blueberry extract question

[chigundo]

After stopping at a couple shops I now have both artifiical and natural blueberry extract.. and i'm torn as to which one to use, and when.

I'm working on a Seadog blueberry clone from BYO replicator, and it says to add the extract (doesn't specify natural or artificial) into the secondary and let sit for a week.

I'd go jsut with primary but to be able to stir in the extract makes sense for secondary...

But, I'm told most people just add the extract at the time of bottling.. so why add it anytime sooner? I'm confused by this. And the natural flavoring has surgar while the artificial does not.. so if I added the natural extract, would it lose flavor due to fermenting?

 

[KegOutlet]

As for natural or artificial, I am not sure. I would taste them both and see which one you like better. Maybe try diluting them in some water or something so you can really taste the differences.

I would also recommend adding this to your bottling bucket before bottling. The main reason is, you can taste the beer as you add the extract so you know what you are getting and how much to put in.

I recently did a beer where I added hazelnut extract to it. The recipe called for X amount, which I added to the bottling bucket before bottling. I then tasted the beer (although its not carbonated, you get the idea of what the beer is going to taste like) and it was way too much extract! Nearly ruined the beer and over powered any other flavors that would have been present! So when adding extract, I always add very small amounts to the beer in the bottling bucket, stir it gently, then taste a sample. If it needs a little more, add a little more, and repeat. Because once you add too much, there is no going back.

So if you were to add the extract to one of the fermenters, you wouldn't know how much to add and how it's going to taste because the fermentation isn't complete yet. Sampling unfermented beer would be a waste of time. And although you have a clone recipe that calls for X amount of blueberry extract, this might be more or less than you wish to have in your beer.

Hope this helps, sorry I couldn't be more helpful with the natural vs artificial questions.

 

[TopherM]

Natural is always going to be better than artificial.

Is the artificial blueberry extract one of the 5oz Brewers Best extracts? I've used that before, and it is not too bad, but it states to add 2.5-3.0 oz per 5 gallons, but trust me, you really should add closer to 1.0-1.5 oz.

As for the natural extract, I have no experience, so I'm not sure what to add.

 

[chigundo]

Yeah the artificial is brewers best. Natural one is from brewmasters. I only plan on adding 2oz at bottling. Thanks for the help guys.

Another local store suggested a secondary with a couple cans of blueberry purée with some pectic enzyme along with 4oz at bottling. Sounds intense.

 

[stratslinger]

What did you wind out going with, in the end? I've got a blueberry ale in secondary right now that I racked onto fruit, rather than extract, and the fruit character is underwhelming, to put it mildly. I'm considering picking up an extract to keg it with, but not sure what to go with. And seeing you're local, I'd also be curious where you got it!