Fruit Beer Succulent Strawberry Blonde

[AustinFromTexas]

The temp range maxed out at 72, so hopefully it will be fine. Now that it's done fermenting should I be too worried about my temp being ~63? I also really want to get a fridge for fermenting, but am also limited on space. I'm hoping to find a mini fridge big enough to fit a carbon and airlock, I'm thinking 5 cu ft might be big enough?

 

[WildGingerBrewing]

Yep. Should be fine. Once it's done fermenting don't worry about it. It's going to get really cold when you rack onto frozen berries!

 

[AustinFromTexas]

Awesome, thanks for the support! Not to derail the thread but wildginger I noticed that you're from McKinney- that's where I grew up! Small world!

 

[WildGingerBrewing]

Awesome, thanks for the support! Not to derail the thread but wildginger I noticed that you're from McKinney- that's where I grew up! Small world!

No kidding! Been living there for about 8 years now. I love it. It's gone from about 50K people to 150K in that short amount of time. Really nice town! Good luck with the beer!

 

[AustinFromTexas]

So I got too anxious that I couldn't wait the second week to rack onto the berries; here's what it's looking like so far and needless to say I am incredibly excited about this one! It's very tasty and smooth without any noticeable fruity esters or high alcohol notes (which is what I was worried about) from the warm fermentation I'm also completely sold on using the yeast starter from now on, the beer came out so clean!

I am seriously considering expediting my purchase of a ferm chamber so I can CC this bad boy in tertiary. Been digging around on the forums and I think a wine cooler with a DIY ebay temp controller is gonna be the route I'm gonna go with that. When that's done the next task at hand will be making the jump to AG, for which I've already signed up for an AG brewing class that my local brew store is teaching at the end of the month. Man I am so pumped about everything, I can literally feel myself (and the quality of my brew) evolving!

@wildginger McKinney is a great place! It grew exponentially while I grew up there and has grown even more since I left (about 8 years ago, now that I think about it). I'm an original MHS graduate, but my baby sister is currently attending Boyd HS (which wasn't around back in my day...) Next time I'm in town we'll have to trade a few brews!

 

[WildGingerBrewing]

Looks great! My kids actually go to frisco schools. We live right on the border. But we know lots of kids in mckinney schools too. Next time you're up, definitely let me know. Beers on me!

 

[Brewnoob1]

My family is going NUTS over this brew. They blew through over half my keg in 1 night and there were only 4 people drinking it lol. Needless to say, this is a WINNNER WINNER CHICKEN DINNER recipe that I'll be working into my normal rotation. I didn't follow the recipe to a T but rather used a Redhook Blonde recipe I have done in the past and racked that on to strawberries. However, I give full credit to this recipe as it spawned my interest enough to try it.

PROST!

 

[sawwas72]

6.5# Extra Pale LME
1.5# Wheat LME
8 oz Carapils
.5 oz Cacade 7.5% @ 60 min
.5 oz Saaz 5.8% @ 20 min
.5 oz Saaz 5.8% @ 5 min
Whirlfloc @ 15 min
Wyeast American Ale II 1272
8 lbs, yep, 8 lbs, of Dole frozen strawberries
Priming sugar

- Bring 2 gallons of water to 160* turn off heat
- Steep Carapils for 20 min with lid on
- Top up to 4 gallons, bring to boil
- Remove from heat, add LME
- Return to heat, bring to boil, start hops additions as listed
- Cool, transfer to fermenter
- Top up to 5 gallons
- Add yeast

Fermented for 1 week at 68*. Then racked onto all 8 lbs of strawberries and let it set for 6 days at 68*, then racked back off of the thawed strawberries into a tertiary. I kinda got busy and it ended up staying in the tertiary for 4 weeks, that wasn't planned and I don't know that it's necessary. Then bottled.

This was brewed for SWMBO, who wanted a "very berry" beer. That it is. I wouldn't say that it's overpowering, but you don't have to try to taste the strawberry. It's very tasty.

 

[tre9er]

Brewed this about a month ago. Primaried for 3+ weeks (out of town) then put 10lbs. frozen strawberries (from Sams) into primary (9 gallons of beer pre-strawberries). Left the berries in for just under 2 weeks. Here's my grain bill for 9g batch at 80% efficiency:

American 2-row 14.75
Honey Malt 1.5
American Vienna 1

Tettnanger 2.0oz at 60

US-05 repitch.

Cloudy, tastes great though. Tart but sweetened some from the Honey Malt. Next time I'm thinking of upping the Honey a TON to really give it that sweet taste for my wife...I like it the way it is but it's definitely more on the tart side. Very well balanced, easy to drink, OG was 1.051 and came out around 6% ABV, finishing at 1.006

 

[Quesplosive]

Ok just brewed this last night. I changed up the recipe a little by adding 1lb of honey malt and using wheat DME. OG came out to 1.070. Will prob let this sit for two weeks and then rack on 8-10lbs of strawberries with .5-1lb of lactose for 10 days. Then rack again to clear for two weeks followed by bottling. I cant wait to try this once it is done.

 

[tre9er]

Entered this into local competition of 21 brewers. I didn't make the finals. Both judges (and a friend/fellow homebrewer) said it tasted more of rhubarb than strawberry, though the aroma they agreed was strawberry. Frozen berries were suggested as the likely culprit. Anyone else had this experience? Could it also have been a combination of the hops/beer flavor with the berries that created a more tart, rhubarb flavor? I taste strawberry, albeit slightly more tart than sweet, personally. I was thinking of adding a ton of honey malt next time to bring more sweetness to the party, too.

The manager of the local brewery suggested Oregon Fruit Products purees, though I can't seem to find strawberry in a manageable size. The company themselves wants you to buy two 42lb. boxes of it on a pallet...I searched for their consumer purees (in cans) for Nebraska and saw everything BUT strawberry showing up. Perhaps they don't make strawberry in a can? I've heard the flavorings taste quite fake, so I want to stick with real berries...

 

[davekippen]

Sometimes those Oregon preserves can be found in the wine section of homebrew websites. I have seen them in large cans, but that is still better than a pallet load for sure!

 

[Brewnoob1]

My current kegged batch I would say is more tart than sweet. But with the blonde I made up which is slightly different than this recipe, it works quite nicely together. Everyone that has had a pint absolutely loves it. It's not too sweet so you don't chase off the guys, but not overly tart/tangy where you chase off the ladies. It's awesome. So awesome that I have another 5 gallons fermenting right now!

 

[tre9er]

My current kegged batch I would say is more tart than sweet. But with the blonde I made up which is slightly different than this recipe, it works quite nicely together. Everyone that has had a pint absolutely loves it. It's not too sweet so you don't chase off the guys, but not overly tart/tangy where you chase off the ladies. It's awesome. So awesome that I have another 5 gallons fermenting right now!

Don't get me wrong, everyone loves my beer, except the two judges of this comp. I'm coming to find though that beer that everyone loves isn't always the same thing as an award-winning beer. I'm definitely making more of this, judges be damned.

 

[AustinFromTexas]

It's been 7 days since I racked onto the strawberries and I'm still getting a bubble coming through the airlock every minute or so. I opened up my bucket and the strawberries are floating on top, mostly white, but still some pink on the tops that sit above the beer. I'm wondering if I should give it more time for the yeast to strip every last bit from the berries or if I'm good to go to rack into tertiary. It smells delicious so I'm getting antsy to bottle!

 

[tre9er]

I'm starting to wonder if my use of Nugget hops, which impart more of an herbal, earthy character, affected the overall perception of the strawberry taste? Perhaps the herbal hops combined with tart strawberry led to a rhubarb-like perception? At this point that's where I'm at...I still think it's damn good.

 

[ThaBrewFather06]

This brew sounds great. I'm going to brew it for a horse race coming up in about 2 months. Super refreshing sounding beer!

 

[namyarb3]

You gotta figure the yeast will eat up alot of the sugars in the berries, leaving the tartness behind.
I have brewed this 4 times, the last batch with half strawberries and half peach. Never been a sweet beer to me. Just a massive berry aroma, and the tart berry taste. My wifey loves this brew!!

 

[ThaBrewFather06]

Sounds perfect to suite the general beer drinker.

 

[Brewnoob1]

Don't get me wrong, everyone loves my beer, except the two judges of this comp. I'm coming to find though that beer that everyone loves isn't always the same thing as an award-winning beer. I'm definitely making more of this, judges be damned.

For me, I don't send my brew to competitions. I personally see no point if I'm not trying to sell or open a brewery. Maybe there is added benefit that I'm just not getting? But I feel that quality is in the taste of the beerholder. I just want people to enjoy something that I love to create. If they don't care for it, I ask what they would like changed for the next time and I try and incorporate that. The only opinions that matter to me are the people actually drinking it!

I love this beer. i think it is one that will now stay on tap all the time. I have 10 gallons fermenting right now and still about 4-5 beers left in the keg. It's my family's new fav of mine.

 

[NWAleDad]

You gotta figure the yeast will eat up alot of the sugars in the berries, leaving the tartness behind.
I have brewed this 4 times, the last batch with half strawberries and half peach. Never been a sweet beer to me. Just a massive berry aroma, and the tart berry taste. My wifey loves this brew!!

can you share more on what the peaches did for the flavor and aroma? This sounds like a nice addition.

 

[namyarb3]

Meh.
The peaches gave it the peach aroma, but almost muted the overall flavor. Not to mention they looked and felt like snot when I was cleaning them outta my glass carboy. Next time I will not reduce the strawberries nearly as much.
I usually use 6lbs of strawberries. This brew used 3lbs each of berries and peaches. I'm going with 5lbs berries and 3lbs peach next.

 

[AustinFromTexas]

Meh.
The peaches gave it the peach aroma, but almost muted the overall flavor. Not to mention they looked and felt like snot when I was cleaning them outta my glass carboy. Next time I will not reduce the strawberries nearly as much.
I usually use 6lbs of strawberries. This brew used 3lbs each of berries and peaches. I'm going with 5lbs berries and 3lbs peach next.

Have you considered using apricot instead of peaches? Wasatch brewery has an apricot hefeweizen that really nails a good mix of beer and fruit flavors. I've always wondered why they didn't go peach with it, but it's very sweet and as close to "peachy" as you can get without having used real peaches. Come to think of it I've only ever seen 1 peach lambic before (never tried it) but plenty more apricot beers in my travels. Perhaps there's something about apricot that lends itself better to pairing with beer than peaches? Just a thought.

 

[Bluelinebrewer]

Hey! Glad to see there's still some activity on this beer! Good news... Just got my shipment from AHS, and I'm back in the game!!

 

[WildGingerBrewing]

Hey! Glad to see there's still some activity on this beer! Good news... Just got my shipment from AHS, and I'm back in the game!!

Well it's about time! Good to hear. Welcome back.

 

[Bluelinebrewer]

Yes it is!! Thanks! Just bought a 70 qt Coleman Xtreme... Working on the manifold now!

 

[WildGingerBrewing]

Yes it is!! Thanks! Just bought a 70 qt Coleman Xtreme... Working on the manifold now!

If you ever get around to the actual brewing part, let me know! Ha my next brew will probably be the AG version if this. Should be just in time for spring.

 

[Bluelinebrewer]

If you ever get around to the actual brewing part, let me know! Ha my next brew will probably be the AG version if this. Should be just in time for spring.

Lol.. yeah, I deserve that.. I've been threatening for a while! But, now I've got $100.00 worth of supplies, just waiting to be brewed.. can't let that go to waste!

 

[Quesplosive]

Guys I was away working on my car and my wife rearranged the rooms in the house. My carboy was covered in a corner but when I just went to transfer onto the fruit to my horror my airlock was on the ground. If it fell when they moved it sat. would my beer be in trouble? I hope not because I have been waiting for this to get done. I went along and put in bucket and added fruit. What do you guys think about it?

 

[Bluelinebrewer]

I'd say you'll be just fine! How long had it been fermenting?