Boysenberry Hefeweizen anyone?

[juliobrewer]

Hey all!

I was thinking of brewing a Boysenberry Hefeweizen for our brewpub's next seasonal and was wondering if anybody had any experience with this type of berry in beer. Anyone have any input on the flavour compared to other berries such as raspberries and such?

Cheers,

Dave Woodward
High Mountain Brewing Co.

[juliobrewer]

Hmmm maybe some more details are in order..

Ok here's my plan:

Was going to use a 50/50 Pilsner, Malted Wheat grist for a OG of 1.045 and final Volume of 10 US Barrels. Primary fermentation using WB 06 at 65 Farenheit for 4 to five days then add 200 lbs Boysenberry Puree to the FV and allow for a second refermentation at 68 for a week, chill, carbonate then serve.

So anyone have any opinions? (e.g. ) Too much fruit or too little?

[Moonlight]

It would be simpler to use the Berliner Weiss method, just adding the syrup to the final glass at the bar.

[troybinso]

I think it is a great idea, but it seems like a lot of fruit to me. I have used the equivalent of about 12lbs/bbl of the Oregon Fruit puree raspberry, and it was quite strong. If I were to do it again, I don't think I would change anything, but I don't think I would add any more. I wonder if boysenberry will come out of the finished product as strong as raspberry.

It might be worth it to do a pilot (homebrew) batch to try out your puree before you go full scale. The Oregon Fruit purees are not cheap, but they are very tasty, so hopefully it will work out.

[MJMurphy]

How strong is the Boysenberry v. Raspberry?

We also use the Oregon fruit Raspberry puree for our Raspberry Hefe, but we use just under 9 lb/bbl. That seems to work well for us, but we are going for a hint of flavor, not quite the Berlinerweiss experience.

Not being able to compare the Boysenberry to the Raspberry, it's hard to judge, but 200lb may be a bit much for 10bbl, depending on how strong you want it.

Also, we add our puree into the fermenter prior to cast out. Doing a secondary fermentation is likely to leave more residual sugars than our method.

[juliobrewer]

Thanks for the input!

I just recieved the Boysenberry puree in today and tried a little sample. It's got a distinct Raspberry flavour with hint of Blackberry and Current although it's not quite as tart as just Raspberry on it's own. Not sure how that will translate into the final flavour in the beer but I'll probably increase the recipe to 12 or 13 barrels to be on the safe side of making the flavour too intense.

I'll probably try a Raspberry Hefe in the summer also so thanks for opinions on that.

Cheers!

[tariq khan]

Fruit hefeweizen

It would be simpler to use the Berliner Weiss method, just adding the syrup to the final glass at the bar.

I'm intrigued with this way of doing it, that way we can serve both fruit and regular versions.....Can anybody recommend a syrup ? measurement ?

Cheers !

Tariq (Big Ridge Brewing)

[einhorn]

Germandeli.com

Here is a link

http://www.germandeli.com/rainbowsyrup.html

Generally it's 1-2 ounces per beer, depending on taste preferences.