likely to jive with those flavorings than would a beer. Sounds like fun.

GNBrews said:

Candle,

EdWort's recipe is for an apfelwein, not beer. As jcobs said, the residual apple flavor would be more likely to jive with those flavorings than would a beer. Sounds like fun.

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I know it is a wine, not beer, but the technique of flavoring (make 5 gallons, split into 1 gallons and flavor) sounds exactly like what my husband did with his beer.

I'm just thinking that apfelwein is just about foolproof, and cheap, and it's a little more flavor-neutral than beer in the sense that it should blend well with the fruit flavorings you mentioned. It will take a little longer to mellow than beer, so it won't be something you can finish up in a few weeks. Give it 3-6 months or so till you really can tell how the flavorings will work.

There is a nice brew store with staff that knows it stuff in Bellingham