Hey guys, I’m new to the forum and just joined today. Just looking for a place to share and gather information with other brewers and this looks like the spot. I’ve been an ingredient kit brewer for a while, I started with 5-gallon kits a few years ago but moved towards 1-gallon kits because I like to brew small batches and enjoy more of a variety of beers.
I’ve read that brewing all grain over extract saves you a lot of money so I’m about to start doing just that. I’m thinking an all-grain belgian blonde would be a good start and I found a nice recipe here: https://www.beercraftr.com/1-gallon-blonde-ale-recipe/
I thought I would add some fruit to make this recipe a little more interesting. Any suggestions for fruit that goes well with belgian blondes? When is the best time to add fruit to a beer, do you add it in the brewing process or in the carboy before or at the end of fermintation? Maybe some blueberry, cherry, blackberry? Prefer something I can easily find frozen in a supermarket.
My suggestion is brew that Belgian straight up first. Or split some off to fruit. But it’s always good for the learning curve to see what your base beer is like.
Honestly, good Belgians are so good it’s hard to pick a fruit that wouldn’t take away from it. Maybe peach or apricot. I’d put them into a second fermenter and rack the beer onto them. You’ll get a second fermentation.
Another option if you want to just try fruit without committing to a full keg is to put a bit of fruit puree in the glass prior to pouring (it might take a bit of a stir). You can make your own (either straight-up, or thinned out and sweetened with a bit of simple syrup), or use one of the commercially available craft purees. I like the Amoretti ones, because they have a pump, so you don’t have to use the whole bottle all at once. They’re a touch pricey, but quite worth the money, in my opinion. Their blood orange craft puree is pretty tasty, as is their peach puree (which I used to make an absolutely excellent peach IPA last summer). You can also mix them with sparkling water, etc., so there’s versatility, too.
In any case, I’m a big fan of “add a shot of fruit by the glass”, especially when experimenting with recipe.