Probably been asked before but where can one get huckelberry extract? I've searched high and low and maybe I'm missing it. I can find every fruit and berry extract under the sun but not huckelberry. Anyone got a line on where to find it?
http://www.amazon.com/Huckleberry-E...432624256&sr=8-2&keywords=huckleberry+extract L before the E Huckleberry extract.
Botannically, the various things we call huckleberry and blueberry are closely related. Everything that I have ever eaten that has been called huckleberry could have been called blueberry, too, to my mind. I guess commercial blueberries, cultivated for sweetness, might stand out as different from the two wild blueberry/huckleberry species that I harvest locally. But I wonder if blueberry would work for you? I also wondered if you are looking for an extract of the fruit or the leaf - from the link above: Fresh wildcrafted Vaccinium membranaceum leaf. I've never heard of people making extracts of the leaf of these plants, although leaves of at least one member of this botanical family is famously known for an herb tea (Labrador tea).
Yes I have thought about blueberry as a substitute. Personally I'm looking for the tartness of huckleberry as opposed to the sweeter blueberry but having never had a huckleberry extract I have no idea if that tartness would come through. I'm from near the Alpine/Jackson Hole area and huckleberries grow wild but I have failed to get the flavor I want with real ones. Having used local mt. spring water in the brew it would be nice to use the local huckleberry (or fake it with extract). But I'm with you that blueberry is what it's looking like. As far as the leaf extract I have never heard of it either and would need to actually taste and research it to even see if it was a option.
H-berry are found in the wild. B-berry are cultivated. One difference between H-berry and B-berry; H-berry seeds are crunchy. Can't imagine there's a commercially available H-berry extract product.
Seeing as how I can find gooseberries and elderberry in extract from I think huckleberry is not out of the question. To my knowledge those two berries are not commercially farmed on a mass scale.
My thoughts on extracts are that they are extracts of the flavor elements and do not include the natural acidity or sweetness. Think lemon extract or orange extract used in baking. Perhaps my definition of extract is too narrow. I've never had the wild Vaccinium species common to the western US and commonly known as huckleberry, so I don't know how this differs from the two species I know from n. WI and MN. In my brewing experience, I have tried cultivated blueberries at a rate of 5# in a 4-5 gallon batch and it was barely noticeable. With wild fruit at a similar rate, I would think you could get a little more tartness. Also, my own wild fruits tend to be smaller, so you get more skin per unit mass. Maybe that changes the outcome of a fermentation in some subtle way.
More tannins and polyphenols, I'd imagine. I don't think it would effect fermentation, but would definitely effect final taste.
Pricey, but here's another option http://www.americanwildfoods.com/product/wild-raw-huckleberry-extract-8-fl-oz/
Out of stock; therefore ... "there's (no) commercially available H-berry extract product" is what it isn't.
Yeah, I was thinking tannins and polyphenols but typed fermentation. I suppose if there are surface microbes to consider, you could have a bigger pitch rate with smaller fruits, but this is an afterthought.
