Raspberry Ale Recipe

[macron1]

Hi

Does anyone here have a good raspberry ale recipe??? My GF loves that Jamison's Raspberry Ale, and i am planning to make a similar brew.

The plan is a simple "base" of two tins of hopped extract - probably Canadian Blonde (cant remember the manufacturer just i seen it in Big W) - brewed as usual for a primary ferment, then racking this onto a couple of kgs of raspberrys for a couple of weeks, similar i guess to dry hopping in a secondary.

Really, all i want to know is if anyone has made a raspberry ale before, and what kind of "base" you used?? I've seen Pale Ale bandied about, but i like my PAs very very hoppy so this probably wouldnt float with raspberries in it. Your thoughts please.

Also, would using frozen berries be alright? Fresh raspberries are so so pricey...

Thanks

 

[Insight]

Hi Macron and welcome to the forum. I am an all grain brewer, but my preferred base for a raspberry beer is a lightly hopped wheat beer (say 10-15 IBUs). I've had good results with K-97 dry yeast and 3kg of raspberries in the secondary for 21 days. Frozen berries are better than fresh because most of the wild yeast on the berries has been killed off and the walls of the berries have been ruptured, allowing the yeast a good chance at the sugars.

You may also find that the raspberry taste is a bit "flabby" straight out of the secondary. To fix this, blend in some citric acid (available in supermarket) a bit at a time to taste. This will really brighten up the fruit flavour.

 

[bconnery]

I've also done quite a few fruit ones,but usually on a wheat base as well.
However to do what it sounds like you are after (bearing in mind I haven't had Jamiesons rasberry one) the coopers blonde would be a good base.
I'd second k-97 as a good fruit beer yeast.

Definitely put the beer on the fruit in the secondary. A week is what I've always done but longer if you wish. I always found enough character came out in that time...

I usually rack again just to settle out and try and make sure no fruit comes through to the bottles.

Frozen berries are good.

 

[macron1]

wow, thanks for the welcomes and rapid replies! I have been looking high and low for definitive information about raspberry ale but it has been hard to come by thus far. I have a few more questions following the above feedback...

From what i understand, the k-97 is a wheat beer yeast? is their any caveats with respect to using this type of yeast on non-wheat beer base (ie the coopers blonde)? id imagine it should ferment normally, however i cannot be sure as i have not used k-97. Also, if i were to use this type of yeast, what kind of difference would i be likely to see over the use of an ale yeast? I mean in terms of flavors, final carbonation, and "cloudiness" (i know that sometimes in wheat beers cloudiness is desirable)

Regarding that secondary racking mentioned by bconnery, might this be avoided by adding the raspberries in the secondary in a mesh/muslin bag? or do you do this already and a second racking is unavoidable???

Thanks again for the advice

 

[Insight]

Certainly if you are staying with a blonde ale as a base beer, use US05 dry yeast or similar and ferment low (17-18 degrees). Bconnery & I were suggesting that K-97 is a good yeast in a wheat beer as it has very low ester production, compared to say WLP300 liquid yeast.

You'll probably get away without racking to a tertiary if you dump the raspberries in a muslin bag in the secondary. Remember to sanitize the bag of course. You may need a few more days contact time with the raspberries.

One other tip - the raspberries will give you more alcohol, and dry & thin out the beer. Account for this by using Light Malt Extract instead of sugar (if you aren't already) which should help leave some residual body to the beer.

 

[sah]

There is some information about fruit beer in the articles section, see http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/inde...;showarticle=39

I made one recently, 50% wheat, 50% pilsner. 14 IBU, US-05 yeast. Used 1.5kg of frozen rasberries (which I pastuerised) in the secondary for a 23L batch.

My wife really likes it.

Good luck and welcome.

Scott

 

[Brownie]

What about a Rasberry Lager with the following:

Coopers Bavarian Lager Kit
Coopers Brew Enhancer 1 or 2
Saaz Hops
SafLager S-23 Yeast
Ferment
In Secondary add Rasberries

Would this work? OR would it be better to substitute the SafLager for an Ale yeast?

Brownie

 

[0M39A]

k-97 isn't a wheat yeast, its an old ale yeast, but it gets thrown around as if it were a wheat yeast though. under the right conditions it can throw off a few banana-esque esters, but thats about it.

you wont have any problems using it in a blonde kit at all.

if you want to make a wheat base, try using the dried wb-06 wheat yeast. would work well imo.

 

[bconnery]

Not sure about the muslin bag, but only because I haven't tried it. You could always try it and then see how it looks in terms of stuff left in the beer before deciding whether to rack it again.

I would use k-97 regardless myself, but s05 would be a good choice too. I just like it works in a fruit beer.
If you change to a wheat I would use the wb06 as it has a lovely tartness that goes with a fruit wheat but otherwise choose either of the 97 or 05...

I made a mixed berry wheat with the wb06 and it was really nice.

you could go the rasberry lager probably but I can't give an informed opinion. I've always gone the wheat base for my fruit beers as I like the base flavour of a good wheat and the way it interacts with the fruit. My opinion would be that a blonde ale or a wheat would be the better base but by all means go for it because it is only an opinion and I'd also be quite happily proved wrong, if only because that would give me another option of types of beers to make (as if I didn't have enough ideas already...)

 

[Maple]

I just did my first fruit beer a few weeks back, and as usual, did no research on it, just flying blind. Used 100%pils malt, hoped with pac hallertau nz to 18 ibu, used 1.8 kg of mulberries in the secondary for 2 weeks....don't use mulberries in this quantity! way too tart/dry and a touch of sourness. used US05 yeast, but reading the other posts thinking this might be noce in lower quantities with a wheatie. interesting result none the less and will use this batch for blending into others and mixy/mongrel kegs

 

[Brownie]

Bump....selfishly looking fo rmore opinions:

What about a Rasberry Lager with the following:

Coopers Bavarian Lager Kit
Coopers Brew Enhancer 1 or 2
Saaz Hops
SafLager S-23 Yeast
Ferment
In Secondary add Rasberries

Would this work? OR would it be better to substitute the SafLager for an Ale yeast and maybe some more LME?

Brownie

 

[Hargie]

....anything wrong with using tinned raspberries...???...i assume that being tinned they are already sterile....??

 

[Mercs Own]

I did a Rasberry wheat a while back using the wb06 and Tettnang hops. It was an all grain. I racked 18 litres of wort that had been fermenting for three days over 1 1/2 kilos of just thawed frozen rasberries. Left it until fermentation stopped and let it settle a little longer and kegged it off. Good rasberry nose, great colour and a lovely fruity and slightly tart taste - very refreshing and very drinkable. The alc was 4.3%

I would suggest using 2 Coopers Wheat beer cans with the wb06 and not more then 2 kilos of frozen rasberries.

edit: spelling

 

[petesbrew]

Had to do a trawl for my old recipe, done a couple of years ago.
Blonde Berry Tart Fuel
Coopers Canadian Blonde (& included yeast)
1kg brew enhancer 1
forgotten amount of cascade hops (I'd leave them out in future and just rely on the fruit flavour)
800g raspberries in primary
then 500g raspberries in secondary

LOTS of comments to put the berries in the secondary, but I reckon a portion in the primary may help with adding some character.
Basically, I pulped/blended the berries, gently simmered them for 15 min, and added them straight to the fermenter.

I've got a pic of it somewhere on the site... do a search for it using my name... sorry dunno how to do links yet.

 

[Brownie]

Pete,

Read the thread on your previous brew and have noted important points from the thread many thanks

Also noticed that either you or someone else mentioned Rasberry Topping or Syrup.....has anyone used syrup instead of frozen/fresh fruit?

If so, which is the best method, in the boil or secondary? Would have thought in the boil to kill off anything in the syrup but I'm sure someone knows the good oil on this one?

Cheers

 

[bconnery]

In my book you can't go past fresh/frozen fruit, not syrup or extract. All the best fruit beers I have tasted and done use real fruit.

When it comes down to recipe choices you have lots of options, but you have to choose one in the end. Wheat is a tried and true choice, blonde ale perhaps less so, and a lager perhaps least common, but that doesn't mean it wont work!

You could go more 'safe' as it were or else try something a little different. I think the maltyish bavarian lager with the nice Saaz flavour has the potential to go well.

personally I love hallertau and/or tettnang with fruit beers but any sort of noble hop is a good one I think.

Fresh or frozen fruit in the secondary is the only way I would do it...

 

[Tim F]

I'd think you would lose a lot of flavour by boiling the fruit, or at least change it a lot. When making fruit wine, I soak the fruit in a solution of 1g/10L potassium metabisulfate, which should be plenty to kill any wild yeast. I also wash a stocking leg and soak it in the pot meta and use that to put the fruit in, I reckon the same could work with beer.

 

[petesbrew]

I agree with Bconnery, fresh or frozen fruit. You really don't want the extra additives/flavours in the extract/syrup in your beer. Dunno about tinned - check the ingredients.

It seems to be more cost effective putting the fruit in the secondary, as a lot of flavours get stripped out in the initial fermentation.
Still, mine turned out pretty good, and was a hit with most girls who tried it.

One last thing was over time (say a year), the carbonation in the longnecks were pretty intense, to the point wher a friend's ceiling was painted pink!
I just assume the 500g put in the secondary kept fermenting slowly along with the priming sugar.

Pete

 

[Lukes]

It's that time of year.
I spotted watermelons for $1.00 each over the weekend so I may make a watermelon wheat soon with some Pacific Hall and Kiwi Cascade.

Here's my 2c
Don't boil the fruit, wash, mash (potato style mashing) & freeze it to break it down and release the goodies.
Rack onto it in secondary to keep the flavor.
Add 10% extra Crystal (partial grain for canners and cara red is nice) to keep it from turning out as dry as a nun's nasty.
Drink it young.
You are adding more fermentables and it will keep coming down so let it ferment out & watch out for bottle bombs.

- Luke

 

[macron1]

Just a few questions following the above hints (please forgive me as i am new to brewing)

1) Insight mentioned flabby taste and the addition of citric acid... I think i understand the idea of a "flabby" raspberry taste, so when do you put citric acid in? do you add it directly to the fermenter? or into the finished beer? the latter seems like an odd proposition in terms of serving, and i am not sure of the effects of added citric acid in the secondary...

Also, this is a bit of a noobish question, regarding Lukes comments above, how much would 10% crystal be? I am planning to use two cans of Coopers Blonde extract (i think this has been confirmed as an ok starting place from the above comments in terms of a "base beer"), so that would be a bout 3.4 kg of extract - does this mean i should think about using around 340 g of crystal grain???? or 10% of the total volume of beer? or is 10% the type of crystal? or what?????

O and another thing, is there any way to find out the IBU in a tin of extract?


Thanks again for all the advice