Raspberry Wheat beer

[josephdurham]

Hello,

Here are my ingredients:

1 Coopers (AUS) wheat beer kit
1.75kg raspberry puree (frozen to kill the bugs, then stuck in the microwave and blender)
500g Muntons spray malt (for wheat beer)
350g white sugar

Made up to 20 litres rather than 23.

(This recipe is adapted from the one in CAMRA's Beer, with the raspberry count increased!)

I think I might have a problem with my raspberry wheat beer, as the hydro readings seem too low. I made it on friday night and, just 36 hours later, it is down to just 1012. It was 1015 last night. Unfortunately, I failed to get an initial reading because I couldn't find my hydrometer!

Do you think I should add some more sugar to up the final %? Or are the low readings because the spray malt has fermented very quickly?

Thanks for any help,

Joseph

[mysterio]

First off, freezing won't kill the bugs, don't worry about it though. I've used frozen raspberries in a wheat beer with no problems.

It's not unusual for the majority of fermentation to be over after 36 hours with some of the dried yeasts. I wouldn't add anything more. There will be plenty of sugars in the fruit for the yeast to work on. I would expect it to drop below 1.010.

[trucker5774]

As mysterio says about the fast fermentation in the first 36 hours, i have seen this many times, where the brew make a big effort the free itself from the bucket and explore the house. This can happen in just a few hours and also last for just a few hours. I would do the usual test of 2 hyrometer reading being the same for a couple of days then bottle etc.

I will be interested to see how the rasberries flavour the brew. When I have tried it, I have found very little flavour, just increased sugar level

[josephdurham]

First off, thanks a lot for the prompt replies and useful help!

On the flavour score, I adapted this from a kit recipe which recommended a smaller quantity of raspberries. Os, it hsoudl at least have a better taste than the recipe.
I am also going to try and find some Raspberry syrup (someone said Hartley's do one and its sold in Aldi) and prime it with that. I know syrup is much derided for giving an artifical flavour, but it might make the raspberry flavour a bit more obvious.

Will report back soon. Thanks,

Joseph

[Mogwyth]

I did something similar using a brewmaster kit as the base, used fresh raspberries with no problem, also did a strawberry one too, only problem I had is that both have finished up a bit on the dry side. plenty of flavour, drop of sugar in the glass makes the world of difference but watch out for the foam.

Cheers

Bill

[Mogwyth]

With me it's strictly for the wife Chris, she likes them I don't. I actually did 8pts raspberry, same of strawberry and the rest of the kit as it's meant to be.

Bill

[josephdurham]

The beer has stuck at 1012 for the past four days. When I roused the yeast, it comes up to the surface, bubbles and goes away again. There is no thick foamy bit on top of the wort, so I am rather worried. I pitched in my favourite yeast that I use for making cider, but it didn't go well. I also sieved most of the colourless raspberry pieces out-maybe they were causing the trouble?

The beer has heaters and the yeast was well roused at the start of fermentation.

I thought the sugar may have killed off the yeast, but I did some maths and it didn't seem to be that much over the recommendation (500g DME and 350g dextrose) that came with the kit.

I added:
500g DME
350g sugar
1.75 kg raspberries (which adds 71g if you use the figures from http://www.nutritiondata.com/facts/frui ... ces/2053/2)

So, only slightly over- 71 grams to be precise.

I've looked at the stuck fermentation thread and am going to add some yeast vit and then dry beer enzyme. If anybody has any ideas, please pitch in (what a pun! )

To contribute to the 'fruit beer's terrible/only for girls' viewpoint, it isn't. A good Belgian kriek or frambozen is truly wonderful. Go and buy one, get a Belgian bun with icing and a big red cherry on top and a few cherries from your greengrocers. Have a picnic. It's very nice.

Also, the girlfriend loves kriek and frambozen. They make her happy and keep her quiet, which makes them both quite exceptional beers!

Thanks,
Joseph