Fruit Beer Requiem Raspberry

[Delaney]

I would say that most of what I have read contradicts JonnySax's suggestion of using flavor extract, which I've heard sucks. Why not just add more raspberries?

Also, I've used blackberries in my beers in the past, and they definitely produced less of a berry-like flavor. It was hard to describe, but it almost produced a velvety/chalky flavor.

 

[JonnySax]

I would say that most of what I have read contradicts JonnySax's suggestion of using flavor extract, which I've heard sucks. Why not just add more raspberries?

Also, I've used blackberries in my beers in the past, and they definitely produced less of a berry-like flavor. It was hard to describe, but it almost produced a velvety/chalky flavor.

I never said that the fake berry flavor would be good... Personally I think it's nasty. Ha ha. But when you are late in secondary and find there is not the right flavor profile, I don't know if it's a good idea to add fruit. The key time for adding fruit is right when the yeast are starting to run out of food in primary. Racking to secondary on fruit gives them a quick source of food and allows a quick transition to the simpler fruit sugars. Racking to a tertiary late in the secondary will be a much slower start and leaves the opportunity for those sugars to be noticed by unwelcome guests. I would hate for a beer to be ruined this late in the game. Personally I would just drink it as is. That's what I'm doing with my blackberry wheat. I agree with the chalky taste... Not a fan... Oh well. Back to my 1.0 recipe.

 

[Delaney]

I never said that the fake berry flavor would be good... Personally I think it's nasty. Ha ha. But when you are late in secondary and find there is not the right flavor profile, I don't know if it's a good idea to add fruit. The key time for adding fruit is right when the yeast are starting to run out of food in primary. Racking to secondary on fruit gives them a quick source of food and allows a quick transition to the simpler fruit sugars. Racking to a tertiary late in the secondary will be a much slower start and leaves the opportunity for those sugars to be noticed by unwelcome guests. I would hate for a beer to be ruined this late in the game. Personally I would just drink it as is. That's what I'm doing with my blackberry wheat. I agree with the chalky taste... Not a fan... Oh well. Back to my 1.0 recipe.

From my experience with lambics, I kind of disagree about the yeast not being able to attack the fruit...With these styles of beer, you need to wait >6 months for the yeast to get to low enough populations in order for the other organisms to be able to take advantage of the sugars provided the the addition of fruit in secondary fermentation. I could be wrong, but my experience tells me that yeast population need not be a concern for his circumstances.


Could also re-pitch and add more fruit to be on the safe side, or do as you suggest and drink it as it is. Either way, I wouldn't add flavor extract, but each to his own.

 

[JonnySax]

Good point. Could also re-pitch and add more fruit, or do as you suggest and drink it as it is.

yep that works too. I would even get a starter going and once the fermentation started declining, rack to tertiary with fruit and pitch the starter.

 

[Delaney]

yep that works too. I would even get a starter going and once the fermentation started declining, rack to tertiary with fruit and pitch the starter.

they go dormant. Just because fermentation is nearing an end doesn't mean your yeast population has been reduced. If you add more sugar they "wake up" and start to metabolize again. It would take months to lose enough yeast that you'd need to re-pitch, according to my understanding...I don't think re-pitching would be necessary. Again, I could be wrong, but I'm 99.99% certain you are mistaken about needing to be worried about yeast count for tertiary in this circumstance.

I would simply add more fruit, or bottle and drink. You could couple a fruit addition with more yeast to be safe, but I think you'd be wasting yeast.

 

[JonnySax]

they go dormant. Just because fermentation is nearing an end doesn't mean your yeast population has been reduced. If you add more sugar they "wake up". It would take months to lose enough yeast that you'd need to re-pitch, according to my understanding...I don't think re-pitching would be necessary. Again, I could be wrong, but I'm 99.9% certain that I'm right.

I would simply add more fruit, or bottle and drink. You could couple a fruit addition with more yeast to be safe, but I think you'd be wasting yeast.

Very true, but you may loose some when racking. Who is up for trying it? split a primary in half... one rack to secondary on berries, the other do secondary and then rack to tertiary on berries. see what produces better berry flavor ha ha

 

[Delaney]

Very true, but you may loose some when racking. Who is up for trying it? split a primary in half... one rack to secondary on berries, the other do secondary and then rack to tertiary on berries. see what produces better berry flavor ha ha

I think this would be a waste of time. You could just add more berries to secondary the first time. I highly doubt segregating berry additions into secondary/tertiary would yield better results.

Even if it was well flocculated, I doubt yeast count would be an issue. But yes, you might consider sucking up some of the yeast cake when racking for good measure.

 

[thiessenace]

Pretty decent recipe for extract! I brewed this a month of two ago and it turned out pretty good. Doubleld the raspberries turn out eeally tart at first but turned out really good.

 

[EGeekBMe]

Question. This seems to be for a 1 gallon batch. Has anyone made this in a 5 gallon batch that can post the recipe for it? Or have a beersmith file for it?

 

[thiessenace]

Question. This seems to be for a 1 gallon batch. Has anyone made this in a 5 gallon batch that can post the recipe for it? Or have a beersmith file for it?

This is actually for a 5 gallon. You add 6 pounds 6 ounces of dme. And the grains are for steeping.

 

[EGeekBMe]

This is actually for a 5 gallon. You add 6 pounds 6 ounces of dme. And the grains are for steeping.

Ah, I see that now, my bad. Thanks.

Still kind of a Brew n00b and am typically just a Brew Bitch but I need to be able to do it on my own.

 

[Kiggru]

Well update to the brew...I bought some raspberry extract, tried a lil, and decided it was a waste of money and didn't use it. The brew came out to a lil over 8.5% and tastes pretty darn good. Has a slight berry after taste with some berry aroma, over all ill try it again when I can pick some fresh raspberries and not have to use purée.

 

[rideincircles]

Just finished my last bottle yesterday. It went quick over the holidays and I held onto my last bottle for about 5 months. Flavor was still good with raspberry tartness and I would consider making again, but may do all grain if so.

No complaints on this recipe. I like raspberries.

 

[Kiggru]

I didn't get a lot of berry flavor, what was your method?

 

[OREUS]

I did a 5 day secondary using 48 oz of frozen raspberries, and it has a lot of raspberry flavor.

My neighbors liked it so much, that I'm brewing another batch for them this weekend.

 

[user 83772]

I've been drinking my first small batch of this stuff for a few days now, and let me tell you, it is GOOD. Thick, creamy head with nice retention, big raspberry aroma right up front and taste on the finish. Smooth and pretty well balanced. Gets a bit tart as it warms, but that's to be expected with all the raspberries. Also, the color is gorgeous - mine turned out a deep, slightly hazy garnet. This one is definetly going on my "brew again" list.

 

[Arkador]

to date, this is the highest BJCP score I have gotten, at 42. Need to make it again soon.

I do the brown ale as an all grain 10gal, and do 5gal with the raspberries.

 

[thiessenace]

You got a 42 score on this beer?

 

[markus2982]

Alright, going to try brewing this a second time. First go around ended in a clogged airlock and the lid blowing in the fermenter. Going to use a Carboy and blow off tube this time around. Stoked!!!

 

[mike_in_ak]

I have had blow off tube blow out as well. It was on of the narrow diameter tubes attached to the airlock.

I now use the fatter tube that fits into the carboy opening.

 

[SunnyAndCher]

Wifey is crazy for Lambic and hates my newfound beer obsession.

This one is DEFINITELY going on deck. Thanks!

 

[TheManchesterMorgue]

Started this as my first beer last night. Only made cider and mead so far. Had to add half a kilo of dextrose as I forgot to account for uk/us gallon differential when ordering DME. Had a question about after the raspberries are done though. Does anyone find it necessary to use bentonite or similar at all to get rid of raspberry bits/hairs? If so I assume you use a tertiary? Just wondered how that works if so?

 

[markus2982]

Brewed this yesterday with some buddies. Turned out a little darker than I thought it would. Been in the primary for a little over 12 hours and already has a nice fermentation.

Wasn't able to take an OG. Our hydrometer broke!!!

 

[markus2982]

Man...this is a pretty vigorous fermentation. Pic is less than 24 hours

 

[OREUS]

Good ol' notty will do that.

 

[markus2982]

Man...thanks to all that blow off, I am down to 4 gallons after racking to secondary. Oh well. It's with the raspberries now. Can wait to try

 

[markus2982]

Just bottled this up today. The little bit I tried was good but really tart. A lot of raspberry on the back end. I hear the tartness mellows with age.

 

[Redbow]

I have read through this whole thread and learned alot about fruit beers. I made a blackberry wheat a few weeks ago but the 6 lbs of blackberries were added to the wort after the boil rather than in the secondary. Haven't tasted it yet but I loved the black cherry lambic krieg I bought at the grocery store a while back. I will definitely give this recipe a try. I like ales and I like fruit and I am too impatient to wait for a lambic to mature.

 

[brewbeerry]

brewed this on 7/19/13, racked onto raspberries on 7/31, and bottled on 8/5/13...what a winner! like liquid raspberry. i upped the malt a bit to get to 1.060 and added a touch munich because the frozen raspberries listed sucrose, didnt want it to dry out too much. base beer ended at 1.015 so will call it about 6.5-7% abv after secondary fermentation with raspberries. just thawed raspberries from freezer and dumped them in before racking, no sanitation issues. this is the best fruit beer i've ever had- not cough-syrupy like those flavored extracts and not thin and bitter like most others. also has a lovely red/mahongany color. highly recommend this and will be rebrewing it quite a bit, thanks for the recipe!

 

[Nompton]

I'm going to brew this after my Imperial Pumpkin Pie Ale is out of my primary.

I went through the thread and could only find the mention of cranberries once with no feedback as to actual taste. I'm going to do a bit of experimenting and add 20oz fresh cranberries and 20oz fresh raspberries to the secondary. Perhaps it's all in the eye of the beholder, but would cranberries give this beer more of a "holiday/ christmas" feel? Or would I be significantly risking drinkability with too much tart?

Thanks, all.