GF Blueberry Ale

[SMIB]

Got a cousin that is GF, decided to try and brew him something when he spoke of a visit.

Standard sorghum/rice GF recipe, but in the secondary I put 5 lbs of fresh blueberries that I had picked, then froze. Upon thawing they went in the secondary, let it sit there for a good 3 weeks.

Very tasty, and ran about 7% ABV. Nice purple color with a purple head.

Going to try it with fresh frozen cherries next....

 

[Osedax]

Awesome. So, a pound per gallon then? What were the hops like?

 

[mergs]

I've done fresh strawberries, raspberries and huckleberries myself and I have been pleased with everything so far. I've used about 4-5 pounds of fruit in 5 gal batch. Sometimes I've had more on hand and other times I've been a little short. I don't ever feel I've had too much fruit yet.

I'm curious: did you wash the berries in tap water first and drop them into secondary? Or did you blanch them first? I've been blanching mine and if its unneeded step I'd like to eliminate it but I've been nervous about infecting a 7-10 day old batch.

I also use a sanitized potato masher in the process: I put the fruit into the bucket and gently smash the fruit so all skins are broken and juice can easily leak out. I read somewhere someone used a blender but I'd say you're going to have a a very unclear and silty beer doing that. I think a potato masher is a better bet and my beers have had a beautiful color but no fruity floaters in the glass.