Batch #6 - American Wheat with Raspberries and Blackberries

Late last night/early this morning, I finished brewing up another batch. Everything went pretty well too. I was aiming for something “light” (and by “light,” I mean “lighter” than what I usually brew) and refreshing for the summer (which actually just started a few days ago). I decided to make an American Wheat and add raspberries and blackberries during the brewing process, much like I did for the banana dunkelweizen a few months ago (I just got my hands on another carboy, so next time I do a similar type of batch, I’ll probably go with a secondary fermentation for the fruit instead).

I still haven’t migrated over into the territory of all-grain brewing (frankly, I don’t think my poor little kitchen could really handle that - so that will definitely be a selling point when we’re in the market for a new place to live, hah), so this was another partial-mash. I used 6.6 lbs. of Light LME, 1/2 lb. of British Crystal malt (60-80 °L), Willamette hop pellets (the current shortage is still preventing me from buying whole hops) for the bittering and finishing, and a basic American Ale yeast strain. I really wanted to use organic, fresh fruit for this batch, but I wasn’t quite ready to sell one of my kidneys yet to pay for it, so I went with frozen (I was going to freeze them beforehand anyway, to rupture the cell walls, so it seemed like the most logical choice). And for those of you who didn’t realize this – myself included – raspberries and blackberries aren’t cheap. Let me just say that this seemingly $40 batch of beer turned into an $80 batch of beer, in a matter of seconds. That said, I expect everyone to at least pretend they like it, if for some reason they do not ;-)

I had read up on using these particular types of berries, and found out that blackberries don’t really add a strong aromatic contribution to the beer when used in small quantities. The advice I had received instructed me to use 1-4 lbs. per gallon brewed; I do 5-gallon batches, so that would have been 5-20 lbs. of blackberries...yeah, not happening in my 5-gallon brewpot. The raspberries required much less (less than half of that suggested for the blackberries). I ended up going with 5 lbs. each (10 lbs. of fruit); this was the first time I used either of these fruits, so I didn’t want to overdo anything (plus, General Mills beat me to “Frankenberry”).

I almost didn’t add any specialty grains to the recipe, because I really didn’t want this one getting too heavy. However, residual sweetness and “body” help compliment the addition of fruit, so it was a toss up between adding a little bit of Crystal malt or Cara-Pils (both of which add some sweeter characteristics, as well as help in “head” retention); I went ahead and gave it a nice little dose of Crystal.

My choice of hops was based on the fact that higher levels of alpha acids, and thus, bitterness, clash with the fruit in these types of beers (something I also had to consider with the banana dunkelweizen). I wanted something aromatic and citrusy, but not too aromatic and citrusy. I also wanted to make sure that the alpha acids were fairly low. So, I took a shot with Willamette hops (4-6% alpha acids), a hybrid of Fuggle, for both the bittering and finishing. We’ll see how it turns out, and I’ll make any necessary adjustments for next time, if need be.

After the boil, I steeped the now, somewhat thawed berries for about twenty minutes, and then strained, sparged (as best I could, given the amount of fruit), and transferred to the carboy. Although, I've got to say, when it came time to add the fruit to the brewpot, I was pretty worried that even 10 lbs. was going to have a hard time fitting. Luckily, it was pretty much a perfect fit. I’ve also been meaning to build an immersion chiller, but still haven’t gotten a chance. Thus, I’ve been forced to put the carboy on an ice bath to cool down the wort. This time, however, the near-frozen fruit did the job for me: immediately after the transfer, the wort reached the proper temperature range for me to pitch the yeast.

I’ve got a good feeling about this batch. My only concern is that the fruit didn’t properly pasteurize in the wort before the transfer. But, I’m far from being neurotic, so I’m sure it’ll actually be okay. Before pitching the yeast, I took a small sip to see how much of the berry flavor had been absorbed. It’s pretty “berry-y,” but I don’t think I overdid it; it’d be a lie to say that I’m not slightly worried that there may be a flavor clash between the two berries, but as usual, Mr. Marley is always right – “time will tell.” I’ll be popping the airlock on in a few days and bottling a week or so thereafter (along with another quick sip). I’m looking forward to seeing how this is going to turn out. If there isn’t much to report until it’s done, keep an eye out for some brief updates via Twitter.

Peace and Love!

So far:

6/09 - Minglin’ Berries (Yeah, I don’t know, someone help me with a name)
*Original Gravity: 1.053
*Potential Alcohol: 6.5%