wine grapes in beer

[CTolino]

Has anyone ever used wine grapes in their recipes? I was thinking about trying a wheat beer with either chardonnay or pinot grigio grapes. I wasn't sure when to add the juice, during the boil, after the boil, or in a secondary fermentation addition. If anyone has any advice I would appreciate it.

 

[CTolino]

Has anyone ever used wine grapes in their recipes? I was thinking about trying a wheat beer with either chardonnay or pinot grigio grapes. I wasn't sure when to add the juice, during the boil, after the boil, or in a secondary fermentation addition. If anyone has any advice I would appreciate it.

 

[Johnnyhitch1]

I have never used wine grapes in beer but have been meaning to for a while, SMWMBO is a wine addict.
Ive had DFH Noble Rot which was more of a wine than beer and ive been trying to get some 61 from DFH, apparently 60min with a must addition.
Pretty sure ive had more beers with must additions but cant remember right now.
For usuage i would 100% throw it on high krausen or rack to a secondary with the juice/skins and then to a tertiary for clearing.
IMO i would never apply heat to wine must

Cheers! please post your results!

 

[jotakah]

I'd be interested to hear the answer to this question too. Been thinking for a while about making a porter with some red wine grapes in there (pinot grigio or merlot)

 

[Yooper]

I've never done it, but a fellow forum member (Kilted brewer) sent me a bottle that he did. He used pressed wine grapes in the fermenter, and it really was quite good. If I remember correctly, he used white grapes from a variety he grew (or had) as a winemaker. It was a wheat beer, with quite a bit of wine must in it. I don't remember any of the details, I'm afraid, but I'll do a search and see if I can find it.

I found the thread! Kilted went back and forth with names- ShortSnout was his other, so I found it under that.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f12/riesling-wheat-68934/

 

[Cyclman]

I really want to try this too, sounds so awesome.

 

[Hoser_brewing]

Sam from DFH let me try their 61 out of his glass (keg had kicked, and we couldn't order a pint), and it is indeed very much a beery wine. It's 60 min, mixed 50:50 with Syrah must, the juice added in the fermenter once they'd fermented a bunch.

Flavor was a bit odd, but I'd just finished a pint of 120 min, so my tongue was a bit numb from hops to give an accurate description.

I'd treat this just like any other high-gravity beer with post-boil sugar additions; make sure the must is clean (no buggies), and add it in 1-3 portions, depending on amount. I'd try not to go up more than 35 or so gravity points to avoid stressing the yeast, although I don't think I'd oxygenate at must addition.

 

[CTolino]

Thanks for all the help guys, I'll let you know how it turns out. I'm really excited to try this. I work in a tasting room at a winery, and I've gotte. To try wines I. Early fermentation and Chardonnay has this really cool pineapple like flavor to it. I'm curious to see how it comes out in a beer

 

[FireJohnnyM]

I recently had a bottle of Blue Moon Impulse. It is a wheat beer made with the juice of Cab Sauv grapes. Here is some info on it, http://www.bluemoonbrewingcompany.com/OurBeers/Product/impulse It tasted like a fruit wheat beer with a little higher ABV.

Having made many batches of wine myself, there is no need to boil the juice. If I was to make a 5 gallon batch, I would consider making a 3 gallon batch of beer and and top with 2 gallons of juice in the fermenter and ferment it all together.

 

[Shred]

I'd guess you'd want to do it in secondary after primary is mostly done. That's how I do my raspberry wheat champagne ale (which has 8 lbs of raspberries in 6 gallons). It'll be difficult to calculate ABV this way though.

 

[terrenum]

Hi i know this thread is old but just wanted to add my two cents. I am a homebrewer and a winemaker as well. I never tried bith together but just about to do so. I would never boil grape must. You do not want to lose the aromatics. I am olanning on adding riesling grapes to secondary, most likely same ratio as cherry when i bre my belgian cherry. If i remember its about 1.5 pound per gallon.
My base will be a saison however not a wheat beer. I am also planning on adding lactobacillus in primary and grapes in secondary. I am aiming for something closer to the Vigneronne from Cantillon

 

[TheHairyHop]

Hi i know this thread is old but just wanted to add my two cents. I am a homebrewer and a winemaker as well. I never tried bith together but just about to do so. I would never boil grape must. You do not want to lose the aromatics. I am olanning on adding riesling grapes to secondary, most likely same ratio as cherry when i bre my belgian cherry. If i remember its about 1.5 pound per gallon.
My base will be a saison however not a wheat beer. I am also planning on adding lactobacillus in primary and grapes in secondary. I am aiming for something closer to the Vigneronne from Cantillon

thanks for the input. I'm actually emailing Avery brewing right now on how they do their beer/grape hybrids

 

[macesq]

Anyone know of an online store that sells wine grapes in smallish quantities? My local can do me 18# at the smallest, and searching online that seems like the best I can do. Don't need that much to condition on.

ETA: obviously it's not the season now, but in general I can't find suppliers in small quantities.

 

[TERRY GIUGNI]

Has anyone ever used wine grapes in their recipes? I was thinking about trying a wheat beer with either chardonnay or pinot grigio grapes. I wasn't sure when to add the juice, during the boil, after the boil, or in a secondary fermentation addition. If anyone has any advice I would appreciate it.

I have. I made a Belgium-style blond and near the end of the primary fermentation I added 25% volume of freshly crushed Sauvignon Blanc grape juice to the second fermentation. This fermentation was driven mostly by the wild wine yeast. The end result is very good.