American Blackberry Honey Hefeweizen

[hallandy]

So I want to get my hands dirty (so to speak) and create my own brew. Here is what i am thinking so far, would appreciate any comments from more experienced brewers.


6# blackberries
6# Liquid Wheat Malt extract
1 cup clover honey
1 cup corn sugar (as primer)
2 oz saaz USA hops
2 cups carapils (for head retention)
American hefeweizen liquid yeast
1 tsp irish moss

I am going for a present blackberry taste, mild hops, and hints of honey. Using American saaz and yeast, hints the name "american" blueberry honey hefeweizen

Concerns I have: How much honey will properly balance out the blackberries? Also i am thinking about adding the blackberries in the secondary, if they are frozen, should i just defrost, mash up and add?

 

[TheBaconator]

Howdy!

Blackberry wheats are good beers.


Concerns I have:

How much honey will properly balance out the blackberries?
- My concern here would be more with the amount of blackberries going in. This may come out more like a blackberry wheat wine. That's fine if that's what you're going for but there are a few things to consider with having that much blackberries.

1. This is going to come out pretty sweet. Most of the sugar in the blackberries will ferment out but you have to look at it in the perspective of your yeast attenuation. e.g. a yeast with %70 attenuation will mean you have about 4.5 lbs of fermentables and 1.5 lbs of blackberry sugar that wont' ferment out. Since honey is sweet too you may consider adding a bit fewer blackberries.

2. I'm assuming this is a 5 gallon batch, but 12 lbs of fermentables is going to put you in the 9-10% alcohol range. Not bad if that's what you're going for but on the high side for an american wheat.



Also i am thinking about adding the blackberries in the secondary, if they are frozen, should i just defrost, mash up and add?
- You'll need to sanitize the blackberries before freezing and adding or they'll still have bacteria on them. Freezing will stop bacterial growth but won't kill all of what's already there. Search the forum a bit more, you'll want to heat them to around 160 for ten minutes or so and then freeze before adding to your secondary.