Experimental Black Currant Ale...

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acidrain23

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So I was daydreaming and decided that a dark black currant beer would be tasty. I can get quart jars of black currants up at the polish deli down the street. Anyhow, here is kind of what I was thinking. I think it would be kind of like a black currant stout. Does this make any sense?

Extract Recipe, 5 Gallons:

3 lbs amber DME
3 lbs dark DME (these and the amber I have on hand from other projects)
1 lb Wheat DME (for improved head retention)
1 lb Belgian CaraMunich or Special B (for aroma)
1 lb Crystal 80-150L (for extra sweetness, color and to balance the acidity of the fruit)
1 lb toasted rolled oats (for toastiness and body)

Yeast: Saflager S-04, or S-33 or T58- still not sure

Hops: small bittering addition (dont want to much bitter) and late aroma addition. I was thinking of Galena or Bullion to reinforce the black currant aroma.

Fruit: 2-3 quarts of black currants added to the secondary. These contain sucrose as well, so I'm expecting to raise the gravity slightly as well as drying out the beverage somewhat. Might make it a little cidery, but maybe a little vinous which i think would not be amiss.

Does this plan seem solid or do I need to tweak further?
 
More specifically, should I ditch the aroma hops? Will the hop aroma fight with the fruit flavors?
 
Well, here is my final plan, any thoughts from our educated members here before I brew this weekend??
Do I have too much Special B in there? Should I try to convert the oats, or just steep? I don't think haze will be a problem since I'm anticipating an inky black color as well...

The Dark Crystal, "Belgian Style" Dark Ale with Black Currants and Forest Fruits
Extract Recipe, 5 Gallons:

3 lbs amber DME
3 lbs dark DME
1 lb Wheat DME
1 lb D-180 Belgian Candy Syrup
1 lb Belgian Special B
1 lb Briess Carmel 2-Row, 120L
1 lb toasted rolled oats

Yeast: Safbrew T-58

Hops:
.25 oz Pacific Gem 60M
.25 oz Pacific Gem 20M
.25 oz Pacific Gem 10M
.25 oz Pacific Gem 5M/Flameout

Chill wort, add cold water, 70F; pitch rehydrated Safbrew T-58

Secondary, add 3 jars (quarts) black currants or sour cherries (or a mix)
Add additional fruit, 2 lbs frozen raspberries, 1 lb frozen black berries

Predicted OG (before fruit addition): 1.074
(Total OG with fruit): 1.093
Predicted FG: 1.023
Predicted ABV: 8.5-10%
Predicted IBU's: 26
 
I think the idea of black currents in a dark ale is an intriguing idea. My only thought is that special "b" with crystal 120 is 2lbs of pretty similar crystal malts. It's a lot, but maybe you like it this way? I'd worry about it being overpowering, but I could be off base. At any rate, update this thread as you get along with the brewing. I'm curious to hear how it turns out.
 
I'm considering scaling it back to 1/2 lb of each. I want it sweet, but not cloying...

Basically I'm looking to layer the 'dark fruit'/dried fruit flavors from the dark malts with the fresh fruit flavors from the fruit.

Will definitely post updates!
 
I don't get much sweetness from crystal malts that dark, generally, but they do lend a strong flavor (and a slight aroma) that can overpower other flavor elements. I think those flavors would likely work well with currants, but maybe doing 1/2lb of each would be the safer move. Anyway, that's just me feeling, so do what makes most sense to you.
 
Looks tasty. I'd agree on cutting back the dark caramels, especially with the dark candi. Currants sound really good here, and the Pacific Gem is a great hop to complement them.
 
I finally brewed this this weekend! Kept everything the same as the above, but dialed down the dark carmels to .5 lb crystal 120 and .25 special b. Also, converted the toasted oats with 1 lb 2-row pale, my first mini-mash! When the specialty grains were steeping, got a huge molassas like odor. It seemed strong, but I think it will mellow in the mix. Hops are where I want them I think. Should be able to detect them in the nose and flavor without the hops being predominant, but they should be there. I didn't notice the berry flavor when I was boiling the wort, but I'm getting a certain fruitiness out of the airlock.

I used a 16 oz starter with the T-58 and fermentation was evident in only a couple of hours.

Unfortunately, no I am having trouble sourcing the jars of black currants that are usually readily available. I may go with black currant nectar or black currant syrup, depending on what I can get.

I think this is going to be good beer!
 
Let us know, my family chicken recipe uses red currant and it is killer, I was thinking of how to work it into a beer and this could be a good testing ground
 
Please post the results - I've been toying with using currants as well.
:mug:
 
So fermentation seemed to be slowing down (the T-58 really powerhoused its way though the brew!), I decided to add my fruit. Since I couldn't find the jarred black currants I was looking for, I went with these products.

6784588977_066544a01b.jpg


Tymbark Black Currant Nectar 67.6 oz
Lowell Black Currant Syrup 16.9 oz
Sweet Home Forrest Fruits Syrup (chokecherry, cranberry and blueberry)
Cracovia Black Currant Jam 13.4 oz

The jam was heated with a little water and 1/2 tsp of pectic enzyme and allowed to steep for abou 30 minutes. The syrups and nectar was added directly to the fermenter. In addition 1 lb of raspberries and 1.5 lbs of mixed berries were added as well.

I must admit, I wasn't expecting the brew to smell as "belgiany" as it did. If that is any indication, this is going to be some wonderful beer! :mug:
 
Wow, that's going to be a seriously strong beer. The fruit flavors ought to come through very nicely, given the size of those additions. Keep the updates coming.
 
With the alcohol theoretically approaching 11%, how long should I secondary this for?
 
So...I checked the fermenter last night and there is still airlock activity happening. I suppose I need to take a hydrometer reading, but my numbers are already off (last reading was lower than my predicted FG)- I think because of the volume of liquid added when I added the black currant juice. It does smell really wonderful!

Anyway, its been over two months now. I'm used to meads taking 6+ months to ferment, but is this unusual for a beer? I'm fine with letting it ride, but just wanted to make sure its not sitting on the cake too long.
 
The largish amount of currant juice probably lowered the overall density of nutrients, and increased the acidity, so (like some meads) it's not surprising that this is taking a while to complete. With the weather warming in many places, you may just be seeing off gassing, and not continued fermentation, unless you have really excellent temp controls. I'd say it's time to take a gravity (and taste!) sample. Let us know how it's faring.
 
I wish I could find black currants locally. Apparently they were banned for a long time in this country, and never gained popularity (unlike Europe, where they were a wartime replacement for citrus fruit).

I did find a great-looking place online. I'm considering getting a bunch of the dried currants there. http://www.currantc.com/

I'd love to get them for my sour beers.
 
Ok, I took a hydrometer reading and tasted a sample finally! It looks to be done- got 1.016 SG which is below where I predicted it to be, and it is crystal clear. Needless to say, it is a little...unbalanced. Really smakin you in the face with the black currant! Considering the amount of fruit product I put in there, I guess this is not surprising lol. I thought a little more of the dark malts might shine through but the fruit is dominating everything. It is almost like a melomel. I can't say it tastes bad though, and I will reserve judgement until this carbs up. It does have a beautiful color, a nice reddish brown. I will post pics and report back when I get this bottled and carb'd. We'll see if this comes out beer or a wine cooler! :)\

Oh yeah, plenty of alcohol in there too!
 
After a disappointing first taste, I cracked another one open last night. It still hasn't fully carb'd so will give this a while longer in the bottle before my next tasting. I think instead of beer, I am going to call this a 'malt beverage'. I wasn't expecting much, but...Damn, this is tasting pretty good! Its like a sparkling black currant mead, and I think given more time it will mature into something quite good. Its just not very "beery". The malts are just starting to peak through.
 
I gotta say, considering I thought this one was a dumper, it is really coming along. The fruit is still dominant, but now it's lost the tart edge that made it difficult to drink. The malt is picking up and starting to blend now. Although quickly dissipating, it has a head now and mouthfeel is improving. I'm going to give it another month or three in the bottle and I bet it is going to be awesome.

7162489630_d7b4886042.jpg
 
Yes! This is now a fantastic beer. It just took way longer than I thought it would. Still mostly fruit dominant, please use less black currant product if you make this! With the acidity, its almost lambic like. I probably should have factored in a long maturation on this one with the high OG and all. I also would swap out the yeast, T-58 provides a strange character that I'm not sure would be to everyone's liking- probably better to stick with any good Belgian stain other than this one.
 
Did you ever get to try this recipe with only fresh/frozen currants? Black currants are not overtly sweet but would you still use nectar, syrup, and jam again?

We're trying a black red currant porter this year and dont want it too sweet or fruity.
 

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