How much extract yield from adding blueberries?

Hello all! I have done extensive searches looking for this answer, to no avail.

A bit of background, prior to asking the question: I have recently begun brewing again (after a 10 year+ hiatus) and I now have 2 extract brews (one with steeping grains) under my belt. I am working my way up to all grain brewing. I had only previously done extracts (10 years ago.)

In an effort to get better at this, I purchased BeerAlchemy (I am a Mac user.) I like the program, so far. I have one extract kit left (an American Wheat) and I would like to tweak it with some wild Maine blueberries, added to secondary.

Now for the question: I am going to add the blueberries as an ingredient, to my BeerAlchemy data base. I would like to know if anybody knows what % extract I can expect from the blueberries.

Thanks for any help. This is a fantastic site! Tho I have been mostly just reading and learning, up until now, I really have enjoyed the discussions on this site.

Mike

Hi Mike,
I'm assuming you're trying to get an amount of sugar the blueberries will add so you can properly calculate/estimate gravity points??

If I remember, I'll look on my BeerSmith app when I get home because I know BeerSmith lists them but I also know it's not much at all.

You're not going to have any significant jump in gravity due to blueberries.

The best thing to do would be to use the nutrition facts for the blueberries you're buying, assuming you get them from a store and they have a label.

Checking google, it looks like a typical analysis would be 66 g of carbohydrates (45 g of sugars) per pound. That's 10-15% potential extract (5-7 point-gal/lb), depending on how much is soluble.

Thanks for the info, guys! I am using wild blueberries, that were fresh frozen, so I really have no info. But, this should get me close. Thanks again! Mike

From what I have found, I am going to get about 7% yield for wild Maine blueberries. I am only going to use about 2 pounds, in secondary, and add about 2 oz of extract (flavor) at bottling. I think it will not add much to gravity.

Don't know if it's a no-no to link to another site, but this calculator is really helpful for rough calculations using just about any type of fruit that you could want. Just select the sugar source (in this case blueberries) and it'll give you an approximate amount for the sugar content. For blueberries, it lists 9.8% sugar by weight.

Another option is to press the blueberries and measure the SG of the resulting juice. It might require some math to get back to extract potential, but it'll be much more accurate for your specific blueberries.

Sounds like a tasty wit.

This is what I love about this place... I consider myself to be a good searcher of the internet. But, I really couldn't think how to figure this out. After seeing your example, I searched for nutritional analysis of wild Maine blueberries, and then carried it from there! Awesome!

One more question: Would adding 2 pounds add enough sweetness that I would want to add more hops, than the kit provides, to balance? Or will the sugars ferment out, and make it not needed? I don't want a sweet fruity beer. I want one with the essence of blueberry, but still be a beer. But in an American Wheat style. Thanks again, Mike

I have a "blueberry summer ale" that my SWMBO made with my equip... She just used some WLP 001 and added four lbs of frozen, crushed up blueberries to the secondary. I think any sugar and flavor fermented almost completely out. It's not a bad beer (I don't care for it) but I wasn't getting a strong blueberry "sweetness" from it at all.

All the sugar from the blueberries should ferment out completely, so even if you added 15 lbs, the sugar would still get eaten (ideally). 2 lbs sounds like a good amount for what you're looking to do. Just be forewarned...it'll definitely change color. The nice thing about blueberries (or not depending on what you want) is that the color they impart is pretty stable compared to other fruit.

I think you could even just add the extract for flavor essence, but what's the fun of not using wild berries?? ;D

LOL... +100 on the color comment... the batch I mentioned is freakin' purple!

hehe purple brew. Kinda scary! And yeah, I really want it to contain real wild Maine blueberries. I am going to add 1 oz of Cascade hop pellets at flameout. I hope this works. But I am not going to learn anything, if I don't experiment, eh?

Here, here for experimentation!

I'm actually pretty jealous that you have access to wild blueberries...

I do pick some of my own, when I hike remote areas, where there isn't much traffic. But to get this quantity, I bought from a girl I work with, whose partner harvest loads of them every year. They are excellent Maine blueberries, with a fantastic tart flavor. I hope at least some of the flavor/ aroma is imparted to the brew.