I am wanting to do an All Grain huckelbeary shandy but i have never brewed something like this before. I dont even know what kind of grains to use or the amounts or how much huckleberries to add and when to add them. This will be a 5 gallon batch. Thanks for you help I look forward to brewing something different!
Shandies are generally not brewed, Leinenkugel notwithstanding. Shandies are usually mixed in a serving glass by adding beer to lemonade.
I’ve not brewed with huckelberries before. If they are like blueberries you will need at least 1 lb/gallon for a huckelberry beer.
And traditionally, it’s a soda like 7 Up. It’s referred to as lemonade in other countries.
ok so if i wanted to brew some kind of huckleberry beer what would you guys recommend doing and when would you add the berries. They are kinda like blueberries in a way Denny.
I’d brew whatever base beer you want for your beer, wait around a week, then rack to a secondary on top of the fruit that’s contained in a fine mesh nylon bag to contain the fruit pulp. Then wait 2-4 weeks and package. Closer to a month is better since you’re using whole fruit, to give the fruit a chance to break down and give up its goodness.
I don’t think what they call lemonade is as sweet as 7-Up, do you? I force-carbonate lemonade and use that. It makes a pretty good match for the Radlers I’ve had in Munich.
Denny is spot on, at least in terms of what we call a shandy in the UK. It’s half a pint or so of bitter or lager, topped up to a pint with lemonade (normal British lemonade is typically very much like 7-up, being both clear and sweet). We have a similar drink called a lager top, which is mostly lager, but with a dash of lemonade at the end.
+1 to the above. I recommend freezing the fruit to break it down and to kill or stun much of the bacteria.
Blueberries and cherries have mild flavors so the minimum amount for them is 1 lb/gal.
When my wife and I went to Europe in 2013, it was very hot and we drank quite a few of the radlers (same idea, different name) that were either premade that way (a bottle or can) or mixed at the tavern. There were lime versions, lemon, orange, grapefruit, etc. and they all tasted pretty good because they were cold and it was so hot outside. When we got home, we decided to try to make some by mixing some Stiegl Goldbrau with 7-UP, lemonade, a mixture of both, Squirt, etc. and we could never get it quite right. If I were to make one, I wouldn’t mix it all together as a part of the beer… instead I’d make a blonde ale or gold lager and try to mix it in the glass. The huckleberry version would just be considered a ‘fruit beer’, right? Brewing with fruit can be tricky because the sugars from the fruit are going to kick up a secondary fermentation which can really dry out the beer. Not for the squeamish.
What Jon said…
Thanks for the confirmation. I spent several years as the only American on a rock’n’roll tour of otherwise Brit and Aussie guys and drank many shandies.