When you add experimental ingredients to your beer, sometimes you’re going to have some heroic failures.
I made a red-currant wheat beer last summer that I’d call a heroic failure. I added about 2 lbs of red-currants to a wheat beer that I fermented with hefeweisen yeast.
The final product was terrible. Fermenting removed some essential element from the red-currant. I can’t think of anything to accurately compare the comparison that really does it.
Anyway, I wanted to share this so that anyone considering a red-currant beer would be saved the trouble.
Have you tried any ingredients that didn’t work? Please share your experiences.
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Am I allowed to make the first comment on my own blog?
I’ve heard that the >Dix black-currant wheat beer is pretty good, so don’t let my experience discourage you from experimenting.
I’m considering making a currant beer or maybe a lambic. I collected several pounds of wild currants over the weekend and am in the process of drying them. I’m hoping that, like raisins, the sugars will be more concentrated in the dried berry.
Hi Tikigirl,
Have you considered syphoning off a small portion of the beer after secondary fermentation and using that to make the Lambic? It’s a great way of trying different things without risking a full batch of beer.
Let me know how the dried fruit works out. Hmm, I’ve got some dried cherries…
I’ll also ask the Dix brewer about his currant-wheat beer the next time that I see him.
hi,
when did you use red currants? During secondary fermentation? Maybe your beer required more aging? Did you try prolong aging period?
I prepare to make red-black-currant beer
I used it in the secondary and it’s not like I knocked it back. If you get better results, let me know.