Using Flavor Extract

[Showdown]

Picked up a bottle of liquid raspberry flavoring in order to make a Raspberry Wheat beer for my wife. Talked to my LHBS and they suggested adding it to the secondary for about 7-10 days before bottling. Has anyone used this stuff before? I was wondering if there might be a better way - like adding it with the priming sugar during bottling and letting it condition in the bottles rather than a fermentor. Or, you may ask, why don't I just follow the damn instructions and quit trying to reinvent the wheel?

 

[Sailingeric]

why don't I just follow the damn instructions and quit trying to reinvent the wheel?

 

[JrBeerGut]

I wouldn't add the whole dram. That stuff is strong. You can always add more.

 

[naturebrew]

Might want to sample a bit in a glass of the beer and see if you like the taste. I added 2 pounds of frozen raspberries to my wheat beer in secondary, nice light raspberry flavor, which I wanted.

 

[Schmoogdaddy]

Damn the instructions. I add extracts to the bottling bucket.

 

[RM-MN]

Might want to sample a bit in a glass of the beer and see if you like the taste. I added 2 pounds of frozen raspberries to my wheat beer in secondary, nice light raspberry flavor, which I wanted.

I'll second this. Some extracts taste nothing like the real fruit. Before you ruin a perfectly good batch of beer with some really off tasting extract, give it the taste test. I put a blueberry extract into a batch and it doesn't taste like blueberries to me.

 

[zippy84]

I'll second this. Some extracts taste nothing like the real fruit. Before you ruin a perfectly good batch of beer with some really off tasting extract, give it the taste test. I put a blueberry extract into a batch and it doesn't taste like blueberries to me.

I'll third it. I was doing a chocolate stout, couldn't find the Nielsen Massey chocolate extract people had mentioned on here, so I just picked up a generic extract locally.. taste tested it, not a natural chocolate flavour. Got the better stuff online, another taste test.. big difference, dumped it in!

 

[xcdarrel17]

I've made a few fruit beers. I always add to bottling bucket, usually around .75 oz per gallon IIRC. I like to add real fruit in a secondary to get a more natural flavor, then the extract is added in at bottling mainly to get the smell and pop that is just plain hard to get from real fruit.