Rasberry Extract

I am interested in brewing a wheat that calls for the addition of rasberry extract in the bottling bucket.

2 questions . . .

First. What is this stuff? Is this that stuff by McCormicks, similar to vanilla extract?

Second. Can I just make this on my own? Perhaps boil the rasberries to kill off wild yeasts, then puree it and add to the bottling bucket?

Thanks

1. It's a nasty tasting attempt to concentrate the flavors.
2. Add 1-2 lbs of frozen raspberries when you have 15 minutes left in the boil. You'll have to reset your timer when the boiling resumes and the beer will have a slight haze for the pectin.
If you do not want any haze, toss the berries in at the end of the boil and stir well before cooling.

I made my first raspberry/wheat brew a couple months back and also struggled with whether I should go the extract route or with whole raspberries.
Eventually, mostly due to ease of use, I went with the extract. My LHBS had it for around $9 for 4oz.

I added 3oz at bottling time and I have to say it turned out pretty good. I didn’t add the whole 4 oz. as I was afraid of it getting the cough syrup taste I have read others complain about on here.

Anyway, I haven’t done the whole berries yet, so I can compare, but I can say I was pleasantly surprised and others seemed to really like it as well. Next time, though, I think I’d add the whole 4oz.

Hope this helps.

I have the raspberry extract but haven't used it yet. What I have used a few times (2 X in Canadian ale and once in a Belgian Witbier) is the blueberry extract. I don't want the extract to over power the taste of my beer so I only use 2 ozs. My beer tastes great with just a slight hint of blueberry. I'll be brewing another Canadian Ale after the holiday and plan on trying the raspberry with this batch. Everybody that I turned on with samplers love it. Especially the woman.