SteveM
Well-Known Member
My wife had a Blueberry Lager at the Manayunk Brew Pub last summer and has been bugging me since then to make something similar. I figured I would take a shot for the holidays, for a lot of reasons. First, the presence of something lighter in taste will give me a way to deflect people from my very hoppy red ales. Second, it will allow me to have something that should be more accessible, taste-wise, for gift giving and company.
I tended more toward raspberry than blueberry, which does not seem quite as compatible with beer to me. I was thinking about a wheat beer but as I said, I want this to be, well, unchallenging enough for people who are not used to my brews. I also want it to be as pale as I can - some folks are put off by even the appearance of a darker brew. I also don't want to overpower the rasperry taste.
In the brew tank right now (since last weekend) is my attempt. I used a very light unhopped LME, along with (I forget how much) rice solids. I used a very light hop load - only one ounce of a 3.6% acid hop (my notes are in the attic with my brewing stuff) for the whole boil. No steeping grains at all.
I am using raspberry extract rather than throwing fruit into the brew tank. I hope this works out - dumping several pounds of raspberries into my plastic tank seemed fraught with unpleasant potential.
I used a dry yeast and it percolated steadily for a couple of days and has now sat quietly and behaved itself since Wednesday.
I go to bottle next weekend. If it is going to be tolerable, it should be good to go by the holiday week. Wish me luck.
I tended more toward raspberry than blueberry, which does not seem quite as compatible with beer to me. I was thinking about a wheat beer but as I said, I want this to be, well, unchallenging enough for people who are not used to my brews. I also want it to be as pale as I can - some folks are put off by even the appearance of a darker brew. I also don't want to overpower the rasperry taste.
In the brew tank right now (since last weekend) is my attempt. I used a very light unhopped LME, along with (I forget how much) rice solids. I used a very light hop load - only one ounce of a 3.6% acid hop (my notes are in the attic with my brewing stuff) for the whole boil. No steeping grains at all.
I am using raspberry extract rather than throwing fruit into the brew tank. I hope this works out - dumping several pounds of raspberries into my plastic tank seemed fraught with unpleasant potential.
I used a dry yeast and it percolated steadily for a couple of days and has now sat quietly and behaved itself since Wednesday.
I go to bottle next weekend. If it is going to be tolerable, it should be good to go by the holiday week. Wish me luck.