Blackberry Wheat Beer

[widdersbel]

I've decided my next project will be a Blackberry Wheat Beer. I still have a load of blackberries in the freezer that I picked last autumn (it was a bumper crop) and the talk of strawberry beer on the newbie questions thread has inspired me to do something fruity. I'm taking my cues from this article I found earlier: http://beerandwinejournal.com/brewing-with-fruits-ii/

The plan is to use a Coopers Wheat Beer kit as the base. I feel this could benefit from being a decently strong brew, so I'll beef it up with a good lot of DME (maybe 1.5kg) and brew it to around 20L.

After primary fermentation is complete, I'll pulp the fruit, maybe treat it with a Campden tablet to inhibit any nasties, place it in a secondary vessel, then rack the beer onto it and leave it for another week or two.

Then I'll bottle it, priming at 8g/L to give it a good bit of sparkle, and leave it for a couple of months to condition. If I can get it on this weekend, hopefully it will be ready to drink by the height of summer.

Couple of questions about yeast:
What yeast should I use for this? Will the sachet of Coopers yeast be fine or does anyone recommend anything better for this type of brew? I have a spare sachet of yeast in the fridge from the Coopers Wheat Beer kit I used in my recent Saison project - would there be any benefit in doubling up and using two sachets of yeast?

I'm also wondering how one measures gravity when adding extra sugars for secondary fermentation - especially when the added sugars (fruit) won't be fully dissolved in the brew. Doesn't really matter too much, but I'd be interested to know exactly how strong my final brew is!

[widdersbel]

I'm also wondering how one measures gravity when adding extra sugars for secondary fermentation - especially when the added sugars (fruit) won't be fully dissolved in the brew. Doesn't really matter too much, but I'd be interested to know exactly how strong my final brew is!

Think I've found the answer:
http://www.themadfermentationist.com/20 ... l.html?m=1

"While you can go through all that work to get a slightly more accurate measure of the alcohol in your beer ... the change in alcohol due to the addition of fruit is small enough that you can comfortably ignore it."

[widdersbel]

Further thoughts - yes, I realise I'm being the mad bloke in the pub talking out loud to himself here...

I don't fancy ending up with a purple beer (not appetising), so I'm contemplating adding a bit of something to darken it - maybe some roasted barley or black malt... Just steep a bit and add it to the wort. This is uncharted territory for me so I'll need to do some more research on this. I mainly want it for colour, but I understand roasted barley is also used for adding a dry, roasted flavour, which I think would complement the blackberries well.

I might experiment prior to starting the brew by adding a bit of blackberry purée to a bottle of dunkelweizen to see how the flavours work together. I want to end up with something quite sharp tasting and very dry.

Any advice or suggestions on this matter would be welcome!

[widdersbel]

What yeast should I use for this? Will the sachet of Coopers yeast be fine or does anyone recommend anything better for this type of brew?

I've been doing some more research and I've got to thinking about using the WLP630 Berliner Weisse yeast for this, to give it a dry, slightly sour finish. Anyone have any thoughts on this idea?

I'm also thinking that maybe something like Carafa would be better than roasted barley.

[Exiled Bradfordian]

Please forgive my inexperience but I've not had any experience of many tweaks and have stuck with kits for my 5 brews so far. Blimey! 5. Don't tell the wife. Anyway, would using dark spray malt work to cover up the black currant colour? I was originally thinking treacle but to use in any quantity big enough to Chang the colour would completely overpower the flavour.

[widdersbel]

EB, I'm very inexperienced too - only a couple of brews ahead of you. And I'm already getting experimental... Fun, this brewing lark, isn't it?

Dark DME is a possibility. The only thing is it might affect the flavour too much. I'm really not sure! But then roasted barley might affect the flavour too.

I've been reading about Carafa Special Type III and it seems to be the best thing for what I want - it will affect the flavour but not as much as some other options. And it's much, much darker than dark DME so I'd be using much less of it to achieve the effect I want.

On the other hand, I might just decide to do a straight wheat beer + blackberries this time, just to see what it turns out like, and maybe think about tweaking the recipe with quirky yeasts and speciality malts next time...

[Jim]

To answer one question - roasted barley or black malt will certainly colour the brew, but will also dramatically alter the flavour unless you only use a tiny amount, say about 20g.

Those grains are the ones usually used in dry stouts (e.g. guinness) to give the rich, dark colour and characteristic flavour.

Not sure if that helps much though!

[widdersbel]

Thanks, Jim, that does help.

And tbh makes me think it's not worth trying to change the colour... Especially as it may not turn out as purple as I fear anyway!

[widdersbel]

By the way, is there a recognised method for changing the colour of beer in the way I want to? I suppose food colouring is always a possibility but I'd prefer a more "natural" method.

[pads72]

Hi Widdersbel,

I did a blackberry stout last year, and my top tip - taste the blackberries before you stick them in, mainly to check how sweet/sour they are. My thread is here -
viewtopic.php?f=24&t=61949

If you look at the pics, even in a dark stout, the purple colour comes through.

[widdersbel]

Thanks, pads, that's really interesting. Great point about tasting the blackberries.

I suppose I'm just going to have to accept the fact that I'll end up with a purple beer. Although I do have a can of Coopers stout waiting to be used, so maybe I could do a blackberry stout instead.

[pads72]

Seems bleeding obvious, doesn't it, but I bloomin forgot to, and they were well sour!

[widdersbel]

Taste testing this evening - picked up a couple of bottles of Berliner Kindl Weisse earlier to see how it stands the addition of blackberries...

First a straight taste of the Berliner Weisse - not a style I'm that familiar with. Slightly off-putting appearance wise - looks like a glass of... well, I don't need to say. Was expecting it to be more sour tasting, but it's surprisingly palatable.


After finishing the first bottle, I puréed a few blackberries and put them in the glass...


Then topped up with the second bottle...


Not bad, actually. The fruit adds another dimension and depth to the flavour that the beer lacks by itself. I think I can call this experiment a success.

Only question is whether it's worth going to the trouble and expense of sourcing the Berliner yeast for my brew...

[6470zzy]

That last pic looks great.....almost like a soufflé

[widdersbel]

Funny you should say that. I kept pouring after I took the pic and the head rose a good cm or so above the glass. Very soufflé-like.

By itself, the beer poured with a light frothy head but it dissipated very quickly.