strawberry harvest clone

[Benzene]

I'm wondering, for those of us who bottle condition, would the strawberry juice have enough sugar, or could you mix the juice with sugar to prime with the strawberry juice and sugar mixture? Maybe do like a strawberry reduction and add that at priming?

 

[agentEhrman]

Juiced 5# of fresh organic strawberries. I let them fully ripen and then froze and thawed them before juicing. I was surprised to only get just over a half gallon of "syrupy juice" out of the 5#, but I have high hopes for sure! I also noticed that the juice was more tart than I expected it to be. I will report back in a couple weeks. I def had the "pink beer" as described by tmurph earlier. I'm guessing that the pink will all settle out and the beer will end up pretty blonde..

 

[tmurph6]

Mine stayed pinkish orange. Never settled

 

[Batonga]

So I am graduating grad school and ready to move onto my next hobby... Home brew, I also love the Abita Brews, and dislike the Covington in the bottle.
BE in New Orleans this weekend for Jazz Fest.. drinking as much ASH as possible....

Got a starter 5 gallon home brew kit for grad present and looking to try for a batch of strawberry out of the gate. I have been hording and freezing fresh local strawberries.

What recipe should I use for a 5 gallon, bottle kit? or is this to complicated to start with a should try something else, before trying a Strawberry?

 

[agentEhrman]

What recipe should I use for a 5 gallon, bottle kit? or is this to complicated to start with a should try something else, before trying a Strawberry?

Welcome to the hobby! You will no doubt go through all the wonderful obsessions the rest of us are going through!

As far as brewing up a strawberry wheat for your first beer, I say go for it! My 3rd beer was a peach wheat, inspired by Wheach. I actually cleaned/quartered fresh peaches and added them at the end of the boil. I then racked and dumped ALL of the trub in the fermentor. It turned out OK, I may have been a little lucky

I will assume that you're doing an extract recipe for your first batch?? That is much less equipment intensive than trying to do all grain out of the gates. I think you will be best off adding the strawberries to a secondary fermentation because you will be bottling. I could be wrong though, so keep asking around here.

 

[tmurph6]

This is a pretty cheap and easy recipe to do. Especially for extract.

 

[agentEhrman]

I wanted to UPDATE my personal progress here.

Yesterday, I racked into a second keg. My first keg kept pouring this milky pinkish mess. Upon inspection, there was a giant floating mass of white and red. I'm assuming this was yeast and strawberry fibers, but I didn't do much inspection.

I guess my yeast wasn't completely done when I racked?? It fermented for 19 days and finished at 1.007. It's only a 4.4 ABV, so I am surprised by layer of "schtuff" I found under the lid of that keg after a healthy fermentation lasting 19 days. Immediately after racking into the keg, it went into the fridge on gas and cold crashing. Seems weird but I thought I would tell my story. Next time, I will add some crushed campden. I almost did this time, but didn't think I needed it..

The beer is now much closer to the look of the ASH, a very clear and light beer indeed. It tastes pretty ok already, but more tart than expected. I let my strawberries get really ripe to try to avoid this. It's still not fully carbed, so I will be back with a full review in a few days.

 

[tmurph6]

I thought you had put campden and potassium sorbate in...I dropped my yeast out with gelatin in the secondary and that seemed to keep my fermentation subdued. Pics please!

 

[agentEhrman]

I thought you had put campden and potassium sorbate in...I dropped my yeast out with gelatin in the secondary and that seemed to keep my fermentation subdued. Pics please!

Had planned on it and then just didn't. I thought the cold crash would take care of this but it sure didn't. Now I know,

I will post a pic once I can get one with some head on it! Thanks for the idea of juicing the strawberries btw! Now we have to find a way to keep the tartness down..

 

[tmurph6]

Maybe the amount of strawberry is too much? Ahs has so little strawberry flavor its almost not even there.

 

[agentEhrman]

Yeah, I've had two diff six packs so far this season and one was very weak and the other has more flavor. Someone should try backing off of the general rule of 1# per gallon. Maybe try 2.5# in 5 gallons...

I think we can request them to do ASH on "can you brew it", lol. I'm sure they would bump it up to the top of the list for us

 

[tmurph6]

I actually emailed them and asked...

 

[agentEhrman]

The pictures I promised! I realized my keg was almost gone and snapped a couple on my phone..

Tasting notes: Light, refreshing, moderate strawberry flavor. I really like how it turned out, most of the "tart" flavor mellowed out, and with that a little of the strawberry flavor left as well.

Everyone likes it, will brew it again!

Comparison Notes: Mine has no haze, and is darker in color. Mine has a bit more sweet aroma actually than the ASH, the ASH smells "crisp" if you could use that to describe aroma. The ASH is much lighter, very crisp tasting, and over all a slightly better beer. (of course). That being said, this is a worth while recipe! Although mine has better head retention, the ASH tastes more "fizzy" and light.

Recipe - Extract - 5 gallons
3# extra light DME
2# wheat DME

.25 Mt. Hood 45 minutes
.25 Mt. Hood 30 minutes
.50 Mt. Hood 15 minutes

Irish Moss and yeast nutrient 15 minutes

Cooled to 68 and pitched yeast.

Safale US-05 rehydrated, fermented approx 3 weeks.

5# Fresh, ripe, organic strawberries juiced, added at kegging. 5# yielded about half a gallon of juice roughly. I was expecting more..

I plan to brew this again soon. I probably won't use extract this next time, and will try to get the color and haze on point. I will also probably try and lager it. This turned out spot on for an ale version IMO. I think the flavor differences really come from it being an ale instead of a lager.. Just my opinion though, as I am no master BJCP judge or anything. Just someone who drinks gallons of craft beer a week!

Cheers everyone!

 

[agentEhrman]

Sydwayz photos, oops!

 

[tmurph6]

Awesome, thanks for the pics, it looks great. The base beer for this is actually pretty easy at 75-25 pils to wheat. This really does need to be lagered as I had the same experience where it just didn't have that dry crisp finish like the commercial beer. Juicing looks like an absolute success as it cleared beautifully. I've had ash that clear before so color looks spot on.

So to summarize your results, go all grain, hops schedule is pretty much inconsequential as long as you can't taste or smell the hops. Less strawberry, 3lbs? Juicing is the way to go! Lager, Lager, Lager!

 

[FlyingSailor]

I'm following this thread and am going to brew a clone as soon as possible. I thought I post what is on the back of the ASH bottle. They practically give you the recipe.

Abita Strawberry Harvest is a lager brewed with pilsner and wheat malts and Vanguard hops. Real Louisiana strawberry juice is added after filtration resulting in a crisp lager and a sweet strawberry flavor, aroma and haze.

 

[tmurph6]

The previous batch used mt hood. Hops in this beer are somewhat irrelevant. The base beer is easy to nail, it's the strawberry part that's hard.

 

[FlyingSailor]

No worries. I thought the filtration part was interesting. Filtering strips out the yeast that would be remaining suspended in the beer and would ensure that none of the sugars in the strawberry juice are fermented.

 

[tmurph6]

Yeah, I tried to pseudo filter using gelatin, didn't quite work for me. I think we may be overdoing the strawberries?

Please keep us informed on ur progress and post ur recipe. Are u going to full on lager?

 

[FlyingSailor]

When I'm able to brew I will go AG with a full lager. I plan on filter the beer with a plate filter and juicing the strawberries with a juicer then adding the fresh juice to the beer. Right now I have three 6 packs of ASH left in my pantry and fridge so it will be a while before I brew. I want to get it perfect. I think there is something to be said for using fresh Louisiana strawberries though. I'm not a botanist but I'm certain the sugar content and therefore the sweetness of the juice changes with environmental factors.

 

[Chefencore]

Brewing tomorrow.

6 lb Pilsen
2 lb wheat

Mash@ 151 for 60 minutes
60 minute boil

1 oz Mt Hood 4.5% @ 60 min

I’m going full lager, pitching on top of a yeast cake from my bohem pils, using WLP800.
Ferment @ 55 for 10-12 days, d-rest for 2, lager til i can’t take it anymore (6 weeks?)

I don’t have a juicer - maybe I could puree the crap out of em in a food processor? I have a few weeks to figure it out.

Keep ya posted

 

[FlyingSailor]

Awesome, I can't wait to hear how it will be. I think your recipe sounds spot on. I've been listening to some of the Can You Brew It podcasts from the past few months where they talked about no recipe cloning and one of the things that I took away was that on a light beer like this where the fruit is on display, the difference between where the brewery sources their fruit and where you get your fruit can make a huge difference in the final product. I'm interested to know if that is why some people have been talking about getting more of the "tart" strawberry taste vice the sweet strawberry taste. I think its also important to note that Abita says that they filter the beer before adding the strawberry juice. This almost certainly strips out any yeast that didn't flocculate and ensures that none of the sugars in the juices get fermented.

 

[Chefencore]

Maybe I'll get a filter for fathers day. If not, won't Camden tabs take care of the yeast?

 

[D_Nyholm]

If you puree the strawberries, you can put them in a strainer for an hour or so and most likely get most of the juices out. You may have to use more strawberries, but i bet it would be good!


If you want the sweet strawberry taste, you will have to stabilize the beer first, and then bottle carbing will be out. Unless you try to pasteurize them after they have carbed up to stop bottle bombs.

 

[Chefencore]

If you puree the strawberries, you can put them in a strainer for an hour or so and most likely get most of the juices out. You may have to use more strawberries, but i bet it would be good!

If you want the sweet strawberry taste, you will have to stabilize the beer first, and then bottle carbing will be out. Unless you try to pasteurize them after they have carbed up to stop bottle bombs.

It's being kegged. I barely have the patience to wait for lagering!

 

[agentEhrman]

It's being kegged. I barely have the patience to wait for lagering!

I second that!

Chefencore, I think your recipe sounds spot on. I just wish you had a juicer! I do believe campden kills the yeast, a quick search on here should tell you how much it will take. Although I did juice mine, and I even got them very very ripe, I still thought the flavor was a bit more tart than the original. Others disagreed, and said it tasted cloned. Those people also do not brew their own beer. Anyways, I wish that I would have used campden, as I had to transfer unexpectedly into another keg after the yeast got ahold of the strawberry juice in my first keg.. I kind of wonder if they consumed all the strawberry juice's sweetness and turned it into alcohol. I guess I can't fault the yeasties here, now can I!

 

[Chefencore]

Brewday done! except for the cleanup.
Missed mash in by a few degrees, but corrected it. Boiled off a bit more than usual, too. Had some great break, unfortunately a lot of it ended up in the carboy. I couldn't get the wort chilled below 74degF being so hot outside. Also got a bit of leftover beer on the cake i pitched onto.
Efficiency was 77.8% - quite better than usual. Sg 1.038, OG 1.045
Got it aerated, wrapped with the heater and into the fridge. Time is on my side now!
How long did everyone wait before adding the juice? Directly in the secondary? Any lagering before adding the juice? If so, how long? Like I said, I’m quite impatient! I don’t want to wait to drink this

 

[tmurph6]

Lager it filter it, add juice. I feel like juice should be added and the next day the beer put in the keg. That's how it sounds that the brewery does it.

 

[D_Nyholm]

To me it seems the juice is added at bottling or kegging like you would with extract flavors.

 

[FlyingSailor]

Building up a recipe right now. Does anyone know what the final gravity or the original gravity of the actual Abita Strawberry Harvest beer? Really want to nail this one.