Blueberry Cream Ale

I am looking for suggestions on adding the blueberry puree to my cream ale kit. Should this be added to the secondary and if so how much do I add. They only sell it in a 3 lb. can.

How big is your brew? I’ve used 8lbs frozen in a three gal. batch. It was added at secondary.
Fruit additions are usually 1-2 lbs per gal. Blueberries do ferment into more wine like characteristics. Beautiful color though.

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and taste wise .how did it come out

think it needs to be during the boil or am i wrong

I would suspect pectin hazing if it was boiled. There is a pectin enzyme that can help to pull the pectin out… It would take someone whom has played with this to complete what worked fer them. Sneezles61

Do not boil it. The puree sold at NB in a can is sterile so it can be added right to primary or secondary. I would do secondary. You only need 10-15% less than a recipe for using whole fruit so I would just use whatever a (known and tried) recipe calls for. The added sugar will restart fermentation so be prepared for that.

All that said, I never had much luck with fruit beers coming out how I wanted. If I was to try another it would only be with puree.

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Last spring, I did a batch with fresh blueberries (local farmers market!). I added the blueberries to secondary at the ratio of about a 1 lb fresh blueberries to one gallon beer. It came out fine, I’d like to brew it again this spring.

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me did few months ago a pumpkin ale. did use pumpkin puree me not real happy with end result ok beer tasted good end result not bad but was thinking about more pumpkin flav

For me, pumpkin by itself it pretty bland - it’s the pumpkin spices that make the pumpkin pie special (and everyone makes their favorite pumpkin pie differently). And for me, pumpkin beers are similar - it’s the spices that make it a great beer. I’ve brewed a ‘spiced winter ale’ style beer a couple of times this past winter - and my ‘peeps’ have different opinions on the right level of spices. So, for me, spiced beers are ‘hard’ because it’s hard to get the level of spices ‘right’.

I’m finding that fruit beers (I’ve worked with blueberry and strawberry) are easier than spiced beers - and for me, more fun. It could be the spring weather, or the opportunity to get browse the local farmers market, or maybe it’s the tasty beer at the end of the brewing process :slight_smile: .

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It is just my personal preference, but I would rather sample fruit beers than a pumpkin ale ever again. I had purchased a 6 pack of Blue Moon Pumpkin Ale a few years ago. Read about brewers using pumpkin in recipes so I thought I would try it.

Everything I hated about commercially produced pumpkin pies. Spices guaranteed to produce indigestion. Dumped 5.75 bottles of pumpkin ale.

I am making a 5 gallon batch and I bought 3 lbs. of the blueberry puree. I am hoping that will be enough blueberry especially since the puree cost almost as much as the beer kit. The puree is already sterile and I think I will add it to the secondary.

I have a tendency to go overboard. I have some blueberry honey that I was thinking about adding to the end of my boiling wort. Good or bad idea.

It will boost your ABV and dry it out a bit. I doubt you’ll get any flavor from the honey.

As for the puree, 3 lbs will be subtle. Not a bad thing.

It was good, more like wine than beer. The beer I added it to had some body, so it didn’t turn out too thin.

Last year I racked 2.5G of a BM clone(after fermentation was finished) on top of 2 lb. frozen, thawed & crushed, then refrozen blueberries. Nice color, but not much blueberry character. This year I’m going to use 3 lb for a 2.5G 1/2 batch.

I made the cream ale and actually had blow off in the primary. I was extremely surprised to see this since it is supposed to have a low alcohol content. Has anyone seen this before. I thought I followed the instructions spot on.

Blow off can be attributed more to the volume of headspace in the fermentor and the strain of yeast used rather than the estimated ABV of the beer. Some yeasts like Hefeweizen yeasts will always require more headspace in the fermentor than other strains used for a beer of the same ABV.

Sounds like that was the problem. I appreciate the info.

What is the best way to clarify the beer or is it not worth doing.

I can’t help with clarification. I haven’t brewed with puree yet. My ales are held in the primary for three to four weeks to settle out the yeast and hop particles. Wheat beers are still a little hazy, but that is what a wheat beer is.