Where to buy Blackcurrant in the US.

[Ritsuko Akagi]

Inspired by a local brewery with a blackcurrant sour . I want to try to make a black Blackcurrant cider or possibly mead. But blackcurrant or blackcurrant flavor is very rare in the US. I don't know a good place to find it.

I looked on amazon found this stuff: https://www.amazon.com/Ribena-Blackcurrant-Concentrate-28-74-Fluid/dp/B010R3MOU8/ but it has a preservative in it that i think will stop fermentation that this is not the best. I could try adding it at the end but don't think I will be able to carbonate it.

Anyway any one know of a possible place to buy some form of blackcurrant flavor in the US? or think this Ribena stuff will work ?

 

[TandemTails]

R.W. Knudsen makes black currant juice and goes by the name 'Just Black Currant'

That being said, I've yet to see the black currant variety in my market but I can get just about all of their other ones. I've used many of their other fruit varieties in various beers, meads and ciders and it works great. You might have luck finding it in the juice or organic section of your grocery or specialty store.

I did find it on amazon but that price is probably really high:
https://www.amazon.com/Knudsen-Blac...coding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=4JXX9KV0BH0D4GF7YKQT

 

[Qhrumphf]

Ribena is not "stuff". It's the nectar of the gods.

My local supermarkets have a UK portion of their international foods section, and typically have that Ribena concentrate. I like to mix it with seltzer to replicate the sparkling stuff. Although I actually found a place locally that has the juice boxes I guzzled as a lad. But that's neither here nor there.

Preservatives are definitely not ideal, but if Skeeter Pee is any indicator, they're not a death sentence for your yeast.

I'd say give it a go and see what happens.

 

[Ritsuko Akagi]

R.W. Knudsen makes black currant juice and goes by the name 'Just Black Currant'

That being said, I've yet to see the black currant variety in my market but I can get just about all of their other ones. I've used many of their other fruit varieties in various beers, meads and ciders and it works great. You might have luck finding it in the juice or organic section of your grocery or specialty store.

I did find it on amazon but that price is probably really high:
https://www.amazon.com/Knudsen-Blac...coding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=4JXX9KV0BH0D4GF7YKQT

I saw that online, The amazon listing is a 6 pack so it is expensive but I can not seem to find that in my stores.

might have to try the Ribena in a mead at first. I usually don't carbonate mead so I can test that to see how it works and if it kills the yest or not.

 

[cactusgarrett]

A brewery somewhat local to me does two beers with currants - one black and one red. Every brewing question I've hit them up with on FB Messenger has garnered a response, so maybe try them, see if they'll divulge where they source their currants.

 

[bigdawg86]

Here you go... So here is my suggestion though. I have made a black current sour with this twice. Once I let it ferment out in secondary and there wasn't much other than color present in the finished beer, the other I simply added the puree to the keg. I found straight to the keg made a much better tasting beer. If you are worried about it being too sweet, you can always ferment the base beer as a brut (add glucoamylase) so that way you are able to add the puree to a 1.000 beer without making the beer overly heavy. This puree has no solids in it so straight to the keg is not a problem.

https://www.amazon.com/Home-Brew-Ohio-Vinters-Harvest/dp/B01CT1QEZM/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2G6W73WOTI5I0&keywords=black+currant+puree&qid=1563988161&s=grocery&sprefix=black+current+pur,grocery,185&sr=1-1