Huckleberry Porter

Ok, frankly I am not into fruity beers, but I was reminiscing with my wife last night after putting together a batch of beer, about the times we would sit on the dock in front of her parents cabin and drink Apricot Ale (wouldn't touch it these days).

I was trying to think if there was ANY good fruit type beers out there and then decided that I think that something that had a 'hint' of huckleberry would be nice.

For those of you not aware, huckleberries grow in the higher elevations and are something similar to blueberries but have a more rich flavor. They can be a bit tart, but if they are picked at the right time they are packed with sweetness and flavor.

So, the real question is, if I wanted a 'hint' of raspberry in lets say, a Porter, how many berries should I use and when would I use them?

I don't want it to be sweet, but I do want to have some Huckleberry essence.

Thanks in advance!!

Are you going for a raspberry or huckleberry porter? I made a huckleberry blonde ale over the summer with huckleberry extract that turned out great. I just added a 4 oz. bottle to the corn sugar solution at bottling time. I've been interested in making a huckleberry cream stout in the past and this thread may just revive that idea.

Before clicking the thread, i had a feeling there would be Spokane posters in here...

BeezBrew said:

Before clicking the thread, i had a feeling there would be Spokane posters in here...

Click to expand...

Heck yeah! We love our huckleberries in these parts. I take my family to Priest lake ID. every August to pick them. We always use them to make pancakes and cobbler and what not but next year I'll have to use some in a brew.

I would be using fresh/frozen Huckleberries. How and when do you put them into the recipe?

Real fruit should be added after the vigorous ferment has finished. Rack into a clean vessel to which the fruit has already been added.

Put the fruit through several freeze-thaw cycles. This bursts the cell walls of the fruit, releasing the juice more readily; you go from berries to mush after two or three cycles. You can pour that mush through a funnel into the carboy, then rack the beer on top of the fruit.

You can add the fruit after racking, too. I only advise before because I am a terrible judge of how much space I need for the fruit and usually end up with fruit left over.

It'll take some experimentation to empirically arrive at the appropriate amount of fruit. I've never tasted a huckleberry, so I can't offer any advice. Plus, the style of beer to be fruited changes the amount required.

Good luck!

Bob

Should there be any concerns regarding bacteria? My idea is to go from freezer to refrigerator to freezer and on and on. I suppose that should be ok eh?

And then also, what about quantity of fruit? Huckleberries are pretty flavorful, so my idea was to start with a quarter pound and then give it 2 or 3 days and then add more if necessary. Does that sound reasonable?

I've never worried about spoilage microflora. I've used at least three freeze-thaw cycles whenever I've used fresh fruit, and I've never had an infection. Can't say if the technique and lack of infection are related, scientifically, but...

As for quantity of fruit, you're just going to have to research. Figure out a fruit that's about as strongly-flavored as your huckleberries. Look for beer recipes that feature that fruit and approximate. Then think about beer style - fruit flavor comes through much more easily in, say, American Wheat than Porter. So you need less fruit in American Wheat than you do Porter to achieve a comparable level of flavor. Dig into some recipe databases, including HBT's.

I can tell you two things for sure: 1., a quarter-pound of fruit is too little to have any impact, regardless of the style. 2., don't muck about in your fermenter. Figure out approximately how much fruit to add, add it, and leave it alone for at least a week. After a week, taste it. If the flavor is still light, leave it another week. Taste. If it's still light, consider adding 25% more fruit.

Cheers,

Bob

Hey HOOTER, just wondering if you played around with the huckleberries. I have some in the freezer and would like to try it in a brew.