Fruit Beer Succulent Strawberry Blonde

[Quesplosive]

2.75 weeks

 

[Bluelinebrewer]

Meh, RDWHAHB!! I'd say it'll be just fine. Of course, I was wrong once.. when I first brewed this, the night I put it in the secondary on the berries, the top blew off in a strawberry volcano and I didn't catch it for a day or so... Lol.

 

[Quesplosive]

Aw man. That sounds serious. Hopefully all is well and everything works out. I really want to see what everyone is talking about with this brew. I took your advise and drank some of my caramel apple cider and honey cream ale and thats why Im so chill bout it. Wasnt earlier. lol

 

[Bluelinebrewer]

Aw man. That sounds serious. Hopefully all is well and everything works out. I really want to see what everyone is talking about with this brew.

It turned out amazing!! That's why I posted the recipe!! Needless to say, I learned how to use a blow off hose!! Lol

 

[coachrob]

Do you Leo the strawberries frozen or thaw them out before adding to the secondary?

 

[Bluelinebrewer]

I left mine frozen. Dropped them into the secondary and racked onto them.

 

[Quesplosive]

I have my fruit in a sack. Should I shake the bucket every now and again?

 

[WildGingerBrewing]

I have my fruit in a sack. Should I shake the bucket every now and again?

No. You do not want oxygenate the beer. Just leave it alone and you will be fine.

 

[LBussy]

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?

Here's how I look at it (and I am a non-current judge):

You can go into the kitchen and put together something with what you have. You may start out making a souffle and you finish with a quiche. It tastes good. Congratulations you have dinner. If you start out to make a souffle and make a souffle, you are a cook. If the souffle tastes good you are a chef.

Beer is the same way. Plenty of people make beer that's pretty good but it's not what they intended to make. They got lucky. They relied on serendipity rather than planing and science. A person should know what kind of beer he or she wants to make and then aim for that. When they hit that target they have done well. Beer judging strives to provide quality feedback to the brewer on where his beer differed from the style intended. There are enough styles and variants that a person should be able to make whatever they want.

In other words; when a brewer sets to make a batch they have a target and a gun. If they shoot a bulls-eye on someone else's target are they a good shot? Of course if the brewer THEN figures out they are consistently shooting three feet right, they can correct that aim each time. If they are consistent from there on, nobody needs to know the difference.

 

[Quesplosive]

Nice analogy

 

[branman]

nice analogy

+1

 

[JRapp]

Asked a question, found the answer on google....

Brewed this last night, Im real excited about this one, wife loves a good strawberry blond!

 

[Quesplosive]

Just put mines in bottles. I added 4lbs of peaches to it. I tasted it and the peaches seem to have taken over. Now the two week wait is on.

 

[Bluelinebrewer]

This was about the only homebrew I could get my wife to drink! Its definitely a crowd pleaser!

I'd be interested to hear how the peach addition turns out. I've considered using apples instead of the strawberries...

 

[Quesplosive]

I know I will not be able to wait the full two weeks so Im going to crack one open in a week. Just to see how its coming along.

 

[WildGingerBrewing]

I always do. I never wait a full 2 weeks to crack one open.

 

[Bluelinebrewer]

It is hard to wait.. however I can tell you that this beer gets even better as it ages. The strawberry flavor mellows a bit and it all just kinda comes together. But, hey, 1 week sounds good to me!

 

[SupervisingChildren]

I brewed up a slightly modified version of this on 2/25. I racked the beer onto 5# whole strawberries with 1/2# lactose on them. OG 1.066 FG 1.016. Smells and tastes delicious as I had a sip from the hydrometer sample while bottling tonight. The lactose definitely takes away tartness.

 

[Bluelinebrewer]

I brewed up a slightly modified version of this on 2/25. I racked the beer onto 5# whole strawberries with 1/2# lactose on them. OG 1.066 FG 1.016. Smells and tastes delicious as I had a sip from the hydrometer sample while bottling tonight. The lactose definitely takes away tartness.

Interesting. I was always kind of a fan of the tartness that the strawberries imparted. But hey, to each his own!

 

[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.

It has happened... I brewed today! Just letting ya know..

 

[WildGingerBrewing]

It has happened... I brewed today! Just letting ya know..

NO WAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I brewed it last weekend. I'll rack onto the berries on Sat or Sun.

 

[Quesplosive]

How long do you guys bottle condition for it to start tasting real good? Its drinkable now but it def has room to improve on. Its the middle thats lacking. The end is the fruit (I wish I had did the lactose step due to tartness).

 

[Bluelinebrewer]

Mine started to really mellow out at about 4 weeks.

 

[JRapp]

I just racked this recipe on my 7 1/2 lbs frozen strawberries, base tasted ok but fermented to about 1005 and tasted sort of dry....on brew day I drank too much and didnt add my 1lb DME till way after I was supposed too. Anyway, I would like to add some lactose to make it a tad sweater, Could I add the lactose when I rack it off the strawberries?

Also, its now at about 49 F since I basically racked onto 8 pounds of ice cubes, I have it in my warmer upstairs now(65-70) but usually keep my beers in my 55 F Basement. What external temp should I keep it at for best results? Warm upstairs or cool downstairs? I am useing Wyeast american ale 2.
Thanks!

 

[Bluelinebrewer]

I just racked this recipe on my 7 1/2 lbs frozen strawberries, base tasted ok but fermented to about 1005 and tasted sort of dry....on brew day I drank too much and didnt add my 1lb DME till way after I was supposed too. Anyway, I would like to add some lactose to make it a tad sweater, Could I add the lactose when I rack it off the strawberries?

I'm not really sure on this one, so ill let someone else a little more experienced handle that one. The strawberries will impart a little more sweetness, so I'd definitely taste it after its done on the berries before you do anything.

Also, its now at about 49 F since I basically racked onto 8 pounds of ice cubes, I have it in my warmer upstairs now(65-70) but usually keep my beers in my 55 F Basement. What external temp should I keep it at for best results? Warm upstairs or cool downstairs? I am useing Wyeast american ale 2.
Thanks!

I think you're ok keeping it upstairs. I kept mine in the basement, which was around 68ish. Wyeast AA2 is a great yeast on this brew! Good luck!

 

[caustin]

So, I started this on Tuesday and I'm having a hard time deciding whether to leave it as just a blonde or put it on strawberries. I was thinking doing this on strawberries and doing a batch of the centennial blonde. Or is that not enough variety for summer?

 

[Bluelinebrewer]

So, I started this on Tuesday and I'm having a hard time deciding whether to leave it as just a blonde or put it on strawberries. I was thinking doing this on strawberries and doing a batch of the centennial blonde. Or is that not enough variety for summer?

The only thing better than a blonde, is a strawberry blonde! Put it on the strawberries! And do the centennial! And find 2 or 10 more recipes to make. You can NEVER have enough of a variety!!

 

[AustinFromTexas]

Brewing up my second batch of this delicious recipe, and it will proudly be the first beer I'll ever keg! gonna be brewing this alot with BBQ season is just around the corner!

 

[Bluelinebrewer]

Glad you like it!! I've never got to keg any yet, still stuck in the stone age of bottling!! I'm currently working on an all-grain version as well... Cant wait to see how it turns out!

 

[WildGingerBrewing]

Yea i cant wait to see how it turns out too! Bwahahahaha