Brewing with strawberries

Gday homebrewers,

I am keen to experiment with brewing beer with fruit, particularily berries, but I'm not sure where to start.

I am looking to make a Strawberry Blonde from a mini-mash and wondering where to start. Should I look to boil the berries, or suspend them in a "tea" bag in the fermenter?

And what sort of grains/malts and yeast will compliment a fruit beer?

Cheers.

Hi Leffie,

I have been looking at this recently too,  mainly because i like lambics and the sudden increase in Berliner weisse on the market. General concensus is to add the fruit to the beer while it is fermenting. The idea is to get the yeast going using the more complex sugars found in the wort before you let them loose on the simple sugars found in the fruit. I have read two options, 1. let your fermentation go for a couple of days then add the fruit, 2. let your beer ferment out completly then rack your beer into a new fermenter which contains your fruit and allow the yeast to consume the sugars in the fruit.

There is some debate as to how to deal with the fruit. Some say not to worry about sterilising and just cut it up and chuck it in the fermenter. You can also stew the fruit down on the stove then add the fruit pulp to the fermenter.

Another way of getting fruit into the beer is to primer using homemade fruit cordials. I have done this with a mulberry cordial i had made. Used the cordial to prime a wheat beer and it turned out pretty good.

As to what type of beer i think it is fairly open. I have seen anything from cranberry stouts to citrus pilsners. I think classically a lighter beer style would be eaier to get right something pale ale based so you still get some malt sweetness coming through. Use a fairly neutral yeast amercian or english ale. Probably floral hops with moderate IBU.

Cheers Rob

Thanks heaps Rob. As usual you are a font of knowledge.

I think I'll have a go at stewing the fruit this time, but the cordial idea for priming really grabs me too.

Cheers!