Sorry, gang. I've been on the road every week for the past six weeks. Very little home time lately. I did finally get around to drinking a blueberry wheat last week when I was home for a night. I even took some photos of the two beers side by side in the pint glasses, but they are not downloaded from the camera yet so I'll have to post them at a later date. I really need to drink a couple more before forming a real opion, but my first impression of the blueberry wheat was slightly disappointing. Here's my comments regarding the first sampling (going from memory so bear with me).....
I decided that I really like the reddish color of the blueberry wheat beer. The color of the beer is very deep and it really reinforces the "blueberry" theme I guess. When poured, the head foam had a slight purply/pink hue. Very cool looking actually. I believe that drinking a beer is as much a visual experience as anything else, and everything about the appearance of this beer screams blueberries.
First thing I noticed (besides color) was that the head retention on this first beer was lack luster, but then again most of my beers so far have turned out that way. I guess I'm still struggling with finding just the right amount of priming sugars to use when bottling. I have never had a "flat" beer....they have all been sufficiently carbonated for drinking purposes, but what little head is formed upon pouring is soon gone after a minute in the glass. I had high hopes for this batch of blueberry beer because I used Munton's Kreamy X for the first time with this batch, having heard good things about it. But, alas, as I was bringing the Munton's priming solution to a boil I turned my back for a split second and the dreaded boil-over happened. I don't know exactly how much of the Munton's priming solution I lost to the boilover, but instead of dumping it out and starting over with a batch of standard priming sugar (which is what I should have done), I got lazy and just went ahead with what was left of the Munton's because it didn't really look like I had lost that much. Perhaps this contributed to the underperforming head. I am hoping that as this batch continues to condition, the head formation and retention will continue to improve with time as it has with some of my other batches.
There is a slightly different aroma to this blueberry batch compared to the standard wheat. I can't necessarily call it a distinct "blueberry" aroma, but it does have a "nosier" aroma if that makes sense. It is stronger and more complex than the aroma from the standard wheat. But if I blindfolded you and handed you one, you wouldn't take a whiff of it and say "That's definitely a blueberry beer". Again, I am hoping that as this batch continues to condition, the aroma will settle down and smooth out over time.
Now for the taste. This is where I was really disappointed. This beer doesn't have a strong blueberry flavor profile. There is a very slight hint of fruity sweetness on the front end of each sip and on the finish of each sip. My wife swears she can taste a slight blueberry flavor, but to me it is just a slight sweetness but no distinct blueberry flavor. Other than that it just tastes like a stronger version of the standard wheat to me. Again, if you took a blind taste test with this beer I don't think you would necessarily label it as a blueberry beer.
I have several theories as to why I didn't get the blueberry flavor profile I wanted. For one, I think I could stand to use more blueberries, perhaps 2.5 pounds isn't quite enough. Also, I think I added the blueberries too soon and allowed them to ferment too long in the beer which allowed the yeast to really work on them and break them down which may have minimized their ultimate contribution to the flavor and aroma profiles. I would really like to hear others' opinions on this.
Bottom line is that this turned out to be a very good and very drinkable beer, but not exactly what I wanted. My wife loved it and said it was her favorite batch so far so I will definitely have to make this again just to keep her happy. But the next time I make this, I will make some tweeks:
1. Use more blueberries....probably bump up to 3.5 pounds.
2. Wait a full week (maybe two) for the primary fermentation to fully take place before adding the blueberries. This time I only waited 5 days.
3. Limit secondary fermentation with the blueberries to only a week (maybe two). This time I went a full three weeks before I could find the time to bottle, and I think that allowed too much time for the yeast to work on the berries. I have heard (or read or imagined) that the more you want your additive to contribute to the flavor/aroma profile of the beer, then the later in the process it needs to be added. Not sure if this holds true for fruit or berries, but it sort of makes sense to me.
4. Instead of adding the blueberries whole like I did this time, I think next time I will crush them during the pasteurization process to release more of the juice and pulp into the beer. This may result in a much more purple colored beer, but I am thinking the combination of crushing the berries and adding them later in the fermentation process will help the beer retain more of their flavor and aroma.
5. Don't turn your back on the Munton's while it's coming to a boil!
In summary, this is a very drinkable beer and my wife really likes it. I will definitely make this again, but I want to see how this batch continues to improve (or not) over the next couple of months. I have not drank any more of this beer since opening the first one last week. So, like I said at the beginning of this post, I really need to drink a few more before I can really form a lasting opinion. I will continue to post updates as this beer continues to condition. In the meantime, I would appreciate any suggestions from the more experienced brewers out there on how I might be able to improve this beer on the next go round.