Blueberry Beer

[Guido]

I just finished racking my amber ale base onto some blueberries in the secondary fermenter. Last time I made this, my friends and I loved it. So I entered it in a competition. The judges also loved the blueberry aroma and flavor. However, they also said the fruit was way out of balance with the malt and docked me quite a few points. That year, I used 11 pounds of blueberries; this year I'm using 15 (in five gallons).

That'll fix 'em!

[brewinhard]

Did you enter it in the fruit beer category? I had a blueberry infused Belgian Dubbel at the American Flatbread brewery in Burlington Vt. this summer and it was awesome. How did you prepare the blueberries?

[Guido]

Yeah, I entered it in the fruit category with an amber ale base. The blueberry Dubbel sounds interesting. I have a friend who makes an excellent cherry Dubbel. I prepared the blueberries by washing in hot water, then freezing them in a large ziplock bag. I then let the blueberries (in the bag, of course) thaw in a sink filled with hot water. Then I toss them into a big bucket (7.9 gallons) that has been sanitized with Star San and still has lots of foam in it. I think (hope) the Star San makes sure the blueberries have no contamination. I then mash the berries with a sterilized potato masher to make sure the skins are broken. Lastly, I rack the amber ale onto the berries and leave it for two weeks before bottling. I use White Labs 002 English Ale yeast because I like the residual sweetness it leaves. Oh...one more thing: I add a tablespoon of lemon juice--same as you would with a pie--to enhance the flavor. That's how I roll anyway.

[speed]

wow, i have a belgain dubbel that got an infection so i guess its soured, maybe i could rack it onto some blueberries, damn that sounds good.