[Yeast73]

Had a great harvest, of really aromatic blackcurrants and going to make a stout out of them. Seen a few recipes, but do anyone have knowledge or hint which way to go..
One way is to crush them little bit and throw them in end of the boil..or pasteurize them and throw it end of fermentation and leave it for a while..any experience which way gives better result?

[dmtaylor]

I have not used black currants but I've tasted beers from others, and I have experience with several other fruits.  Currants are extremely tart, so I would recommend just 3/4 pound or 1 pound per gallon.  Add them near end of fermentation, after it's like halfway completed.  I would crush them slightly, freeze them, and then 1-2 days before you add them, take them out of the freezer and add 1 crushed Campden tablet per pound and mix that in.  The Campden will eliminate any wild yeast and bacteria.  Then place them in a sanitized vessel and rack the beer on top of them.  Then allow an extra week or two for fermentation to finish.  And there you have it.  This is fairly standard practice for many homebrewers using fruit.

Cheers, good luck, and enjoy!

[Thirsty_Monk]

I would also put the fruit at the end of the fermentation. Freezing fruit is a great way to get more flavor. Another way how to eliminate wild yeast and bacteria is to do Sous Vide (kind of fancy name to heat your fruit in plastic bag to 140F and hold it there for 30 min).

[dmtaylor]

Another way how to eliminate wild yeast and bacteria is to do Sous Vide (kind of fancy name to heat your fruit in plastic bag to 140F and hold it there for 30 min).

That will work as well, but might result in pectin haze.  On the other hand, if putting into an opaque stout, a little haze doesn't really hurt anything either!

[kramerog]

I am generally of the add fruit later persuasion but there is something about the ribes taste of blackcurrants that I don't find appealing so I would add to start of the fermentation to reduce that flavor.  I also find blackcurrants somewhat tannic on top of the acidity so  you might find that you want to add something alkaline to balance the acidity and to to backoff the roast relative to a normal stout recipe.

Let us know how it works out.

[Yeast73]

Ok..thanks!
I have Campden as powder what ive been using when i use sugar as backsweetening my ciders..
Also vacuum machine with bags what can use sous vide..
I know the chance of too tart finish..i tought maybe use extra calsium carbonate..maybe..
Found this recipe of some competition winner Belgian bc stout..they put the berries end of boil..but im thinking going at end of ferm and just let it sit a while..
I have this Wyeast 3822-PC Belgian Dark Ale what im going to use at this one..when i was picking the berries i just had the vision to use them in stout!

[reverseapachemaster]

I've been contemplating putting in some currants on a small strip of land next to my garage so I've been looking at beer recipes with currants as well. Definitely some recipes out there calling for adding them at the end of the boil versus adding after fermentation. Which path you take depends on what flavor you want from the fruit. Those boil additions seem to target getting more of a generic currant flavor while post-fermentation, like other fruit additions, will keep more of the fresh fruit flavors. An easy test for you is to think about how you normally enjoy eating those black currants. Do you normally eat them fresh or do you process them into cooked foods like pastries or jams? Whatever your thoughts on eating currants will likely hold true for beer as well.