An abundance of Sloes and Blackberries.

[Cheshire Cat]

Just got back from a walk with my grandson and noticed more Sloes and Blackberries this year than in quite a few years. I always make Sloe gin and will do this year but I want to make a beer infused with Blackberries. My thoughts are either a Stout/Porter, a wheat beer or a Belgian style fruit beer. Anyone got experience of those or could suggest an alternative.
thanks
PS no wine or cider please.

 

[Jim Brewster]

I did a stout, a wheat beer and a Saison with Blackberries last year. My favourite was the wheat beer, it was 40% Munich malt and balanced the sharpness and dryness from the blackberries well. Mangrove Jack's Bavarian wheat yeast, no too heavy on the banana.

 

[Cheshire Cat]

I did a stout, a wheat beer and a Saison with Blackberries last year. My favourite was the wheat beer, it was 40% Munich malt and balanced the sharpness and dryness from the blackberries well. Mangrove Jack's Bavarian wheat yeast, no too heavy on the banana.

Was it a 20+ litres batch and if so how many grams of blackberries?
thanks

 

[Jim Brewster]

Very small batch, I went with 100g per litre dumped in frozen a week into fermentation

 

[Cheshire Cat]

Very small batch, I went with 100g per litre dumped in frozen a week into fermentation

Thanks

 

[Stu's Brews]

I've done a Sloe Stout the last couple of years that has come out pretty well. You need to make the base stout relatively sweet to balance out the tartness of the sloes. I try and avoid any roastiness too as I'd imagine that to clash with the sloes.

Can dig out the recipe if it's of use to you.

 

[Cheshire Cat]

I've done a Sloe Stout the last couple of years that has come out pretty well. You need to make the base stout relatively sweet to balance out the tartness of the sloes. I try and avoid any roastiness too as I'd imagine that to clash with the sloes.

Can dig out the recipe if it's of use to you.

Yes please

 

[Stu's Brews]

Recipe is for a 20L batch.

Ingredients

Grain Bill (all grains are from Crisp):

• Maris Otter - 3.5kg
• Flaked Oats - 500g
• Chocolate Malt - 400g
• Light Munich Malt - 400g
• Medium Crystal Malt (240) - 200g

Adjuncts (added 10mins before end of the boil):

• Black Treacle - 450g

Hops:

• Challenger - 15g @ 60mins
• Phoenix - 15g @ 30mins

Yeast:

• Wyeast 1099 (Whitbread Ale), pitched at 0.75million cells/ml

Fruit:

• Sloes - 1kg

Process

Mash:

• 67degC for 60mins
• 75degC for 10mins

Fermentation:

• Primary: 20degC for 10days
• Secondary: 20degC for 28days

Sloes:
I picked these towards the end of September, washed them and then put into sandwich bags which went into the freezer for about 6 weeks until they were needed. Before adding to the secondary, I placed them in a sauce pan with just enough water to almost cover them and then bought that to a gentle boil. Once cooled, the sloes and any juice were poured into the fermenter with the beer racked on top.

Bottling:
90g corn sugar added to entire batch in bottling bucket to give approx. 1.9 volumes of CO2

 

[Baldylocks Brewery]

Hi CC I brewed a Damson wheat beer last year that went down well but I agree that if I did it again I would add Munich malt to balance the tartness a little better.
This is the recipe although it says plums as Brewfather didn’t have Damsons as an ingredient.