Blueberries

legropes

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Hi guys,

I'm gonna do a pale ale soon and I want to add blueberries to it. I'm thinking about adding the berries to the boil. How much should I add for a 5 gallon batch? Perhaps you have some other suggestions. I'm trying to stay away from berries in the secondary but I'm happy to entertain the idea.

Cheers
 
I know each fruit is a little different, but I'd advise against putting them in the boil. A lot of the flavor and aroma is going to be boiled off.
I'd put the berries in the secondary, probably for a week or so. You may even want to freeze and thaw them so that the cell walls are busted, making it easier to extract the flavor.

Also, be warned that fruit flavor and aroma is tricky in beer. Sometimes the final product isn't quite what you were going for, and when it is the fruit aspect is definitely fleeting. So drink it quick

Good luck!
 
Blueberries are a very mild flavor - you'll need a lot of them, as in a pound per gallon, to get any noticeable flavor. Use them in secondary. Generally it's hard to infect a beer after it's completely fermented - hostile environment with little available food - but not impossible. Puree them and dump them in. If you want a lower risk, place them in a 170-degree oven for about an hour then let them cool, covered. That will pasteurize them but will drive off some flavor. There's also a risk of setting the pectin (creating blueberry jam) but it's low at that temperature. You'll also get a "cooked" tone to the fruit. An alternative I recently discovered: Cluster hops boiled for a long time have a slight blueberry-currant note. Then there's always the (not recommended) alternative, use blueberry flavoring.
 
Im guessing you could get tart as well as the flavor you want I would be careful how ripe they are
 
Thanks everyone for the replies. Secondary it is then! I will give it a go and mildly pasteurise them. In the end it will be beer.....I hope. Oh and thanks for the cluster hop tip. Sounds like an interesting experiment.
 
Make sure you allow for fermentation in the secondary. Headspace!
 
Maybe try a tincture? You can puree some blueberrys and add the puree to 4oz of everclear and allow it to settle out for a week. Pour the solution over a small strainer (starsan or iodophor that prior) to remove the solids into the secondary.

Works with citrus zests, not sure about berries. Anway, you can add a few drops of the tincture to a glass of your post fermented beer to see if you like the resulting flavor before going whole hog into your fermenter and account for the potential of new sugar addition kicking some yeast into action and drying out your brew (not sure how likely that is at this small amount.)
 

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