Sunday 18 March 2012

Fruit Beer - Update

Yesterday I racked the trappist base onto 3kg (6.6 pounds) of Frozen Raspberries.  The trappist base has been made very light to allow the Raspberries to dominate.  With just 1 hour of soaking the tart raspberry flavour was coming through and it had changed from Yellow to Pink.  If this is successful I'll be looking to do a cherry version next.



Tuesday 13 March 2012

Fruit Beer - Brewing

This is my first attempt at brewing with fruit.  Following many tips from other brewers I will be racking to the fruit in secondary, none has been added to primary.  This weekend it will have been two weeks of fermenting so it should be time to rack it.  You'll see as you read this recipe that the base is quite plain.  I want something that will be quite easy drinking and will allow the raspberries to dominate.  I also didn't add sugar to primary as I expect the fruit's natural sugars will dry out the beer.

Raspberry Trappist Beer base

1Kg Sorghum Syrup @ 60 minutes
160g Tapioca based maltodextrine @ 60 minutes
15g Hallertaur Hops @ 60 minutes
15g Tettanager Hops @ 30 minutes
1 teaspoon of yeast nutrient @ 10 minutes
15g Tettanager Hops @ 10 minutes
1.8Kg Sorghum Syrup @ 0 minutes
*** Cold crash for 30 minutes ***
1 packets of Fermentis S-33 Trappist yeast

Basic Lager - Brewing

About a week and a half ago I put this beer down with a guest brewer.  Well actually I was the guest in his house brewing.  Even with the dramas we had with the town losing power and the water running out (pumped from tank electrically), I think we still put the beer down successfully.  This is currently fermenting at 12 degrees celcius in his lager fridge.


Basic Gluten Free Lager
---------------------------------
1Kg Sorghum Syrup @ 60 minutes
230g Maltodextrine @ 60 minutes
375g Demerara Sugar @ 60 minutes
45g Saaz 3.5% AA @ 60 minutes
15g Saaz 3.5% AA @ 15 minutes
1/2 Whirlfloc tablet @ 15 minutes
1tsp Yeast Nutrient @ 10 minutes
1.8Kg Sorghum Syrup @ Flameout
*** Cold Crash ***
W-34/70 Fermentis Lager Yeast

I dare say this beer will take quite some time to ferment.  I hope it's worth the wait.