Blackberry Red Ale (with Bullberry Substitute)

Brooklyn Brew Shop's Blackberry Red Ale with Bullberry Substitute - Tips and Advice

On September 5th, I brewed a batch of Blackberry Red Ale, from Brooklyn Brew Shop:



Actually, instead of blackberries, I used a substitute that is very near and dear to the prairie country that is a big part of my heritage: bullberries, also known as buffaloberries.

As with all of my "Tips and Advice" threads, this will be a running account of the experience and the things that I learn during the process.

As usual, I'll start with the particulars:

Informational link: http://brooklynbrewshop.com/beer-making-mixes/blackberry-red-ale-beer-making-mix

Instructions: http://brooklynbrewshop.com/directions/Brooklyn_Brew_Shop_Blackberry_Red_Ale_Instructions.pdf

I actually have the recipe for this beer from Brooklyn Brew Shop's Beer Making Book, so I used that as a resource, as well. If anyone is interested in trying this beer, please shoot me a PM, and I'd be happy to share it.

This all-grain, 1-gallon mix is for a Irish Red Ale that incorporates Maris Otter, Caramel 60 and Aromatic malts in order to deliver "a tall glass of summer perfection...highly refreshing and not overly sweet." At 6% ABV, it sounds just right to me. This mix uses East Kent Golding hops for bittering/flavour and Columbus hops (Cascade in the recipe book) for aroma, which I suspect will lend a nice, earthy ambience with perhaps some citrusy notes. I like the idea, and think that it should make a good end-of-summer beer, if it is as advertised. The yeast that comes with the mix is a pretty generic, fast acting strain - I think that it is a version of S33 or maybe S05, but please do not quote me on that. In the recipe book, the recommended yeast is Nottingham, so I decided to use that. According to BBS's website, the OG is 1.052 and the FG is 1.013.

From the moment I ordered this mix, I wanted to substitute a local fruit for the blackberries. I wanted something that would be seasonal, and also wanted to keep things within my usual interest in brewing beers with the local terrior in mind. Bullberries, which are a common and much-loved fixture in my area of Montana - as well as my ancestral home of western North Dakota - were a natural choice. The instructions call for the blackberries to be heated and mashed with 1/4 cup of sugar, creating a syrup that will be added to the wort at the very end of the boil, at knock-out. I followed the same procedure with the bullberries.

Here is the label that I came up with for this brew, featuring a beautiful watercolour from one of Montana's most famous citizens, C.M. Russell:



The night that I brewed this, everything went pretty well. My dad stopped by for a while; he also brought a 6-pack of beer, which always makes a brew day (or brew evening, in this case) more fun. Coincidentally, the beer of the evening was Charlie Russell Red, which is also a red ale featuring a C.M. Russell painting on the label.:



Charile Russell Red is one of my favourites from Harvest Moon Brewing - you can read about it here, if interested:

http://www.harvestmoonbrew.com/index.php?p=other-brews

Anyway, the preparation for this beer went quite smoothly for the most part. First, I mashed the bullberries (about 1.5 cups, which is a little more than the recipe calls for, but oh well....) with 1/4 cup of sugar in a warm saucepan, just enough to dissolve the sugar and release the juices from the berries. I then covered this and set it aside. The mash went very well, with temperatures staying right in the 148-150-degree range, where I wanted them to be. I have never brewed a red ale before, so I wasn't sure what to expect; it doesn't seem very "red" to me; but it sure smelled like something wonderful. We'll see how it ends up.

The sparge and boil were without incident; there were no sticking issues with the sparge, and the hop additions were right on time, filling the kitchen with some wonderful, smooth and earthy aromas. Right at knock-out, I added the bullberry "jam," and stirred it in well, then allowed the beer to chill in an ice bath for about 20 or 30 minutes until it went down below 70 degrees. I then pitched the yeast, capped the fermenter and shook/mixed/agitated it quite vigorously for about 2 minutes, as always.

It was here that I might have made a minor error. Noticing that the boil had brought the wort down to just a bit below a full gallon, I topped it off just enough to bring it where it needs to be; unfortunately, there's a 50/50 chance that I topped it off with sanitiser, rather than water. I had them both sitting right next to each other (which I never do any other time - for exactly this reason - but managed to do this time), and am not 100% sure which I used. This is not a major issue - sanitiser is perfectly safe, 99 & 44/100% (or more) water, and in fact has properties that can act as a yeast nutrient. It was only a small amount, less than 1 cup in the gallon, so I am not too worried about it; however....

Other than that, the brew went quite well, and I think I'll end up with some great beer. Fermentation is nearly over "by the book,” but I will let it go a total of three weeks - and then to the weekend - before bottling, as is my usual procedure. It still is not “red” as I would think of it; but I am starting to see the beginnings of a really nice, amber colour as it clears, and I think things will be just fine. The beer is smelling great, and I am really looking forward to trying the finished beer.

As always, I welcome any comments, suggestions or feedback on this - if anyone is interested, please feel free to chime in, or simply follow along.

More as it happens, etc. &c....

Ron

I bottled this beer tonight, getting 9 bottles out of a 1-gallon batch, which is the average. The process went well and smoothly, with no spills or other catastrophes to speak of. With this batch, I elected to go with the dextrose carbonation tablets that my son got for me; my goal is a beer with a medium carbonation, so I used 4 tablets per bottle. We'll see how it goes.

I've been enjoying this batch of beer very much, and finally drank the last of it on New Year's Day:



I had to take 5 or 6 photos with my cell phone in order to get one that was even close to being presentable, so the head doesn't really show well here; it was a lot better than the photo indicates, but could have used some improvement in any case. I'll see what I can do about that the next time I make this beer, or one like it. It was also quite a bit clearer than the photo would indicate. I should add that the perceived carbonation issues that were present in my first sampling of the beer took care of themselves soon after. I'm not sure of the exact reason, but the beer was nicely carbed after the initial sample, and remained so throughout.

The taste of this beer was really something; it seemed to me to be a pretty good red ale at the base, with a very definite note from the bullberries. Their sweetness, of course, was pretty much fermented out, but even in the slight tartness, the flavor of the berries themselves came through nicely, and seemed to improve with age. There was a good balance here of malty and bitterness (slightly more toward malty, which I prefer) and the hops were a great choice for this beer. In all, it was quite good and I have no real complaints about it.