Blueberry Ale Experiment

I want to have (2) refreshing summer brews going this summer, one is an orange heff and the other is a blueberry ale. if anyone has ever had the blueberry ale from boston beers works, well that is what im aiming for, its fantastic.

ive been reading that blueberries added to a secondary will just ferment out the flavor and i also read on here that using 3 lbs per gallon could work, basicly use lots and lots of blueberries.


instead of using blueberries, some have used puree in the secondary or blueberry flavoring at bottling. what is the best artificial flavoring to use besides blueberries?

what im going to do it brew up a blonde ale recipe and then split it into (2) mr beer kegs that i use for experiment batches. after fermentation is complete i will transfer one to a secondary and add frozen blueberries to 3 lbs per gallon. the other i will add a flavoring to the mr b keg or at bottling. when they are ready to drink i can compare the 2 and improve the better of the 2 from there.

the blonde recipe im thinking or using 2 row, Crystal 20, a little honey malt and carapils. not sure about hops though, ive never brewed a blonde ale, suggestions? yeast will be S-05. probably gonna do this in 2 weeks.

suggestions?

I have nothing to add other than the BBW Blueberry Ale is delicious!!! Good luck! If you're Boston based then I bet if you swung by that the brewers wouldn't mind talking shop. You might get what you're looking for...

I also am planning on using blueberries, along with lavender, in probably my next stout recipe. In the little bit of research I have done, it does seem like you need to use a LOT of actual blueberries to get what you are looking for, plus blueberries have a good amount of tartness to them so you may want to make sure you have enough unfermentables in the background to balance it out. Good luck!