[Nordskov]

Hello fellow brewers.
Im new on this forum. Live in Denmark and have 12-15 brews under the hood.

Right now I have a blackberry porter doing secondary fermentation after adding blackberries.
The flavour is good but I dont think the berries add enough deep fruity notes. They add to the bitterness, acidity and astringness of the Carafa Special II and chocolate malts but not much roundness.
What are the options to add deep round notes during secondary without adding fermentable sugars?

19L - 5 gal
4300g Maris Otter
230g Melanoidin 20
450g Cara crystal 60
230g Cara aroma 150
450g Chocolate 400
230g Carafa special II 700
300g Flaked oats
2000g Blackberries

SafAle US-05
OG: 1081
Gravity today: 1022


Thank you

[pete b]

Getting fruit flavors into beer is often tricky because of the fermentable sugars causing renewed fermentation and blowoff of the volatile aroma molecules, which is the biggest taste component. That pretty much just leaves the acidity as far as flavor goes.
Some folks and lots of breweries use extracts added at packaging to add aroma. Personally I usually find these to have an offensive perfume-like aroma.
One thing I do in these circumstances is tweak the recipe to accentuate the flavor profile of the fruit. In this case if you wanted to try again you could adjust the specialty malts to get a fuller mouthfeel.
You could also try juicing and straining some blackberries and adding at packaging so that most of the aroma gets preserved in the bottles or keg. I suspect it will make the beer cloudy but it’s a trade off.
You can always garnish the beer with a blackberry crushed in your glass.

[Nordskov]

Getting fruit flavors into beer is often tricky because of the fermentable sugars causing renewed fermentation and blowoff of the volatile aroma molecules, which is the biggest taste component. That pretty much just leaves the acidity as far as flavor goes.
Some folks and lots of breweries use extracts added at packaging to add aroma. Personally I usually find these to have an offensive perfume-like aroma.
One thing I do in these circumstances is tweak the recipe to accentuate the flavor profile of the fruit. In this case if you wanted to try again you could adjust the specialty malts to get a fuller mouthfeel.
You could also try juicing and straining some blackberries and adding at packaging so that most of the aroma gets preserved in the bottles or keg. I suspect it will make the beer cloudy but it’s a trade off.
You can always garnish the beer with a blackberry crushed in your glass.

Hi pete.
Thx for responding.
You are right about adjusting the recipe. But Im trying to save this one
I already exceeded my ABV profile thus the addition with little to no fermentable sugar.
You idea about juicing a batch of berries is good but Im bottle finishing and I have no way of testing the sugar content of the juice.

So theres no way I can beef up the bottom end?

[pete b]

At this point I think extract. I take your description of “roundness” as relating to mouthfeel and if you added enough berries to have some flavor come rough you would actually be making it dryer and less “round”.

[Nordskov]

At this point I think extract. I take your description of “roundness” as relating to mouthfeel and if you added enough berries to have some flavor come rough you would actually be making it dryer and less “round”.

Im not sure I deeply understand the term "mouthfeel".
In my understanding flaked oats, lactose etc. adds mouthfeel/thickness. Maybe Im wrong.
What I mean is flavour notes that are not sharp but soft and mellow.
As stated, I exceeded my ABV profile, so I have to keep extra sugar additions to a minimum.

Even though OG is 1022 it doesnt taste sweet. Maybe some lactose will bring some balance. Ill try a small batch.

Cheers,

[pete b]

I see them as related, a more viscous mouthfeel sort of tricks the palate into perceiving sweetness or roundness. I do think that lactose may get you there, it’s a good idea. Also, just the carbonation and some time mellowing may help a bit.

[Nordskov]

I see them as related, a more viscous mouthfeel sort of tricks the palate into perceiving sweetness or roundness. I do think that lactose may get you there, it’s a good idea. Also, just the carbonation and some time mellowing may help a bit.

I added a bit of sugar to a sample yesterday and that did the trick. I think I will bottle half the brew with lactose and the rest as is.
I shoot at a carbonation level of 2.2-2.5. Maybe I can use some sort of sirup or raw sugar for carbonation.
Then 6-8 month of storage - if possible

Thanks pete