Need advice on a Blueberry Wheat...

[sfrice80]

This will be my 3rd batch of brew, just got done bottling my first batch last night and am already thinking about my next brew. I had an awesome Blueberry Lager at a local BrewHaus and wanted to find something comparable. I don't have the capabilities to do a lager but I have a couple of questions:

1.) Does anyone have any good suggestions for a good base beer to combine with my blueberry? I was thinking some sort of Wheat Ale but any specific suggestions or things that may have worked in the past with blueberry?

2.) I plan to use blueberry puree in my secondary, would it be necessary to use blueberry flavoring extract at bottling time too? I definitely want to use real blueberries in my secondary but am afraid that the fermentation process will strip away most of the blueberry taste.

I want a lot of blueberry flavor but I don't want blueberry juice either. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated! Thanks!

 

[Grimster]

I'm also thinking of a blackberry or blueberry wheat or pale ale so I shall watch your thread for answers to my own question concerning this.

 

[FreeM80s]

Does anyone have any good suggestions for a good base beer to combine with my blueberry? I was thinking some sort of Wheat Ale but any specific suggestions or things that may have worked in the past with blueberry?

you could go with a blonde ale also.

I plan to use blueberry puree in my secondary, would it be necessary to use blueberry flavoring extract at bottling time too? I definitely want to use real blueberries in my secondary but am afraid that the fermentation process will strip away most of the blueberry taste.

I want a lot of blueberry flavor but I don't want blueberry juice either. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated! Thanks!

extract would be easier, but I do not like the artificial taste that comes with some of them. I have never used blueberry extract before, so this could be false.

 

[sfrice80]

I definitely want to use either puree or fresh blueberries simply for the natural taste and color. Does anyone know if most of the blueberry taste is fermented away with puree or fresh?

 

[JayInJersey]

Well the Blueberry Puree (Oregon I think) turned my Sexy Blonde into a Bluehaired Bomshell

The color is very prominent but the flavor is very mild. Next time I think I'll do the extract in hopes to avoid the darkening of the beer.

 

[sfrice80]

I've read that a lot, which I'm guessing does mean that it ferments a lot of the flavor away. I wonder if doing an extract after puree in the secondary is overboard on the blueberry taste. I'm trying to somewhat duplicate the blueberry lager I had which had great blueberry taste, it wasn't overpowering but it was definitely there and the color is just awesome.

 

[permo]

Try this

7.5 pounds pilsen
.5 pounds flaked corn
.5 pounds flaked rice
1 pound wheat
15 ibu of whatever you have
US-05, WLP-029, Nottingham, Pacman...whatever clean yeast you have
Mash at 149 for 90

Ferment this thing cool for two weeks minimum, then transfer to secondary and add your fresh berry purree or juice. I personally, would juice some rasberries, blueberries, and blackberries and add this to secondary. at least a pound of each.

Let this sit in primary, for two weeks. Bottle it, let it carb up for two weeks then cold condition the bottles for a few weeks.

it would be tasty.

 

[sfrice80]

Thanks for the recipe, I haven't really got into mashing yet, still sticking to extract kits but maybe this could be my first, I want to move towards that soon anyways.

 

[steinsato]

Here is a brew I made a while back. I'll post the original recipe here as well as the link to the thread. I decided it needed more blueberry. Maybe by skipping the extract at bottleing and using your fresh blueberries in secondary would work better.
Sunset Wheat Clone Brewed 12/23/07

There is no orange peel in Sunset Wheat

Ingredients:

1 lb Brewers 2-Row Malt (Rahr)
6 lbs Wheat LME
1oz Cluster Hops
1oz Coriander crushed
WLP840 American Lager Yeast
2oz Blueberry Extract
1 Whirfloc tablet (clarity)

Make a Yeast starter 48hrs early. (2/3 cup LME & 2 cups water)
Pitch starter at 75 degrees.


Steep grains at 155-165 degrees for 20 minutes.

Remove from burner-add malt extract & boil for 60 minutes
Bring to boil & add ½ oz hops for 60 minutes
Add Coriander for last 10 minutes
Add Whirfloc tablet for last 5 minutes
Add ½ oz hops for last 2 minutes

(Whirfloc will coagulate proteins & make them drop to bottom of kettle. DO NOT pour the last bit of wort from kettle into primary.)

Cool Wort to 72 degrees, shake, pitch yeast,

Keep primary at 72 degrees until fermentation begins (1 day?)
Once fermentation begins, keep primary at 50-55 degrees for 12 days
Bring to 64-68 degrees for 24-48 hrs for Diacetyl Rest
Transfer to Secondary for 3 weeks at 40-45 degrees.

During bottling, add 2 oz of Blueberry Extract to bucket with priming sugar (boil sugar NOT blueberry extract).

Bottle & store for 3 weeks in bottle at room temperature.
Chill in fridge at 35 degrees for at least 3 days before drinking.

NOTES:
First 3-4 days the primary ferment temp was closer to 57-58 degrees. Then 55F
It did not have airlock activity until day 3 or 4.
Pulled to 65 degrees on day 12 for 24 hrs (diacetyl rest). Went back to 55 deg on days 13-16.
Day 17 transferred to secondary. To 40-42F for 7 days then 32F-35F for 21 days

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f12/leinenkugel-sunset-wheat-clone-41974/

I did not develope this recipe, just found it on the above link and adapted from that.

 

[sfrice80]

Thanks for the recipe but I cant brew any lagers yet, don't have the available resources to do that yet. I'm pretty much confined to extract kits with ale yeasts. I'm saving these recipes though for when I can brew a lager and mash kit.

 

[mkling]

Secondary fermentation does decrease the intensity of the blueberry flavors. I did two things to my last batch of blueberry wheat that really brought the berry flavor to the forefront:

1) I added a bit of acid blend at kegging time. (This could also be done at bottling time.) Part of our perception of fruit comes from the combination of fruit flavors, sweetness & acidity. This is why those sour candies taste kind of "fruity". A bit of acid blend brightens the flavors up & our brain interprets that (when combined with the fruit in the beer) as blueberry flavor.

2) Similarly, I added just a small bit of Sweet'n'Low to the keg just to add back a bit of sweetness. It was a small amount (like a couple tsp for a 5 gallon batch). It wasn't enough to be directly detectable, but it made the beer have more blueberry character. This is probably controversial, adding a non-natural sweetener to sweeten my beer. I played with it quite a while, adding small bits to 2 oz glasses of beer. I finally just decided it made it so much better that it was worth it. Next time, I'll probably try to mash a bit higher & see if I can avoid the sweetener addition.

 

[steinsato]

I don't have lagering capabilities either. But I do take advantage of the winter months. I made this one during the winter and fermented in an unheated room of our house. It stayed at 50F consistently and works well. I realize it is spring and won't be cool enough for a while but keep that in mind when winter rolls around.

 

[david_42]

Does anyone know if most of the blueberry taste is fermented away with puree or fresh?

I haven't had that problem, but don't forget that without any sugar to underlay the flavor, it will be subtle. I use Da Vinci syrup (sugar-free) to improve the flavor. I just pureed 3 lbs of frozen berries and added them to my weiss bier. I'll add most of a bottle of Da Vinci before kegging.

 

[jimmywit]

Maybe try this one, you can change the blueberry addition

6.00 lb Wheat Liquid Extract
0.50 lb Muntons Light LME
0.50 lb Cara-Pils/Dextrine
0.50 lb 10L Crystal Malt
1.00 lb Wheat, Torrified
2.00 oz Cluster [5.70%] (60 min) Hops
1.00 oz Cluster [5.70%] (30 min) Hops
1.00 oz Orange Peel, Sweet (Boil 30.0 min)
1.00 oz Corriander (10 min)
1.00 oz Blueberry extract ( at bottling / kegging)
5.00 gal Local Water Water
1 Pkgs American Wheat Ale (Wyeast Labs #1010) Yeast-Ale