I did not make this as one
would make a conventional wine or ale. A common complaint about "fruit ales" is that they're too dry. I started out wanting to come in close
to what was done last year. As I started late, I did "extract" brewing. I used the Barley Malt Extract which I purchased
from "Country Life Natural Foods":
http://www.clnf.org/onlinecatalog/products.html
Please note that I bought the 5 gallon
container of extract at a very reasonable price. I made a 20 gallon boil. I added 20 lbs of sugar and enough of the barley
malt extract to end up with a measured refractometer reading of 25 brix at the end of the boil. I added the leftovers of my
"opened" hops; less than half a pound of my opened and ancient English Style Hops during the boil. Yes ... the earlier
20 lbs of sugar was correct.
The ale was divided up into 4 carboys (5 gallons each into 7 gallon carboys). Into each was added 80 grams
(dry before rehydrating) of Red Star Premier Cuvee.
http://www.piwine.com/store/product.php?productid=16343&cat=315&page=1
Note that the Premier Cuvee is actually
quite inexpensive. The use of huge quantities of yeast contributed to its very quick fermentation and clearing.
After about 7 weeks of fermentation and
clearing in the glass carboys, the ales were transferred to the cornies. A one quart bottle of concentrated black cherry juice
was added to each 5 gallon cornie. They came from here:
As the very thick concentrate tended to just sit in the bottom of the kegs, it was necessary to
invert each keg and vigorously shake it. The yeast had already settled out in the carboys; the addition of the juice concentrate
made it necessary to make sure that the keg was quite nicely chilled. It was necessary that the keg be used as soon as possible
after the necessary carbonation was obtained in order to make sure that the yeast didn't revive. Winemakers would add
sulfates to make sure the yeast stayed inactive. This might be necessary if the ale can't be chilled & used quickly.
Concentrates are also available from here:
The previous year I blended the following together to make 10 gallons of a "Raspberry Ale":
Heron Bay Summer Mist Raspberry Zinfandel Wine Kit
Brewhouse Honey Blond Ale Kit (No Boil)
~10 pounds or
so of honey.
These were divided between two of my 7 gallon carboys and fermented with a blend of dry ale yeasts
and champagne yeasts. The wine kit came with a bag of raspberry flavor concentrate, which I added to the two kegs when kegging
the ale. The ale was chilled, carbonated, and used within a couple of weeks. I didn't add any of the chemicals.
