Strawberry Brew Creation.

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GFHomebrew

GFHomebrew

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Gday Brewers!
In my neck of the woods here in Sunshine Coast we've had a bit of a strawberry crisis! Some Idiots have started sticking needles in strawberrys :confused::eek: !!!
Not sure why maybe as a way to get back at their boss or just an attention seeking sick minded imbocile who gets off on the media publicity generated by their degenerate act.

Anywho thats a win for me in regard to strawberry prices no body is buying them! This meas the poor farmers are left with a perfect product right at the peek of season with no market. Ive seen in local super market $1 a punnet but ive heard even better prices right from the farmer's gate.

Now i want to do my bit to support my local strawberry farmers by incorporating a shoit load of strawberries into a beer of some description. Heck needles dont scare a brewer im going to mash em up anyhow not stick em in my gob (well maybe a few juicy ones pre cut).
Ive been looking at a standard wheat beer 50/50 pils-wheat malt then adding strawberry juice/Pulp in late in the boil? Maybe a saison might be a goer with a similar pilsner but lower wheat grain bill?

What whould youse do with a glut of strawberries? Cider aint out of the question to BTW. Maybe a sour strawberry wheat bier ive got no kettle souring experience thougho_O...

How best to add them mash/boil/Fermentor?

Any help will be appreciated. Cheers all :).
 
Some local growers have already dumped truckloads.
All because some ( unpostable) individuals have decided to do ( unpostable) things .
Hurts mostly honest farmers
 
Mark D Pirate said:
Some local growers have already dumped truckloads.
All because some ( unpostable) individuals have decided to do ( unpostable) things .
Hurts mostly honest farmers
Click to expand...
Yep what a bloody waste surely some cider makers/brewers could jump in and get some free fermentableso_O?
Im going hunting this weekend. I know a few years back i scored some cheap end.of season strawberries on the cheap i can only imagine what ill come across.
 
Chuck 'em in a golden ale wort without any yeast and see what happens?

Hmmmm, I've got a few 5L carboys doing nothing, maybe it's time to see what the price is at the market this weekend.
 
You can certainly brew with strawberries but they have a tendency to lose flavor very easily. Consider adding at secondary to preserve as much as possible. Secondary also fits the general rule for fruit to not boil.
 
Trialben said:
Gday Brewers!
In my neck of the woods here in Sunshine Coast we've had a bit of a strawberry crisis! Some Idiots have started sticking needles in strawberrys :confused::eek: !!!
Not sure why maybe as a way to get back at their boss or just an attention seeking sick minded imbocile who gets off on the media publicity generated by their degenerate act.

Anywho thats a win for me in regard to strawberry prices no body is buying them! This meas the poor farmers are left with a perfect product right at the peek of season with no market. Ive seen in local super market $1 a punnet but ive heard even better prices right from the farmer's gate.

Now i want to do my bit to support my local strawberry farmers by incorporating a shoit load of strawberries into a beer of some description. Heck needles dont scare a brewer im going to mash em up anyhow not stick em in my gob (well maybe a few juicy ones pre cut).
Ive been looking at a standard wheat beer 50/50 pils-wheat malt then adding strawberry juice/Pulp in late in the boil? Maybe a saison might be a goer with a similar pilsner but lower wheat grain bill?

What whould youse do with a glut of strawberries? Cider aint out of the question to BTW. Maybe a sour strawberry wheat bier ive got no kettle souring experience thougho_O...

How best to add them mash/boil/Fermentor?

Any help will be appreciated. Cheers all :).
Click to expand...
What I'd do? Make strawberry ice cream sundaes and wash it down with a good beer. Oh, you mean brewing with them! Strawberry wheat is a good idea if you stick to the American wheat style (very bland, no real fermentation flavors, certainly not a Hefeweizen). You'll need a lot of strawberries to get any effect though. I wouldn't sour - the berries themselves are rather tart. Saison's fermentation character would overwhelm the berries. So here's what I'd do: For a 20 liter batch, get about 5 kilos of berries. Juicing them would be good, as would pureeing them but you'll need to pasteurize them. Heat to and hold them at 70° C for about 20 minutes, let them cool then add them to your primary fermenter just after high krauesen. Strawberry is a very mild flavor so don't expect a lot from it, just a hint of berry in a good wheat beer.
 
I could see strawberry being tasty in a cream/blonde ale or a very light lager. Same method as Nosy, and using a chico strain or other super clean yeast.

Edit: I've never used strawberries, so I'm trusting Nosy that 5 kilos is appropriate for 20 liters.
 
I am not a fan of fruit beers, so my suggestion would be to make some strawberry jam. Super easy to make and so much better than store bought
 
philjohnwilliams said:
I am not a fan of fruit beers, so my suggestion would be to make some strawberry jam. Super easy to make and so much better than store bought
Click to expand...
That would be my approach but it didn't answer the OP's question...
 
Alrighty cheers all a 50/50 wheat beer it is then im sure ill have plenty of strawberries best thing i can think of to help out the farmers. Wonder if ill fond any needles:rolleyes:.
 
Like razor blades in apples kind of thing?
 
Hawkbox said:
Like razor blades in apples kind of thing?
Click to expand...
Yeah! now today theyve found one in banana:confused:. It just means now our strawberry farmers and exporters have to run every punnet through a metal detector now sounds like these perps need to chill out and have another home brew!
 
Trialben said:
Thinking of adapting this recipie.to incorporate strawberries.
https://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/view/636963/autumn-wheatbier
Click to expand...
I think I'd go with a "clean" yeast rather than the Bavarian Weizen but otherwise, nothing to gripe about. One little thing: If you're using a clean yeast and fully modified malt, you might want to skip the ferrulic acid and protein rests. But I can see a strawberry-clove thing, or even a strawberry-banana thing. Your call.

Yeah, we have the yearly Halloween scare and any fruit the kids get from trick-or-treating is handled like toxic waste. Turns out the entire thing about razor blades in fruit was based on one doctor in Texas trying to kill his own kids. Working from memory here but I believe there have been exactly 0 cases of a kid being hurt by foreign objects in Halloween treats, unless it was by a family member.
 
Yeah its just the yeast ive got i dont mind a straight infusion.
 
So brewing this up ATM. Got 3.5 ish KG of strawberries looks like i couldnt get as good a score as id liked but plenty for what i want. Mashed in atm 66c single infusion.
Going to add half strawberries at flameout pureed in thermo and hald for 20 for pasturisation who cares about pectin haze.
Then add other half past primary fermentation.

https://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/view/636963/strawberry-wheatbier
20180922_125412.jpg
 
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