The Strawberry Rhubarb Gauntlet

Beer Recipes
1

Went to the local brewpub last night, and my girlfriend was giving me the business about never making a fruit beer. The brewer was behind the bar, overheard the conversation and piled on. End result, he challenged me to brew a strawberry-rhubarb beer using kolsch for the base.

I’ve never made a kolsch, or a fruit beer. I could start with the kolsch in BCS, beyond that…

How much fruit and how much rhubarb? When in process? He recommended using frozen, thawing it and then puree in a food processor. Rack on to fruit in secondary.

Anyway, any advice would be GREATLY appreciated.

2

The ROT is to use 1 lb. of fruit per gal.  Strawberries are pretty subtle and ferment out, so you may need a lot more than that.  Or use a strawberry extract to bump up the flavor.

3

I agree with Denny.  You’ll need a lot of strawberries.  I was underwhelmed by my strawberry rhubarb hefeweizen results but when I substituted raspberries it pretty much became a delicious liquid pie that was gone way too quickly.

on a side note, in your shoes I’d probably brew a “plain” Kolsch before I attempted to make a fruited version, but I’m sure you’ll do fine.

cheers–
–Michael

4

So, maybe 2 pounds of berries per gallon, and 1 pd per/g rhubarb?

Would you guys agree with his recommendation on racking onto the fruit in a secondary?

5

Yes, rack onto the fruit in secondary.  And I’d still recommend you look into flavor extracts.

6

[quote]And I’d still recommend you look into flavor extracts.
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Found some natural strawberry extract on Northern Brewers site, I’ll give it a go.

7

i made a strawberry rhubarb and rye.  this was inspired by a strawberry rhubarb jelly and peanut butter sandwich on rye bread.  remember that the rhubarb does have some bitterness so expect that.  it tasted okay prior to bottling but i had some bottling issues and was ruined.  i used fresh fruit and rhubarb in the secondary fermentation. if i were to make another one i would put it in the end of the boil i think.  another option i am considering is the local farmstand has a strawberry rhubarb pie filling that she cans.  i just may throw this in the end of the boill.  hey its a hobby :o

8

[quote]on a side note, in your shoes I’d probably brew a “plain” Kolsch before I attempted to make a fruited version, but I’m sure you’ll do fine.
[/quote]

I’m not sure I want to fart around with lagering times on an experiment, so on second thought I decided an american wheat or a blonde ale base might be better.

9

I’m not sure I want to fart around with lagering times on an experiment, so on second thought I decided an american wheat or a blonde ale base might be better.

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you don’t really have to lager kolsch. it helps but not 100% needed, a week or so at 46 will be fine. but wheat and strawberry rhubarb would be good to. the tartness from the wheat should highlight the rhubarb a bit.

10

2,000th post! Woo!

I think that raspberry rhubarb hefe just bumped the old style clone from top of the ‘to brew next’ list.

11

I think the sour category could really use a few rhubarb recipes. Somebody please make a rhubarb lambic!

12

2lb of rhubarb in 5 gal of wheat is quite noticeable.  I don’t have any strawberry extract right now, but it probably would be much better than real strawberries since it won’t really ferment out. 
I did it on a whim, this will probably sit around in the kegerator for quite a while since the girlfriend don’t drink much and is hardly ever here.