Boo Berry American Wheat
Brewed: 3/6/2022 Kegged: 3/14/2022
Well, while we were "on vacation" in Florida, the SheppyBrew Beer Model got a taste of SweetWater Brewing Company's Blue. She really liked it. It was a light - bodied blueberry ale. The blueberry was not overpowering, and I actually thought it was a pretty good ale.At some point we were talking about what she would like to brew next, and she brought up that a blueberry wheat would be something she would enjoy drinking.
Much like SheppyBrew's Apricot Lovin' Wheat, I figure it would be easy enough to brew Summer Lovin' as a base beer and add blueberry puree to a secondary.
As the "Blue" had a restrained blueberry flavor, I decided to add less blueberry puree than I added apricot to Apricot Lovin' and no flavoring. I was hoping that this would be just the right amount of fruit in the wheat beer.
After trying the first batch from the keg, I decided that there was not enough blueberry in it, so I got some blueberry flavoring from my home-brew shop. I added a very little amount and was pleased with the amount after that. The bottles that I did, though did not benefit from that little late addition.
The name of the beer "Boo Berry" was a suggestion by the Beer Model. We were talking about the first batch of this beer being ready around Halloween. Get it? Ghosts say "boo" and there are lots of ghosts around on Halloween and "boo" sounds a lot like "blue". Not really what I would have called the beer, but she was pretty proud of the name, and she IS much cuter than I am.
Batch 2 was pretty much the recipe of Batch 1 except I decided to add another can of blueberry puree into the primary fermentation.
Batch 4 and 5 were on my Anvil Foundry.
For more information on this beer, see the "Boo Berry" label on my blog.
For more information on this beer, see the "Boo Berry" label on my blog.
| Boo Berry American Wheat --- Batch 5 (307) |
| Style | Fruit Beer | Batch Size | 5.50 gal | |||
| Type | All Grain | Boil Size | 6.57 gal | |||
| Brewhouse Efficiency | 65.00 | Boil Time | 60 minutes |
Recipe Characteristics
| Recipe Gravity | 1.046 SG | Estimated FG | 1.009 SG | ||||
| Recipe Bitterness | 23.1 IBUs (Rager) | Alcohol by Volume | 4.9 % | ||||
| BU : GU | 0.499 | ||||||
| Recipe Color | 7.6 SRM |
|
|||||
| Measured OG: | 1.048 | Measured FG: | 1.008 | ||||
| ADF: | 83 | Measured ABV: | 5.3 |
Ingredients
| Amt | Name | Type | # | %/IBU | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7.34 gal | Denver, Colorado | Water | 1 | - | - |
| 3.00 g | Calcium Chloride (Mash) | Water Agent | 2 | - | - |
| 2.00 g | Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate) (Mash) | Water Agent | 3 | - | - |
| 1.00 tsp | Lactic Acid (Mash) | Water Agent | 4 | - | - |
| 5 lbs 8.0 oz | Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) | Grain | 5 | 40.7 % | 0.43 gal |
| 4 lbs 8.0 oz | Wheat Malt, Ger (2.0 SRM) | Grain | 6 | 33.3 % | 0.35 gal |
| 8.0 oz | Honey Malt (25.0 SRM) | Grain | 7 | 3.7 % | 0.04 gal |
| 0.500 oz | Magnum [14.40 %] - Boil 40.0 min | Hop | 8 | 23.1 IBUs | - |
| 1.00 tsp | Yeast Nutrient (Boil 10.0 mins) | Other | 9 | - | - |
| 3 lbs | Blueberry Puree [Primary] (10.0 SRM) | Sugar | 10 | 22.2 % | 0.36 gal |
| 1.0 pkg | Safale American (DCL/Fermentis #US-05) [50.28 ml] | Yeast | 11 | - | - |
| 2.00 oz | Blueberry Extract (Bottling 5.0 mins) | Flavor | 12 | - | - |
Mash Profile
| Name | Description | Step Temperature | Step Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Saccharification | Add 29.37 qt of water at 156.5 F | 150.0 F | 45 min |
| Heat | Heat to 156.0 F over 10 min | 156.0 F | 20 min |
If steeping, remove grains,
and prepare to boil wort
Brewing salts in the mash water. This should bring Denver water profile (as defined by BeerSmith) to
Ca=78,Mg=8,Na=21,SO4=91,Cl=76,HCO3=104
Acid addition to bring calculated pH around 5.5
Color / OG / ABV etc ... listed without taking into account the fruit.
Brew as a normal wheat beer. Add puree right into fermentor and rack wort on top of it. Ferment 60 - 65 for a few days.
Add blueberry flavoring at kegging time to taste. Start with 1oz and add another .5oz if you think it needs more blueberry aroma.
Brewing Record
| Brew Date: | Strike Temp: | |||||
| Mash Temps: | ||||||
| Pre-boil OG | (1.041 SG) | Pre-boil Vol | (6.57 gal) | |||
| Actual Mash Efficiency | Pitch Temp | |||||
| Fermentation | ||||||
| Day 1: | ||||||
| Day ... | ||||||
| Day ... | ||||||
Brewing Notes
3/3/2022 Bought ingredients yesterday brew day Sunday. The Beer Model might brew with me.
3/6/2022 Snowy brew day went well. Beer Model "helped" out, so it started very late. Pre-boil gravity right on. OG a bit high at 1.048, but that's fine. Pitched yeast in the 50's and letting it rise into the 60's.
3/9/2022 Bubbling slowed down but still going. Tilt says 1.007 at 67 degrees.
3/10/2022 Still bubbling some. Tilt says 1.004 at 65 degrees. Took a little sample. Cloudy as you would expect during this point of fermentation. Purplish color. Nice malt flavor with just a touch of blueberry. I like it.
3/14/2022 Kegged with about 1.5oz of blueberry flavoring, which is how much left in the bottle. FG is 1.008, which makes this a 5.3%ABV beer. Tilt registered less than 1.000. Pinkish purplish beer. I think out of all the fruit beers the Beer Model has me brew, Blueberry is my favorite. I'm sure the Beer Model will love this batch.
3/17/2022 Took a sample from the tap. Carbonation is pretty close I think. A bit more gold, but still with a pinkish tint. The blueberry flavor isn't real strong, but about what I would consider perfect. The Beer Model seems to really like it too, which is probably the most important factor.
4/29/2022 I think I've been drinking this more than the wife. Blueberry certainly is my favorite of the fruit beers. The Beer Model likes to put actual blueberries in and watch them rise and fall with the carbonation.
5/9/2022 In laws tried some this past weekend. They really seemed to like it.
5/27/2022 Makes a really good blend with McShepardSons Irish Red. Still a really good beer at two and a half months old.
6/19/2022 Took a growler camping. Beer model drank most of it but I had a pint on night 3. Really nice still, but I think it is almost gone.
7/5/2022 Beer Model had one with 4th dinner, so there is still some left. She likes putting blueberries in watching them rise and fall with carbonation.
7/24/2022 My parents are visiting and I gave a sample to my mom. She said she didn't really taste blueberry, but thought this was the smoothest of the beers. She doesn't generally drink beer or any kind of alcohol, so her evaluation doesn't mean much.
7/25/2022 The Beer Model finally killed the keg last night. The beer lasted 4 and a half months. Tasted good at the end, but that is a long time for a homebrew to last. I only have two kegs of beer ready at the moment. Brewed a batch of Shoddy yesterday, but think I need to do a double batch soon.
3/3/2022 Bought ingredients yesterday brew day Sunday. The Beer Model might brew with me.
3/6/2022 Snowy brew day went well. Beer Model "helped" out, so it started very late. Pre-boil gravity right on. OG a bit high at 1.048, but that's fine. Pitched yeast in the 50's and letting it rise into the 60's.
3/9/2022 Bubbling slowed down but still going. Tilt says 1.007 at 67 degrees.
3/10/2022 Still bubbling some. Tilt says 1.004 at 65 degrees. Took a little sample. Cloudy as you would expect during this point of fermentation. Purplish color. Nice malt flavor with just a touch of blueberry. I like it.
3/14/2022 Kegged with about 1.5oz of blueberry flavoring, which is how much left in the bottle. FG is 1.008, which makes this a 5.3%ABV beer. Tilt registered less than 1.000. Pinkish purplish beer. I think out of all the fruit beers the Beer Model has me brew, Blueberry is my favorite. I'm sure the Beer Model will love this batch.
3/17/2022 Took a sample from the tap. Carbonation is pretty close I think. A bit more gold, but still with a pinkish tint. The blueberry flavor isn't real strong, but about what I would consider perfect. The Beer Model seems to really like it too, which is probably the most important factor.
4/29/2022 I think I've been drinking this more than the wife. Blueberry certainly is my favorite of the fruit beers. The Beer Model likes to put actual blueberries in and watch them rise and fall with the carbonation.
5/9/2022 In laws tried some this past weekend. They really seemed to like it.
5/27/2022 Makes a really good blend with McShepardSons Irish Red. Still a really good beer at two and a half months old.
6/19/2022 Took a growler camping. Beer model drank most of it but I had a pint on night 3. Really nice still, but I think it is almost gone.
7/5/2022 Beer Model had one with 4th dinner, so there is still some left. She likes putting blueberries in watching them rise and fall with carbonation.
7/24/2022 My parents are visiting and I gave a sample to my mom. She said she didn't really taste blueberry, but thought this was the smoothest of the beers. She doesn't generally drink beer or any kind of alcohol, so her evaluation doesn't mean much.
7/25/2022 The Beer Model finally killed the keg last night. The beer lasted 4 and a half months. Tasted good at the end, but that is a long time for a homebrew to last. I only have two kegs of beer ready at the moment. Brewed a batch of Shoddy yesterday, but think I need to do a double batch soon.