I have a Berliner souring/fermenting right now and I want add fruit to it. I was thinking of using dried currants but I'm worried that it would be to intense or the flavors won't match up. Has anyone done this? Your thoughts.... Any other ideas for a fruited Berliner?
I've never done this, to me currants don't have a strong flavor, but maybe I just haven't had good ones. Here's a recipe for rhubarb Berliner, I haven't tried it but it sounds pretty good.
Black Currant Berliner sounds great to me. If you have fresh currants I'm sure that would work best. It's kind of the difference between making a wine from fresh grapes versus raisins -- totally totally different end products. But you can for sure make a very interesting product with dried currants. About 12 ounces of dried fruit per 5 gallons seems a good amount to start with. I'd grind them all up in a food processor, then either pasteurize in a little beer at 160 F for 15 minutes, or maybe just steep in cold water with a crushed Campden tablet. Either way will kill any nasty organisms. Then place in a new fermenter and rack the beer on top, and allow to soak for a 2-4 weeks or until fermentation subsides again. Should work great. Cheers and good luck!
Oregon Fruits/Vintner's Harvest (Vintner's Harvest is just the label for the homebrew sized can packaging - usually 3 and 6 lb) makes an aseptic black currant puree. I just bought 2, 6 lb cans of it to use in a mead. I've use their other fruit products in different meads and beers and love them. So easy to use and generally a great fruit flavor.
I remember that now. Sounds fantastic! I'll have to try that sometime soon. In fact, coincidentally, I'm making a Berliner in the next month or so here. Maybe I should try adding some myself!
