Thoughts on what fruit to use in a blonde ale

Discussion in 'Homebrewing' started by ghostinthemachine, Aug 25, 2016.

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  1. ghostinthemachine

    ghostinthemachine Initiate (0) Aug 14, 2015 Louisiana

    There is a beer festival coming up in a few weeks. It's about 50 dollars a ticket or you can serve homebrew with the homebrew club and get in. I was going to brew a basic blonde ale (1.050 og, 2 row and a bit of cara 10, m44 west coast yeat) but I want to put fruit in it so it isn't super basic. The hops I have on hand are 007 the golden hop, azzaca, belma, and lemon drop. I was planning on doing a 60 minute addition then 15, 10, 5 minute additions to about 30 ibus.

    Here are the fruits/berries I was thinking of using:
    raspberries
    mango
    pineapple
    apricot (if i can find them)
    blackberries

    which should I use? any other suggestions for fruit? If I can find persimmons I will use those but it's a coin toss with that fruit
     
    #1 ghostinthemachine, Aug 25, 2016
  2. sethsticles

    sethsticles Crusader (413) May 6, 2014 California
    Trader

    Even though it's not on your list, I vote for strawberry. Depending on how much belma you have, you could dry hop with it to bring out the strawberry a little more. Throw in the lemon drop and you can have a strawberry lemonade blonde. Whatever you choose I'm sure it'll be a hit in the sticky summer heat of Louisiana!
     
    #2 sethsticles, Aug 25, 2016
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  3. donspublic

    donspublic Grand Pooh-Bah (3,552) Aug 4, 2014 Texas
    BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    I do not like the thought of strawberry in a beer and have avoided trying them at all cost. Went to a beer festival and tried the Shiner Strawberry blonde and saw the appeal. I could see that working great with lemon drop
     
    #3 donspublic, Aug 25, 2016
  4. sethsticles

    sethsticles Crusader (413) May 6, 2014 California
    Trader

    I never tried the Shiner. Not sure if they'll make it again? The No Label strawberry blonde I had at Big Texas was good. I never had the bottled version though so not sure about that. I'm not a big fan of No Label either so I was pleasantly surprised about it. Strawberry can be tough though so I see why you would avoid it.
     
    #4 sethsticles, Aug 25, 2016
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  5. Lukass

    Lukass Pooh-Bah (2,891) Dec 16, 2012 Ohio
    Pooh-Bah

    Peaches
     
    #5 Lukass, Aug 25, 2016
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  6. ghostinthemachine

    ghostinthemachine Initiate (0) Aug 14, 2015 Louisiana

    I used frozen strawberries in a dunkelweissen one time and it seemed like more flavor came from the seeds than the fruit. I may have just left the berries in too long. I do like the idea of strawberry and lemon drop. Raspberry or blackberry lemonade is a big thing down here too.
     
    #6 ghostinthemachine, Aug 25, 2016
  7. scurvy311

    scurvy311 Savant (1,135) Dec 3, 2005 Louisiana

    Lemon drop and blackberry sounds like something that may make it on my list for next summer. I love the Cruzan Blackberry Lemon flavored rum. The flavors are very complementary if balanced correctly. A little residual sweetness would help those flavors pop a little more also.
     
    #7 scurvy311, Aug 25, 2016
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  8. donspublic

    donspublic Grand Pooh-Bah (3,552) Aug 4, 2014 Texas
    BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    Blackberry brings a lot to the party, my daughter brought me a BW from a small brewery and it was a little tough (lots of lemon), so after a couple of pints I french pressed some blackberry on 1/2 the remaining and raspberry on the rest. The blackberry really shined thru the best
     
    #8 donspublic, Aug 25, 2016
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  9. PapaGoose03

    PapaGoose03 Grand High Pooh-Bah (6,057) May 30, 2005 Michigan
    BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah

    It wasn't a Blonde Ale that I had a couple days ago at a brewery visit, but they had a Kolsch that was brewed with Lemon Grass and Kaffir Limes, and it was very tasty. I did not ask when these ingredients went into the brewing process, but it would seem to me that you likely would end up with a very similar taste with your Blonde Ale if you can figure out how to use these flavors.
     
    #9 PapaGoose03, Aug 27, 2016
  10. Bryan12345

    Bryan12345 Initiate (0) Mar 17, 2016 Texas

    Berries of any kind can be tough to get right. I like the idea of peaches, they seem tough to screw up. I have a banana blonde ale on my to-do list.
     
    #10 Bryan12345, Aug 29, 2016
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