Blackberry Witbier Recipe

[JesseRYC]

I have recently been altering previous recipes and the following is what I came up with for SWMBO's birthday. Any input is greatly appreciated. Basically, my only concern is if I have too much adjunct (the orange peel, star anise, corriander, and grains of paradise) and their respective flavors will compete too much. Any suggestions?
Ingredients:

* 2 lbs. pilsner malt
* 2 lbs. malted white wheat
* 1 lb. flaked wheat
* 1 lb. flaked oats
* 2 lbs. unhopped wheat dry malt extract (DME)
* 0.5 oz Mt. Hood hops
* 0.5 oz Saaz hops
* 1 oz Bitter Orange Peel
* 0.5 oz Sweet Orange Peel
* 0.5 oz Star Anise
* 1 oz Coriander Seed, crushed
* 0.5 oz Grains of Paradise, crushed
* Wyeast 3944 Belgian Witbier Yeast
* 0.5 lb fresh blackberries


Step by Step:
Heat 9 quarts water to 163° F. Crush whole grains and add, with flaked grains as well. Hold mash at 152° F for 90 minutes. Runoff and sparge with 12 quarts water at 170° F. Add DME, stir well, bring to a boil. Add Mt. Hood hops, boil 45 minutes. Add Saaz hops, boil 15 minutes. Remove from heat, remove hops if possible. Add coriander, paradise seed, and orange peel, steep 30 minutes.

Pour into fermenter along with enough water to make up 5 gallons. Cool to 70-75 F, pitch yeast. Ferment in primary for two weeks, rack to secondary and condition for three to four weeks with blackberry concentrate.

When transferring into secondary, prepare a blackberry concentrate by mashing up around half a pound of blackberries with a bit of water over some heat. Then, strain off the juice, and boil this for 10 minutes to make sure it is sterile. Once cooled, add it to the secondary.

 

[14thstreet]

How much blackberry do you want in your finished beer? I haven't made fruit beer but I have made fruit wine and 0.5 lb berries seems way too few berries. You might be better off with 0.5lb per gallon. At the very least, it's possible that your other spices will simply drown out your berries at the current rate.

 

[TomRep]

I did a blackberry wheat a couple weeks ago and granted it had a slightly higher grain bill, I used about 6.5# of berries in it. Berries were off my plant from last year and frozen until used. I didn't smashe them up or anything, just added about a pound and a half after the boil and the remainder into the secondary. Does it taste good? I have not friggin idea, still in the secondary
tom

 

[jgln]

Do you think the orange peel with clash with the blackberry flavor or complement it? I love the flavor of blackberry beers just not sure if they use the orange too.

 

[Adam78K]

I would deftly add more blackberry to the recipe and possibly cut out the orange peels to save some money because the two will compete with each other. Could leave the coriander in the beer for the spice it adds, up to you. Let me know, sounds like an interesting recipe.

 

[JesseRYC]

I didn't want to take out the orange peel because I believe that it will be a complement. I also didn't want to alter it to the point where it would no loner be identifiable as a wit. I definately want to be able to taste the blackberry and not just as a hint. Would it be easier to use blackberry puree? 5-6 lbs of fresh blackberries sounds mighty expensive. Thanks for all of the input guys. Its greatly appreciated.

 

[jgln]

I could be wrong but I do not believe leaving out the orange peel will make it not a wit beer. However, I do think if you want to blend the backberry and orange flavor by all means do it. It may come out interesting and I am sure good.

 

[Adam78K]

Can go with a blackberry extract at bottling this could achieve the effect and also help lower your cost.

 

[JesseRYC]

Ya I believe I will end up using the 49 oz can of Oregon blackberry puree. Although I am not sure if i should add it to the boil or in the secondary... Im not sure which will provide the amount of flavor that I hope to achieve in the beer.

 

[JesseRYC]

So I went with the brewcraft blackberry natural fruit flavor. Has anyone ever used this before or any other of brewcraft's extract products? and what is your opinion on them? Also, i dipped my pinky in the vial to get a taste for it and am wondering if it is okay to add it to the 2ndary after doing this? Thanks for the help guys.

 

[MikeBitting]

I just added the brewcraft to a batch of apfelwein. I was curious to see what the stuff was made of, so I emailed the manufacturer. This is what they came back with

"Hey Mike,

The ingredient list says "blueberry natural flavoring, propylene glycol"

Unfortunately, the ingredient list is a very closely held secret. The FDA and Mane are the only two organizations that know the answer to that.

They make it by identifying several of the key chemical flavor and aroma components, then rebuilding them in a lab. So, it's chemically derived but also identical to what's found in a blackberry. However, there's no acid, anti-oxidants, sugar, or many other things you would also find in a blackberry; just the topline flavor and aroma notes. You can add your own sugar & acids.

Adam"

so it is essentially an all-natural extract, looks like fermentation won't directly affect it.

 

[icanbenchurcat]

Mmmm... Living in Marietta, GA it is not a rural area, but I have been finding thornless blackberry bushes all over the place!

They always seem to be on the side of the road where you can actually see them. Also, I look out for people's cars covered in purple bird crap.

I have 2lbs I collected sitting in the freezer right now. I need to see if I can "work from home" the rest of the day and go collect some more.