Raspberry Lager Recipe?

[gsmith12]

Hi all, this is my first post and I need some advice from everybody. I'm trying to clone a Raspberry Lager from a local eatery/bar here in Nebraska (Upstream Brewery). I've done research, but there's not a lot of raspberry lager recipes out there. This is what I have so far...what do you guys think?

The beer I'm trying to make description on the website is.."This easy drinking beer is made with pale and Munich malts and a fresh raspberry puree from the
Pacific Northwest. Raspberry Lager is mildly sweet, refreshing and delicious—especially on a warm day" Here is a pic of their brew on their site...http://www.upstreambrewing.com/Honey-Raspberry.aspx


Raspberry Lager (5 gallon batch)

4lbs American Pale Malt-2 Row
3lbs American Munich Malt/Extract
1.5 oz Cascade
3lbs Oregon Raspberry puree
1-2lbs honey
Irish Moss
Lager yeast

This will be my fourth beer hombrew I've ever done, if you see anything I might need to add, or take away let me know. Thanks guys.

 

[Oldsock]

You are certainly going to make a stronger beer than the <4% beer they have.

How much raspberry flavor do you want? They tend to be one of the more potent fruits, but 3 lbs shouldn't be too overwhelming even in such a light beer.

The honey will ferment out completely and leave you with a dry beer. Steeping some honey malt or crystal will add back some sweetness (mashing at a warmer temp can help as well).

You can add the honey and raspberries after primary fermentation is complete, that way less of the volatile aromatics will be flushed out by the vigorous CO2 production.

Good luck

 

[gsmith12]

Thanks for the reply Oldsock. This is exactly what I needed. I want mild raspberry flavor, the beer I'm cloning has a nice raspberry aroma but mild raspberry flavor.

I really would like more of a sweeter beer, so I'll take your advice and steep some crystal malt, how much crystal malt would give the beer some added sweetness?

I planned on racking the beer into the secondary on top of the fruit puree, but I didn't plan on racking the beer with the fruit and the honey. It's a good idea so I'll add it with the fruit in the secondary instead of the primary. Thanks for the help, I'll let you know how it turns out.

 

[Oldsock]

I'd say 1 lb of light crystal would add a nice sweetness. Go on the low end for the honey, use more extract if you want to replace the gravity. You can also pick a lager strain that has lower attenuation. Good luck.

 

[gsmith12]

Okay that sounds great. I picked up the 1lbs of light crystal at the local brew shop here in town. I'm making it later today so I'll keep you updated. Thanks for all the help.

 

[gsmith12]

My final recipe ended up being...

Raspberry Lager

(5 Gallon)
1lb Crystal Malt
3.3lb Munich Malt Extract
3.3lb Pale Malt Extract
1 tsp Irish Moss
1.5 oz Cascade
Dry Lager Yeast

3lb Oregon Raspberry Puree
1-1.5lb honey
I'll rack the beer on top of the honey and raspberry when I transfer to the secondary in 7-14 days.

O.G. 1.050

 

[gsmith12]

My F.G. ended up being 1.011 with a final ABV of 5.21%. A bit more than the 3.8% Honey Raspberry Lager I was looking to clone. I also couldn't lager the beer like I wanted to. It fermented in the primary at 62-64 degrees the entire time, not even close to proper lager temps, the Saflager 23 yeast helped with the higher temps though.

I racked about 1.5 lbs of honey and the can of Oregon Raspberry Puree. I took a little sip and it was a bit on the sweeter side, I'm hoping it mellows out a bit more before bottling. The color of the beer is also a dirty cloudy brown, I'm hoping that clears up within the next few weeks, if not I'm planning on using gelatin a few days before bottling. So far it smells good and tastes pretty decent, it's definitely not the Raspberry Lager I wanted to clone, but it's good.