Fruit Beer Blonde Redhead

60 min. @ 148-152 degrees - 60 min. boil, add DME @ 20 min. to keep color golden


Grains/Extract

4 lbs. Munton's Extra Light DME
1 lb. Flaked Wheat
.5 lb. Crystal 10L
.5 lb. Pilsner Malt

Hops

7 grams Centinnial (60 min.)
7 grams Centinnial (30 min.)
7 grams Cascade (20 min.)
14 grams Cascade (5 min.)

Adjuncts

1.25 lbs. Fresh Raspberries (added to secondary)


If you like fruit beers that slap you across the face with fruit flavor, this is NOT the beer for you. The raspberry is noticeable, light, and the british DME gives it a nice toasty finish. This was my first beer, and I will be making it again once the weather heats up a bit.

This has been carbing in the bottle for about 2 weeks, and it has done nothing but become more refreshing! The Raspberry bite has slightly mellowed, but the raspberry taste is still apparent. I fear that over the next couple of months the fruit taste will fade to the point where the raspberry flavor would be muted, so I might try bumping the fruit up to 2-3 pounds instead of 1.25. I was skeptical when a fellow poster recommended 3 pounds, but now I'm thinking that they might have been right My girlfriend can't get enough of the stuff, and ordered me to make another batch when summer approaches. Who am I to deny such a patient woman?

Took this to my 1st brew club meeting last week, and it got a very solid reception. I was very impressed with the number of certified beer judges, many of whom have been in "the biz" for a very long time. The only critiques they gave me was that it needed more time in the bottle before it would be winning any competitions, and if I wanted to clear it up a bit, I could add pectin when using fruit.