BlueBerry Pale Ale

[GrapeKoolaid]

So I will be starting my VERY first brew. I hope it goes well. I was sent a Mr. Beer Kit, but I have already bought replacement 5 gal carboys. I am also going to be tweaking the recipe to increase the ABV%. Hopefully all goes well.

Anyone got any helpful hints?

 

[RM-MN]

Two very helpful hints. Don't start with a fruit beer and don't muck about trying to raise the alcohol until you know what you are doing. If you start with a kit or a tested recipe and it comes out good, you will know that your technique is OK. If you start with a fruit beer and raise the alcohol level and it tastes terrible you won't know where to start troubleshooting and none of us will either because you have introduced too many variables.

Some of the fruit beers I have done as I was starting out were near dumpers because the flavor was so bad. Some of the best beers were simple extract kits or recipes that were tested. I found that my beers have way more "kick" to them than beers I have bought without trying to raise the alcohol level too. Make a few and see what I mean. In the worst case you will need to drink two to get the effect you think you want but they will be quite a bit less expensive than what you are buying so you still come out ahead.

Many of us who brew have gotten past the "get drunk" stage and enjoy just one or 2 for the flavor of the homebrew. You might someday too.

 

[GrapeKoolaid]

Thanks for the help. I understand that I am getting into much more than I think, but I have helped brew a couple of batches with my friends and now starting my own. I just wanted to bring up the alcohol away from the projected 3%.

Question about your fruit beers. What did you add to what type of brew? And how much. I understand that this varries, but I want to get an idea of what I should be looking for when I am ready.

 

[h22lude]

You can use a simple golden ale recipe and you can easily find ones at 5% or more. A pale ale recipe will do well with flavoring too. Then add flavoring extract to that based on the instructions on the flavoring bottle. Remember you can always add more flavoring but you can never take flavoring out so start off by putting a little in at a time and tasting it.

 

[RM-MN]

I tried an apple ale and added applesauce. It was bad. I don't remember just how much I added but it took nearly a year to empty all the bottles. Then I got an idea for a raspberry red ale with real raspberries, about 4 pounds of them. Most of that is still in bottles and after several months it still isn't good and may become my first dumper.

I agree with H22lude, start with a recipe for a golden or blonde ale. The blueberry flavor is very mild and a pale ale's hops will overshadow it. At the top of the page is a redish-brown stripe and the third word on that is recipes. Look through that list and choose a light ale recipe. Those have been tested by homebrewers and there will be comments on them.

 

[GrapeKoolaid]

cool. thanks for all the info.

 

[dudash02]

hey ill gladly take that Mr beer kit off of your hands since you upgraded lol

 

[Jayhem]

How are you planning on utilizing blueberries? I'll be making my first ale with fruit in it soon but I'll be using blackberries.

From what I'm reading you want to go light on the fruit, about 2X as much malt grains as fruit and you can pasturize the fruit by boiling it seperately and then straining it and adding it to your late boil or primary for flavor and color. Most likely it will make your beer cloudy though.

If you want a strong beer with blueberries, try a belgian tripel recipe and add a bit of pasturized berry juice at some point. Belgian Tripel typically have added sugar to boost alcohol to 7-10%/vol. Not my style of brew but it works well with fruit flavors. You can also buy concentrated fruit flavors to add the color and flavor without making the beer cloudy.

 

[strambo]

I've had a blueberry Pale Ale at a Brewpub and it was surprisingly good, I'd have thought the PA style would be to bitter for the fruit but it worked.

That said, I would just dial in a good Pale Ale recipe (no fruit or anything funky) then when you have a PA that you know turns out nice, experiment with blueberries, etc. My first batch is a PA that is bottle conditioning now. I tried one early at a week in the bottle and it is excellent. Now I have a good base to experiment with in the future.

 

[GrapeKoolaid]

I will still be using the 2.5gal Mr. Brew kit to try out new batches. I want to do smaller trial batches in the Mr. Brew kits, that way i may not have too much of a dump batch.

I will be utilizing the blueberries in the second ferment. I had talked with some people and they recommend the second for an after taste of the fruit when you drink. Its going to be a 15oz can whole blueberries.

I've helped make this Pale Ale recipe a couple of times and it has gone pretty good. not even a day in and already fermenting pretty well. I am going to try to take each ferment out 10-14days. should be good. keep everyone posted.

 

[Jayhem]

When you add the blueberries be careful of sanitation as the outside of the can is loaded with bacteria and so is your can opener. I would probably heat the berries on the stove in a bit of water to near boiling for 5-10 minutes, Cool and add to secondary.

 

[GrapeKoolaid]

good looking out. I was going to sanitize the can and can opener. I think the blueberries should be clean of bacteria since they are canned, but that is still a good idea. It will be done!

 

[microbusbrewery]

Its going to be a 15oz can whole blueberries.

+1 on a pale ale being kind of odd choice for a fruit beer. Pale ales tend to be fairly hoppy and that doesn't usually go very well with fruit.

Re blueberries, my disclaimer is I'm a bit prejudiced because I've never had a blueberry beer that I liked...they tend to remind me of Boo Berry cereal, but not in a good way.

That said, based on my experience if you're making a fruit beer you need to go much heavier on the fruit than you'd expect. Assuming you're doing a 5 gallon batch, 15 oz is not enough. I'd recommend at least a pound per gallon. I have a watermelon wheat that I make and I use an 8# melon (yields about 6 pounds of fruit) for a 5 gallon batch. If you don't believe me, check out Radical Brewing - for most fruits the recommendation is 1-4 pounds per gallon.

 

[paraordnance]

18 oz berries is not enough for 5 gal. I brewed SWMBO slayer, last year and once crash cooled in freezer, I added 4 lbs of strawberries. Sorta dry hopped with strawberries in keg.

 

[GrapeKoolaid]

Yeah i was doing a little more research on adding fruit and i think it is 1/2lb per gallon of beer. Maybe no fruit beer right now. money is kind of tight, but then again i have two weeks to get more fruit.

I dont want a strong blueberry flavor, but something light on the end. I may end up doing it on the next batch.

 

[mm3347]

I just opened my first bottle of a citrus pale ale and it came out perfect.
I dried various types of orange and lemon peels and put them in half way through
my secondary and I couldn't ask for a better outcome, especially since this was my first
brew ever.