Blackberry season

[Northern_Brewer]

Sounds nice, I'm sure I'd like that. I like the Coach House blueberry beer although I think the taste is a bit fake in that. I don't think I have ever seen them growing wild

That's because blueberries are native to North America. In the UK we have bilberries, which are a different species in the same family and which are pretty common in moorland areas, my mum used to fill a freezer with them. Great on their own or on a cheesecake.

It's getting a bit OT, but AIUI the problem with blueberries in beer is that it's easy to get colour from them but it's hard to get much flavour - which perhaps is why commercial examples might need a bit of artificial "assistance".

 

[Jim Brewster]

the problem with blueberries in beer is that it's easy to get colour from them but it's hard to get much flavour - which perhaps is why commercial examples might need a bit of artificial "assistance".

Yes, in fact the characteristic blueberry flavour seems to come out much more once they've been cooked and I think a lot of it is in the skin. It's the same with other fleshy fruits in a 'skin' like plums and grapes - made into a jam they are a lot stronger in flavour compared to eating fresh.

 

[sifty]

Interesting. Yes it was hard to find a recipe using real fruit. Most blueberry brews seemed to use a flavour/essence. I thought I may have overused the fruit (3kg is a lot) but perhaps not.
Look fwd to seeing how BlackBerry brews go...

 

[isitbeeroclock]

I froze some blackberries back in Aug and today is the day i brew my Blackberry Porter, i'm thinking of adding some lactose and mash at a highbtemp (69°C) to get more unfermentable sugars to balance against the tartness of the blackberries, anyone tried this before?

 

[Anglezarke]

Blackberry wine already clearing without fining! Should be excellent next year.

 

[DekH]

Fruit Wheat I split mine into four and add different fruit combo's. I only managed 800g of frozen (when freshly picked) fruit per 5 litre demijohn this time but it still has loads of flavour

Malts (4.6 kg)
2.3 kg (48.9%) — Crisp German Pilsen — Grain — 3.4 EBC
2.3 kg (48.9%) — Crisp Wheat Malt — Grain — 4.1 EBC
Other (100 g)
100 g (2.1%) — Briess Rice Hulls — Adjunct — 0 EBC
Hops (20 g)
20 g (15 IBU) — Challenger 7.5% — Boil — 30 min
Miscs
1 items — Protafloc — Boil — 15 min
Yeast
1 pkg — Fermentis US-05 Safale American 81%
Fermentation
Primary — 20 °C — 14 days
Carbonation: 2.4 CO2-vol
1. Split wort in to 4 x5 litre demijohns
2. Using US 05 make a 2 litre starter split into the four demijohns
3. Add fruit to demijohns day 3
4. Demijohn 1 fresh Strawberry pulp 1kg Demijohn 2 fresh Raspberry pulp 1kg Demijohn 3 fresh Blueberry pulp 1kg Demijohn 4 fresh Blackcurrant pulp 1kg

 

[sifty]

^
Really interested to see how these turn out...

 

[Northern_Brewer]

I froze some blackberries back in Aug and today is the day i brew my Blackberry Porter, i'm thinking of adding some lactose and mash at a highbtemp (69°C) to get more unfermentable sugars to balance against the tartness of the blackberries, anyone tried this before?

Personally I'd drop the lactose - it's not particularly sweet and I don't particularly like what it brings to beer.

 

[Jim Brewster]

I collected enough blackberries to also put some in a wheat beer and a Saison which were very nice, but in the stout they were a little too sharp and I've still got a few litres of it left that I might add some lactose to just to see the difference. I have never used it before