[Jesse Carnes]

Anyone ever used fresh/frozen rhubarb in their homebrew? I grew a bunch of strawberries and rhubarb this season and want to make a strawberry rhubarb blonde.

has anyone ever done this?
Did you leave the rhubarb raw or did you cook it?
Add it in primary fermentation? secondary? in the boil?

any input would be appreciated!

[goose]

Anyone ever used fresh/frozen rhubarb in their homebrew? I grew a bunch of strawberries and rhubarb this season and want to make a strawberry rhubarb blonde.

has anyone ever done this?
Did you leave the rhubarb raw or did you cook it?
Add it in primary fermentation? secondary? in the boil?

any input would be appreciated!

I would add it to the boil to sterilize it.  As for cooking it or adding it raw.  that is anybody's guess.  I would think that softening it up a bit by stewing it would help release some of the flavors (add all of the rhubarb and stewing water to the boil if you do that), but I could be off base here.  Since I have never used rhubarb in a beer, it might also cook apart enough in the boil and accomplish the same thing flavor wise.  Rhubarb is also going to add a lot of tartness to the beer, so be prepared for that.

[JeffMiller]

Yes, I have brewed with rhubarb for many years. I have used freezing then pasteurization of the rhubarb and pitching into secondary with great results for the last four batches.

[GTAYLOR1]

The Rhubarb will mute the flavor of the Strawberries.  To boost the berry esters, for each pound of Strawberries, include 2 to 3 ounces of frozen Red Raspberries...just not enough to get the Raspberry flavor.  We have been using this combination for years now.