belgian fruit beer

[far9410]

Hi been asked if i would do this, not something i would normally drink, so thinking along the lines of, make a belgian blonde then prime some of the bottles with the famous polish raspberry syrup, do you think that would work?

[seymour]

I'm sure adding fruit to a Belgian Blonde ale would work, but the classic examples I've seen use a Belgian Wit as the base recipe. In other words, something like half pale barley malt, half wheat (malted or unmalted), sometimes some oats as well, with noble hops and sometimes coriander and orange peel in the late boil. The yeast should be a low-flocculating Belgian Wit strain which finishes very dry and produces lots of black pepper and clove aspects. T-58 should be a great choice, cheap and easy, or else Mauri Weiss yeast, despite being marketed as a German wheat style. Here are some common examples:

Hoegaarden White/Witte
Brouwerij Hoegaarden - Hoegaarden, Belgium
OG: 1048
ABV: 4.9%
IBU: 16.5
Colour: hazy golden
Grainbill: 50% Pilsener, 45% Unmalted Wheat, 5% Oats
Hops: Nugget (75 min), Styrian Goldings and Saaz (15 min), Coriander, Curacao Orange Peel (5 min)
Yeast: the original Belgian Wit yeast, available as Wyeast 3944, White Labs WLP400


Belgian Wit
from 1992 book: Brewing the World's Great Beers by Dave Miller
OG: 1043
ABV: 4.5%
IBU: 14
Colour: hazy golden
Grainbill: 69% Pale, 31% Wheat (malt or unmalted)
Hops: Hallertau, Fuggles or Goldings, 2/3 of total for 60 min, 1/3 of total for 15 min
Yeast: Belgian Wit strain


Witte Raaf/White Raven
Hertog Jan Brouwerij - Arcen, Netherlands
ABV: 5.0%
IBU: ≈15
Colour: hazy golden
Grainbill: Pilsener Malt, Wheat Malt (probably 50/50)
Hops: Perle (90 min), Hersbrucker (15 min)
Yeast: Belgian Wit strain


Blue Moon Belgian White
MolsonCoors/Blue Moon - Golden, Colorado, USA
OG: 1053
ABV: 5.4%
IBU: 18
Colour: hazy golden
Grainbill: Pale, White Wheat, Oats
Hops: High-alpha extact or Cascade (45 min & 15 min), Valencia orange peel, Coriander (at flame-out)
Yeast: Belgian Wit strain

[far9410]

Hi Seymour, great reply ,as always, I,m thinking about the major part of the brew being a blonde or possibly a wit, then wondering if the late addition of fruit to a small part would be enough?

[seymour]

Traditionally, the fruit is added whole to a secondary fermentor, then the fermenting beer is racked onto it, then aged many months (or years, in the case of lambic, completely dissolving cherry stones and everything...)

By the same logic, you could add your fruit syrup as primary fermentation begins slowing down.

[far9410]

Traditionally, the fruit is added whole to a secondary fermentor, then the fermenting beer is racked onto it, then aged many months (or years, in the case of lambic, completely dissolving cherry stones and everything...)

By the same logic, you could add your fruit syrup as primary fermentation begins slowing down.

Ok I think I'll add some syrup to half in the fv. Thanks