Brewing with Raisins

[ComingUpThrees]

What's the best time to put raisins into a batch of brew? Boil or use a secondary?

 

[two_one_seven]

Use Special B and save the trouble. You could go late in the boil with the fruit or secondary depending on what you want out of them.

 

[GuldTuborg]

What are you making, exactly?

 

[signpost]

I've thought about this myself. I like belgian styles a lot (especially Dubbels and BDSAs) and wondered if using actual raisins would enhance the flavor from the grains (special B mostly) and the candi sugar/syrup that I already use in the recipes.

And what characteristics would be singled out depending on whether they were added in the boil or in secondary?

 

[Bsquared]

Lost abbey mother of all beers, a dark belgian quad calls for raisins in the end of the boil.I have made this beer several times, with and without raisins. I don't notice much of a flavor difference with or without them. One thing to consider when using them is they swell up and absorb a lot of wort if you toss them in whole. if you cut them up well, they absorb a little less.

 

[motorneuron]

If you use them, I would guess it's best to put them in a little water and puree them before you add. Normal yeast can't get through fruit's cell walls and so can't incorporate the flavors or sugar much. (That's not raisin-specific advice. I suppose it's possible that the drying also compromises cell walls, but I have no particular reason to believe that.)

I haven't personally used raisins, but I'm guessing you can use them the same way you do any other fruit--either at the very end of the boil, or added a bit after peak fermentation (or to secondary, same thing). I would probably use the secondary approach, since the vigor of primary fermentation can drive off some of the subtler flavors of fruit, and the kick from simple sugars can mess a little with yeast metabolism. But again, this is just a guess.

Is it a Belgian beer? You could also look at the clone recipes for raison d'etre from Dogfish Head.

 

[ardonthorn5]

you could also try to soak them in vodka, which will help kill off any bacteria on them. then puree them in a sanitized blender; add to boil or secondary. just a thought on that. i've never done it, but it would break up the cell walls (as moto mentioned) and sanitize them.

 

[ComingUpThrees]

I'm considering using them in an oatmeal stout.

Thank you for the ideas. Appreciate it.

 

[two_one_seven]

I'm considering using them in an oatmeal stout.

Thank you for the ideas. Appreciate it.

What are you going for with this? Raisins would be non-traditional and out of style. But on the one hand I can see chocolate covered raisins or raisin oatmeal I suppose.

 

[ComingUpThrees]

Yes, going for an oatmeal / raisin flavor. Not sure I'm going to do it, as I think my last batch (a belgian blonde) came out way too watered down, so adding another layer of complexity may not be the best idea at the moment.

 

[two_one_seven]

It never hurts to experiment. Thats what home brewing is about, you can take risks.

 

[ComingUpThrees]

Exactly my thinking. I don't mind if the raisin experiment doesn't work the way I expect it to, but I want to make sure I have the basics down first. I was doing pretty good and had a 100% success rate (nothing award winning, but all quite drinkable) but this last batch, which I'll crack open tmw, I think something went wrong. It's VERY light, and I took a taste last week hoping it would be ok, but it didn't taste good at all. Not sure if it was something I did, the heat wave last week (I'm in NY) or what, but if it's as bad as I'm prepping myself to think it is, I need to get back to the basics and try to figure out what went wrong.

Or maybe it just needed a week in a fridge and all's well. That's what I'm hoping. If so, I go with raisins next.