Fruit Beer using Rasberry Concentrate

[bconnery]

I haven't actually tried it yet but I have designs on a strawberry wheat beer in the next couple of months.

I was listening to an interview with Randy Mosher on Basic Brewing Radio where he stated that strawberries made very poor beer. Not that I'm trying to put you off or anything - I'd probably try to make a small amount first and see how it turns out.

I'm going to stick with Raspberries as I grow them myself and they go lovely in a light beer. I also grow Damsons but I'm not sure how they will turn out, they're quite acidic but unless you cook them I find that they have very little flavour. And cooking them can result in a pectic haze so I'm going to do the same thing and try brewing a gallon or so and see how it goes - the missus can always chutney the rest

Well he's wrong.
I made one every year for 4 years and it was a big family favourite.
THe trick with strawberries is that you need a bucketload of them, and it won't be as intense as something like a rasberry wheat or a kriek, but it's a lovely beer all the same.

I put 3kg minimum in a 20L batch, preferably even a smaller batch and more strawberries.
I used to get a jamming box from a growers market. $5 a box to get 3-4kg.

What you end up with is a fruit wheat with a hint of fruit. It sounds like not much result for that much fruit but it is a very pleasant summer beer.

I make a 50/50 pils/wheat malt base, lightly hopped with a noble hop, and fruit always at the end of primary, after the bulk of fermentation has finished.
That's my base for all fruit wheats.
Yeast is wb06 dried yeast. I like the spiceness it brings as opposed to a proper bavarian type flavour which I feel competes with the fruit.

Raspberries make very nice fruit beers though, but just don't discount the strawberry...

[Jolum]

I haven't actually tried it yet but I have designs on a strawberry wheat beer in the next couple of months.

I was listening to an interview with Randy Mosher on Basic Brewing Radio where he stated that strawberries made very poor beer. Not that I'm trying to put you off or anything - I'd probably try to make a small amount first and see how it turns out.

I'm going to stick with Raspberries as I grow them myself and they go lovely in a light beer. I also grow Damsons but I'm not sure how they will turn out, they're quite acidic but unless you cook them I find that they have very little flavour. And cooking them can result in a pectic haze so I'm going to do the same thing and try brewing a gallon or so and see how it goes - the missus can always chutney the rest

Well he's wrong.
I made one every year for 4 years and it was a big family favourite.
THe trick with strawberries is that you need a bucketload of them, and it won't be as intense as something like a rasberry wheat or a kriek, but it's a lovely beer all the same.

I put 3kg minimum in a 20L batch, preferably even a smaller batch and more strawberries.
I used to get a jamming box from a growers market. $5 a box to get 3-4kg.

What you end up with is a fruit wheat with a hint of fruit. It sounds like not much result for that much fruit but it is a very pleasant summer beer.

I make a 50/50 pils/wheat malt base, lightly hopped with a noble hop, and fruit always at the end of primary, after the bulk of fermentation has finished.
That's my base for all fruit wheats.
Yeast is wb06 dried yeast. I like the spiceness it brings as opposed to a proper bavarian type flavour which I feel competes with the fruit.

Raspberries make very nice fruit beers though, but just don't discount the strawberry...

Interesting. To be fair to Mosher he said strawberries make a poor beer due to the fact that they carry over so little of the strawberry flavour\aroma to the final beer - something you have alluded to in your reply. On a similar vein, I once made a strawberry wine and the resulting coppery\straw coloured liquid had very little similarities to the strawberries it was made from and that was using 1.5Kg in a gallon - don't get me wrong, it was a pleasant enough wine and it got you pissed but it wasn't the 'strawberries in a glass' I was expecting.

[symptomlesscoma]

Seeing as this thread is back up and running again thought I'd ask a question.
Gonna do my Raspberry wheat next week and just wondered when I add my fruit concentrate to the secondary do i need to get plenty of oxygen into the beer to get second fermentation going or will that harm the beer?

[EoinMag]

Seeing as this thread is back up and running again thought I'd ask a question.
Gonna do my Raspberry wheat next week and just wondered when I add my fruit concentrate to the secondary do i need to get plenty of oxygen into the beer to get second fermentation going or will that harm the beer?

No, Oxygen is needed at the start when the yeast is reproducing, when you put the concentrate into a secondary it should still have enough active yeast and not need any oxygen, it would more than likely shorten the life of the beer severely to oxygenate at that point.

[staplefordbill]

I've been reading this thread with interest as I've made up Belgian fruit beers from kits for the last 2 Christmases, and my wife is keen for me to do the same again. Anyone have a tried and tested recipe with e.g. quantities of fruit concentrate to use? Sounds like the simplest way is to make a plain wheat beer then add the concentrate at the conditioning stage.

Edit: I should have done some research before making the post as Dave-O posted a Hoegaarden-like wheat beer recipe:

12l

1500g flaked wheat
1400g pilsener malt
20g Saaz - full boil
10g Crushed coriander seeds - 15 minutes
20g bitter orange peel - 15 minutes

Will be about 5%, IBU 17, EBC 7

at viewtopic.php?f=5&t=34228

Knowing the fruit concentrate quantities would be handy though.

[Mountain]

I've just bottled a blueberry wheat.

I tried a new way this time.
I chucked in a load at the last 15minutes of the boil, then added some more a week later.
I brought another 1.5kg to the boil with some water, blended it and added to the FV.

Mind you, bright purple cloudy beer might catch some people off guard

[CJBrew]

I've just bottled a blueberry wheat.

I tried a new way this time.
I chucked in a load at the last 15minutes of the boil, then added some more a week later.
I brought another 1.5kg to the boil with some water, blended it and added to the FV.

Mind you, bright purple cloudy beer might catch some people off guard

3kg of blueberries? How much did that set you back?!

[bconnery]

I was listening to an interview with Randy Mosher on Basic Brewing Radio where he stated that strawberries made very poor beer. Not that I'm trying to put you off or anything - I'd probably try to make a small amount first and see how it turns out.

I'm going to stick with Raspberries as I grow them myself and they go lovely in a light beer. I also grow Damsons but I'm not sure how they will turn out, they're quite acidic but unless you cook them I find that they have very little flavour. And cooking them can result in a pectic haze so I'm going to do the same thing and try brewing a gallon or so and see how it goes - the missus can always chutney the rest

Well he's wrong.
I made one every year for 4 years and it was a big family favourite.
THe trick with strawberries is that you need a bucketload of them, and it won't be as intense as something like a rasberry wheat or a kriek, but it's a lovely beer all the same.

I put 3kg minimum in a 20L batch, preferably even a smaller batch and more strawberries.
I used to get a jamming box from a growers market. $5 a box to get 3-4kg.

What you end up with is a fruit wheat with a hint of fruit. It sounds like not much result for that much fruit but it is a very pleasant summer beer.

I make a 50/50 pils/wheat malt base, lightly hopped with a noble hop, and fruit always at the end of primary, after the bulk of fermentation has finished.
That's my base for all fruit wheats.
Yeast is wb06 dried yeast. I like the spiceness it brings as opposed to a proper bavarian type flavour which I feel competes with the fruit.

Raspberries make very nice fruit beers though, but just don't discount the strawberry...

Interesting. To be fair to Mosher he said strawberries make a poor beer due to the fact that they carry over so little of the strawberry flavour\aroma to the final beer - something you have alluded to in your reply. On a similar vein, I once made a strawberry wine and the resulting coppery\straw coloured liquid had very little similarities to the strawberries it was made from and that was using 1.5Kg in a gallon - don't get me wrong, it was a pleasant enough wine and it got you pissed but it wasn't the 'strawberries in a glass' I was expecting.

I think that's what puts people off.
It seems like such a lot of fruit and then you don't get the intense flavour and colour that can come from a rasberry wheat or other berry beers.
I've started using a half or so batch with the same amount of strawberries and that increases the flavour, plus you get a nice hefe to drink as well
It's strawberry season down here at the moment so I just froze the box for this years attempt. 5.2kgs from my $5 box this year. Should get me some flavour this time

I do admit that if I wasn't getting them so cheap I probably wouldn't have made this beer again and again. It take 3, 4 or even 5 times as much to make a half decent beer. But at around $1 kg for the fruit I will go for it.