Blueberry classic bitter

[DJ]

Went out to dinner with my wife the other week and she ordered a

The Coach House Brewing Co.

Blueberry Classic Bitter

 

She liked it so much that now she wants me to make it at home, but I dont have much of an idea of how to go about it.

 

Anyone tried this before or have any ideas?

[PB2]

Haven't tasted this beer so I can't be sure of the style.

 

Anyway, you can buy 500g packs of frozen blueberries at the supermarket. Wrap them in a new cleaning cloth, just pulled out of the plastic wrapper - similar to this hops shot

Then tie the diagonal corners and drop it into the brew at the start of fermentation, thus.

 

The berry aroma and flavour will infuse the beer while the yeast will metabolise any sugars to finish it dry.

 

I have used this method with a number of brews using different frozen berry packs - the base brew is normally Canadian Blonde + BE1.

[DJ]

Cheers, i'll give it a go.

[biggrin]

[DKAngel]

how did this brew turn out in the end?

[andrewk5]

hey paul,

 

with the 500g frozen pack, what was the aproximate increase in ABV% ?

[PB2]

Good question. I didn't bother to measure ABV because I figured it would vary depending on the type of fruit, which may alter amount of fruit sugars transferred to the brew.

 

If I can find a bottle of "Blushing Blonde" in the brew room at work, I'll measure the ABV and get back to you with the result.

 

[andrewk5]

thx [happy] curious to see what sort of final effect it would have, im thinking of trying somthing similar with the blond, soonish, i understand when you say it depends on the fruit / sugar lvls, but somthing to work off will give me a base line when i do try it

[PB2]

The alcohol reading comes up at about 0.05% above the average reading for this beer when just BE1 is used. So, one could say, "a negligible amount". [smile]

[andrewk5]

kool thx PB2.....i think i might put on the 'To Brew List' somthing like a Rasberry Pilsener or maybe even passionfruit, might put some more thought to it at a later date

[DJ]

how did this brew turn out in the end?

 

Still waiting to taste as I used the used the brew as a bargining chip on a new fermenter. Told my wife if she wanted me to brew beers for her then I would need a second fermenter... worked a treat and picked one up from coles (brand new microbrew kit) for $45 a few weeks ago.

 

Put the beer down similar to Pauls recommendations, but also added a blueberry fruit flavour syrup I ordered from craftbrewer prior to bottling(as the product recommended). OG 1040, brewed at 20deg, FG 1014. Has a distinct bluish tinge and has been in the bottle for nearly two weeks. Will crack open the first one on the weekend.

Not expecting for it to be great just yet as it could probably use more conditioning. My last fruit beer (strawberry blonde with real strawberries) took about 2 months to come good... not sure why.

[Andris]

This recipe made me really interested in trying out - I have a can of canadian blonde winking at me all the time and this might just be it!

 

well, whats the precautions using fruits? I mean, with blueberries - do you like crush em before pinching in? boil? sanitation? can I use blender to mash them and then put in?

 

would really appreciate practical advice on this part.

 

thanks in advance!

[PB2]

Fresh berries - drop them into boiling water for a minute to pastuerise them. Then put them into a mesh cloth and throw them straight onto the top of the brew.

Frozen berries - I'm yet to see any ill effect from eclosing them in a cloth and tossing them onto the brew. However, to be absolutely sure, you might like to drop them in boiling water too.

[Luke]

PB2, do you drain the liquid the berries were boiled in or cool the lot and add it all?

[PB2]

The water goes off the boil when the berries are droppped in. Some color comes out of the berries in this time so it doesn't hurt to use the hot water for mixing other dry sugars, if you like.

[Luke]

Then you get to keep ALL the goodness![cool]