mcavers
Active Member
Hey brewers - this is what I plan to do. Let me know if you think it sounds like utter madness.
I want to make a raspberry blonde ale, and want the freshest possible raspberry flavour. So I brewed the base beer yesterday - a blonde ale, 1.040, mashed fairly hot to up the body in advance of all those fruit sugars - and will let it ferment to completion. Using 3522 so this will happen in a week or less. Love those esters and that nice nutty profile.
On racking day, I'm going to take a couple of pounds of fresh raspberries, wash them well, and then put them into a big, sanitized jar. I'll pour a cup or so of vodka over them, seal the jar, and shake them gently to make sure each berry gets a good vodka soak. After five minutes or so, I'll pour the vodka off (probably to make caesars!), open the jar, and mash the raspberries well with a sanitized potato masher. Then I'll pour the berry pulp into a sanitized carboy and rack the blonde onto it. Planning to give the beer two weeks to sit on the fruit and absorb its deliciousness.
Have any of you used this technique - or anything like it - before?
I want to make a raspberry blonde ale, and want the freshest possible raspberry flavour. So I brewed the base beer yesterday - a blonde ale, 1.040, mashed fairly hot to up the body in advance of all those fruit sugars - and will let it ferment to completion. Using 3522 so this will happen in a week or less. Love those esters and that nice nutty profile.
On racking day, I'm going to take a couple of pounds of fresh raspberries, wash them well, and then put them into a big, sanitized jar. I'll pour a cup or so of vodka over them, seal the jar, and shake them gently to make sure each berry gets a good vodka soak. After five minutes or so, I'll pour the vodka off (probably to make caesars!), open the jar, and mash the raspberries well with a sanitized potato masher. Then I'll pour the berry pulp into a sanitized carboy and rack the blonde onto it. Planning to give the beer two weeks to sit on the fruit and absorb its deliciousness.
Have any of you used this technique - or anything like it - before?