[dannyjed]

I just made a wheat beer a couple of days ago 1.046 OG.  I have some wild blueberries in the freezer and wanted to add them to secondary.  My question is how many lbs. of blueberries should I use for a 5 gal batch?  I read in Designing Great Beers that I should add 2 lbs/gal and that seems like a lot.  In other recipes I've seen 4 lbs for 5 gal.  I want there to be blueberry aroma and flavor, but I want to be able to taste the beer too.  Anyone with any experience using blueberries?

[fmader]

Two pounds a gallon in a wheat seems like a lot. I may consider that in a stout, but that even sounds a bit steep. I've never fruited beer with blue berries, so maybe somebody else can give you more accurate advice. I would think 4-5 lbs would be solid. I have also heard that blueberries have a delicate flavor and can easily masked.

[amh0001]

Are you going to put them in a secondary? if so I would go big because the yeast will eat up a lot of the sugary goodness. I would say 6lbs.

One way that I do fruit beers is i put the fruit in a muslin sock and drop it right in the keg. As long as the beer stays cold there is little yeast activity and it does give good fruit flavor. However, the flavor is strongest at first and weak in the end.

jmtc

[jamminbrew]

Honest opinion? You would get better results using an extract... Blueberries are difficult to get a nice flavor/aroma from. I use 2 oz of extract in a 5 gallon batch, and my wife and her friends love it.

[guido]

Once, I used 11 lbs. in a 5-gallon batch.  It was wonderful, but the judges hated it:  Great aroma and flavor, but no balance with the malt.  Now, I use 20 lbs.

[dannyjed]

My buddy told me to use an extract also for the same reasons.  I just have never used fruit in a beer before and I wanted to see for myself.  You know, check one of those things off my brewer's list.

[denny]

I made on many years ago and used 1 lb./gal.  Turned out nice and purple.

[hopfenundmalz]

Blueberries are actually pretty subtle, so I used to do 10 lbs for 5 gallons.

Like apples, there are many varieties. Some varieties are sweeter, some slightly tart, some with more blueberry flavor.

[dannyjed]

I'm using wild blueberries which always seem more sweet to me than the store bought ones.  I think I'm going to use 7 lbs and I can always use some extract later in the keg if it's not enough.

[morticaixavier]

I'm using wild blueberries which always seem more sweet to me than the store bought ones.  I think I'm going to use 7 lbs and I can always use some extract later in the keg if it's not enough.

Wild blueberries have a much stronger flavor per lb as well. I think 7 lbs is a good starting point and can I say that I am so jealous that you have 7 lbs of wild blueberries in your freezer.

[dannyjed]

I'm using wild blueberries which always seem more sweet to me than the store bought ones.  I think I'm going to use 7 lbs and I can always use some extract later in the keg if it's not enough.

Wild blueberries have a much stronger flavor per lb as well. I think 7 lbs is a good starting point and can I say that I am so jealous that you have 7 lbs of wild blueberries in your freezer.

My wife and I picked them right around my parents house in the UP of Michigan near Lake Superior.  We got into the zone and picked 20 lbs, however, we weren't the only ones picking them - we discovered some fresh bear poop about 50 yards from the house. 

[HoosierBrew]

Very cool.  I'm an ardent fruit puree user, but if I had 7 lbs of fresh wild blueberries I'd damn sure be using them too. Enjoy !

[saintpierre]

I would agree 7# is a good starting point. I'd taste them and confirm their flavor. I haven't made a blueberry beer in a long time but I made a blueberry melomel last year with about 5# of naive Maine low bush blueberries and the flavor is great but I wish we didn't eat so many and I was able to use a little more.


Sent from Fermentationland.

[dannyjed]

I tapped the Blueberry Wheat today. The color is purple from the 7 lbs of blueberries, the aroma is strong clove (assuming from using WB-06), the body is light, and the flavor is clove with a hint of blueberry.  I think I might add some blueberry extract to the keg for more flavor. Will the strong clove flavor fade over time? I'm thinking that I should've used a cleaner yeast strain..oh well not bad, but definitely not great.

[denny]

I tapped the Blueberry Wheat today. The color is purple from the 7 lbs of blueberries, the aroma is strong clove (assuming from using WB-06), the body is light, and the flavor is clove with a hint of blueberry.  I think I might add some blueberry extract to the keg for more flavor. Will the strong clove flavor fade over time? I'm thinking that I should've used a cleaner yeast strain..oh well not bad, but definitely not great.

Yeah, when I made a blueberry wheat, I made an Am. wheat.  The style has no flavor so the blueberries can shine through.