Pikey Posted July 17, 2003 Share Posted July 17, 2003 I have just put down a Coopers Canadian Blonde (one of my favourites) but this time I have added a special touch - just for experimentation and because I have heard that a similar style of beer tastes fantastic. I added the zest of an orange then sliced and crushed the rest of the orange and chucked it in with the wort, I also added a tablespoon of dried corriander. In theory its a nice light refreshing "summery" style beer perfect for some spicy thai food. Has anyone else tried just throwing things into their wort :?: I have also done the black jelly beans in a stout but prefer some brown sugar to give it a caramel flavour. drew. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
c38169 Posted August 15, 2003 Share Posted August 15, 2003 Afraid so I enjoy Belgian Kriek when I can get it So I put 6kg Black Cherry jam into 23 litres of lager The taste was fine but I did not get the red colour of the original :oops: :P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pikey Posted August 20, 2003 Author Share Posted August 20, 2003 Thanks for the comments guys (or girls?) I was beginning to think that no-one else experimented with their brews. Mine will be tasted soon, and I'll be sure to post some tasting notes. Hadn't thought of using jam before, but it kind of opens up a world of possibilities doesn't it :wink: . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kai Posted September 3, 2003 Share Posted September 3, 2003 I put a blonde on the other night and added some lemon zest, lightly cracked coriander seeds and a couple juniper berries. Is there any need to worry about infection from these optional extras? I couldn't think of a satisfactory way to sanitise them, so I held off adding them till fermentation was underway. Not the perfect solution, but I figured it was better then adding them directly to the uncolonised wort. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank - Coopers Brewery Posted September 4, 2003 Share Posted September 4, 2003 Sounds interesting Kai. However, I would caution against adding anything to a wort without boiling it first. I've used zest, cinnamon sticks, cloves, ginger and other spices to flavour beer with varying degrees of success. I always boil the additives in a saucepan on the stove for at least five minutes prior to adding them to the wort. Not all wild yeast strains cause off flavours and hopefully your beer will be ok. Let us know how it goes. Frank Akers - Coopers Brewery Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PB2 Posted September 4, 2003 Share Posted September 4, 2003 My two cents worth.... Most Home Brew references suggest steeping additives such as fruit in a hot liquor just short of boiling for about 15 mins, then adding to the wort. Boiling may set the pectins in the fruit causing a haze in the final product. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kai Posted September 4, 2003 Share Posted September 4, 2003 I considered boiling, but didn't want to risk altering the flavour of the spices too much. Another idea I pondered was to steep the additives in vodka for fifteen minutes, avoiding any heat-related changes and possibly helping extract more flavour. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pikey Posted October 4, 2003 Author Share Posted October 4, 2003 I have been a bit lazy lately, but i have opened a couple of bottles of the Canadian blonde - corriander - orange - beer which started this discussion. I am no coinessoir (sp?) but it tastes delicious. The only problem is no head, bubbles are rather large and beer appears flat, I am sure its not the glasses because I have poured other home brews into the same glasses and they have a beautiful creamy head. Beer has maintained a hint of orange flavour (more citrusy (sp? again) than orange) and there is a slight peppery aftertaste from the corriander. Next beer down will definetly have jam added to it! Thanks for the jam ideas guys. Planning on decimating the stocks of bavarian lager, german wheat beer and munich lager next weekend (11th October) in conjunction with our local German club to celebrate Oktoberfest. Cheers and Beers, Drew. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
c38968 Posted October 7, 2003 Share Posted October 7, 2003 I have heard that adding strawberries to a Cooper's Lager. Is it best to finely chop the fruit and add it to the wort and would I have to reduce the sugar. Cheers Jimbob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PB2 Posted October 15, 2003 Share Posted October 15, 2003 Jimbob, preparation of fruit should include some form of pasteurisation method (see my previous post) and you may want to crush or chop the fruit sufficiently so that maximum flavour will infuse. I wouldn't worry about reducing the sugar, your call, fruit contains fermentable sugars that will increase the alcohol content. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oliver Posted October 16, 2003 Share Posted October 16, 2003 I read today of adding strawberries to a beer. What the bloke did was puree six cups of strawberries, then microwave it to boiling point to sterilise and strained it twice before adding it to the wort. This could be a more effective way of releasing maximum flavour instead of cutting it up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bazz Posted October 23, 2003 Share Posted October 23, 2003 I haven't done it myself, but a mate of mine has replaced sugar with honey in the wort and says that gives it a great caramel flavour. I think he said 600 grams though, not the full kilogram :shock: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bazz Posted June 20, 2005 Share Posted June 20, 2005 Thought I'd dig up an old topic. Surely more of us have tried adding different things to our brews at different stages. Mostly in this thread it has talked about fruits and spices, and in other threads honey and chilli has been used, has anyone used anything else? I have just bottled a lager (wanted to use a relatively standard flavour to try and judge effects) and added some tequilla to it. I got this idea off some beer my mates and I tried while we were away. I wasn't sure where to add the tequilla. At first I was going to put it in the wort, but a mate said he had tried it and couldn't really taste the flavour so he put it in the bottles. So this lead me down the path of the bottles, but then had the dilemma of how much? So I thought I'd experiment and put a full shot into some, half shot into some more, then a quarter shot into some others. (Could be pretty strong!!) So now the bottles are in my esky's (just in case of explosion) and will have a result in a couple of weeks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kai Posted June 20, 2005 Share Posted June 20, 2005 Wow, blast from the past. I dunno how tequila would be in a brew, though it sounds expensive. Best way to check would be add a shot or half a shot to a normal beer next time you sit down to drink one, and see if you like it or not. That experiment up there, I didn't add nearly enough of any of the ingredients to notice them. However, the beer turned out fine. I brewed a wheat beer on Friday. Once active ferment is finished I am going to split ten litres off into a smaller container together with 600g of frozen raspberries. We'll see how that turns out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bazz Posted June 21, 2005 Share Posted June 21, 2005 Wow, blast from the past. I dunno how tequila would be in a brew, though it sounds expensive. Best way to check would be add a shot or half a shot to a normal beer next time you sit down to drink one, and see if you like it or not. While I was in Broome they had a beer there which was in its experimentation phase to see if anyone bought it. We got a carton and everyone loved it. So we bought the last 6 they had!! (Think they only got 10 into town!) But it was a tequilla based beer. Trying to get a similar result. However yes, is expensive and will be treated as an exclusive beer and savoured!! Frozen strawberries....that will be interesting Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.