Seasonal Forum Competition - November 17

[Gerryjo]

I was wondering whether some cranberries might balance out an amber/red ale - I've noticed tesco sell them frozen

Not a cranberry lover myself but it's certainly worth a go.Try splitting off 5 litres and try a test batch...

 

[Gerryjo]

How do you go about working out the abv of a beer with added fruit?

Hmm good question as I have no idea must do a bit of research.

 

[Gerryjo]

How do you go about working out the abv of a beer with added fruit?

Did a bit of checking on brewers friend and fruit is actually listed in the fermentables with 500g of rasperries giving 0.05% so not a lot though my airlock seems to disagree.:thumb:

 

[The Idiot]

How do you go about working out the abv of a beer with added fruit?

Guesswork? That'll be my approach!

 

[The Idiot]

I was wondering whether some cranberries might balance out an amber/red ale - I've noticed tesco sell them frozen

Cranberries can be sweet; too sweet for me. I think you need to slowly work your way up!

 

[dan125]

Cranberries can be sweet; too sweet for me. I think you need to slowly work your way up!

Wouldn't the sweetness ferment out??

 

[Ajhutch]

Is pomegranate a berry?


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[Gerryjo]

Is pomegranate a berry?


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A spherical fruit with a tough golden-orange outer skin and sweet red gelatinous flesh containing many seeds.

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[Ajhutch]

http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Pomegranate

Apparently the large outer housing is a berry in the botanical definition. You learn something new every day.


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[The Idiot]

Wouldn't the sweetness ferment out??

A lot of the simple sugars will ferment, but there will be some residual sweetness. Most people will find it more than acceptable. I'm just over-sensitive to sweetness. If I use even 2 or 3 per cent Crystal Malt in a grain bill it ruins the beer for me; I can taste a cloying sweetness in the background!

Many berries have a sour element to their taste, but it's not that pronounced in cranberries. That said, it might be more obvious after fermentation. Either way, there's only one way to find out!

 

[The Idiot]

Is pomegranate a berry?

It most certainly is. Get brewing!

 

[dan125]

A lot of the simple sugars will ferment, but there will be some residual sweetness. Most people will find it more than acceptable. I'm just over-sensitive to sweetness. If I use even 2 or 3 per cent Crystal Malt in a grain bill it ruins the beer for me; I can taste a cloying sweetness in the background!

Many berries have a sour element to their taste, but it's not that pronounced in cranberries. That said, it might be more obvious after fermentation. Either way, there's only one way to find out!

Thanks - I think I'l pick some up when I go to get some Ashbeck for this w/e's brew and see if eating a few will inspire a recipe

 

[AlanManley]

I was hoping for a Christmas beer (brewing a choc orange stout friday) but live a fruity beer.

Not sure what yet though. Perhaps a strawberry smoothie IPA or a chocolate and raspberry milk stout perhaps...

Decisions, decisions...

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[dan125]

I was hoping for a Christmas beer (brewing a choc orange stout friday) but live a fruity beer.

Not sure what yet though. Perhaps a strawberry smoothie IPA or a chocolate and raspberry milk stout perhaps...

Decisions, decisions...

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I still love the idea of choc orange stout & will try & get one in for chrimbo.
After I couldn't get any cranberries at tesco my mind turned to strawberries as there still seems lots about.
I have a NEIPA in the FV that I could experiment with. I might get a bottle of essence as mentioned in another thread to test out a small amount.
Reckon it could be tricky getting good strawberry flavour in a beer using real strawberries though.

 

[Ajhutch]

I still love the idea of choc orange stout & will try & get one in for chrimbo.
After I couldn't get any cranberries at tesco my mind turned to strawberries as there still seems lots about.
I have a NEIPA in the FV that I could experiment with. I might get a bottle of essence as mentioned in another thread to test out a small amount.
Reckon it could be tricky getting good strawberry flavour in a beer using real strawberries though.

I did a strawberry weissbeer, I pureed the strawberries and gave it a week in secondary. I had read that you need a lot of strawberries and I think the flavour will go if you leave them too long. I used 1.2kg of strawberries for 10 litres and got a really nice strawberry flavour in the beer. By contrast I also did some of that beer on cherries, similar weight to volume ratio but I just mashed the fruit and gave it two weeks, and the flavour was much more subtle. Both good, but if you really want a lurid strawberry hit I'd go big on weight and as short as you dare on time.

 

[dan125]

I did a strawberry weissbeer, I pureed the strawberries and gave it a week in secondary. I had read that you need a lot of strawberries and I think the flavour will go if you leave them too long. I used 1.2kg of strawberries for 10 litres and got a really nice strawberry flavour in the beer. By contrast I also did some of that beer on cherries, similar weight to volume ratio but I just mashed the fruit and gave it two weeks, and the flavour was much more subtle. Both good, but if you really want a lurid strawberry hit I'd go big on weight and as short as you dare on time.

Ooo.. that is a lot of strawberries.
Thinking on from my idea of testing the concept by dosing some beers wih strawberry essence (after reading essence on a recent thread), and sort of inspired by other recent threads, I was thinking I could make:

The Essense of Cyrogenic Strawberry Extraction IPA
CO2 hop extract for bittering
Cryo hops for flavour/aroma
Strawberry essence for the berries

Or does everyone think it would going too much against the spitit of the comp not to use any actual berries?

 

[DoctorMick]

Ooo.. that is a lot of strawberries.
Thinking on from my idea of testing the concept by dosing some beers wih strawberry essence (after reading essence on a recent thread), and sort of inspired by other recent threads, I was thinking I could make:

The Essense of Cyrogenic Strawberry Extraction IPA
CO2 hop extract for bittering
Cryo hops for flavour/aroma
Strawberry essence for the berries

Or does everyone think it would going too much against the spitit of the comp not to use any actual berries?

I'd think using essence would be fine, it's still a berry based beer.

We still need a judge if anyone is interested...

 

[dan125]

I'd think using essence would be fine, it's still a berry based beer.

That's good (if everyine agrees) - they are 'natural' essences after all :lol:

I could even go back to my original cranberry idea with an essence.

 

[AlanManley]

I recently did a Blueberry IPA. I used 3KGs of berries. 1kg in mash, boil and secondary respectively.

I've also used purees and made a Siren Craft $10 Shake Clone.

Thinking a combo of both with either (or both) strawberry and raspberries.

Seeking some.inspiration with this tonight.

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[The Idiot]

Ooo.. that is a lot of strawberries.
Thinking on from my idea of testing the concept by dosing some beers wih strawberry essence (after reading essence on a recent thread), and sort of inspired by other recent threads, I was thinking I could make:

The Essense of Cyrogenic Strawberry Extraction IPA
CO2 hop extract for bittering
Cryo hops for flavour/aroma
Strawberry essence for the berries

Or does everyone think it would going too much against the spitit of the comp not to use any actual berries?

I agree with Dr Mick; the goal is to make the berry shine in a beer, and if we end up with people all doing the same thing we're not going to learn much!

I intend on using around 5kg of gooseberries as the main approach to this, but I'll be splitting the batch and doing some with a homemade gooseberry extract and some with an essence.

I'm still torn between pale ale and saison, but I also have a beer with a yeast mix of Bierre de Garde and Brett Bruxellensis Trois which is going into secondary this weekend. I might taste that and opt to reuse the yeast cake.

So long as the final brew has a gooseberry sourness but is refreshing and clean, I don't really care how I got there!