Blueberry IPA / Blueberry Black IPA

[Bender_Braus_Brewing]

I'm looking to try to make a blueberry IPA or black IPA using blueberries.

Any recipe suggestions or anything? Any approach to it? This will be my first time trying a beer with fruit.


Thanks!

 

[Bubbles2]

With adjuncts as they are called. The fruit has sugar, simple sugar so the yeast devours the flavor if added during fermentation.
So either a flavoring sold at your Brew store or online. Chocolate we use Nibs opposed to any Chocolate that had a sugar in it. (looks like bark) I am adding Grapefruit to an IPA, where I skinned the fruit, removed the white pith and dried in my drier, you can also buy this as an adjunct. However adding a Grapefruits Juice would be futile due to the juice is sugar and the yeast devouring or re awakening to late pitch it. Another avenue is trying to source a Hop that has overtones that you are looking for, but Blueberry is a tough onE, there are Passion Fruits. Best to add at pour time if you want an adjunct like that, Create a Blueberry Syrup concentrate, pout in Pint glass before pouring beer.

 

[Bender_Braus_Brewing]

Hmm.... not exactly desirable, but ok. Thank you.

Has anyone had a blueberry IPA before? (Commercially) Did it taste good? Is it too odd or not really that odd?

 

[Coffeeturnal]

I haven't done a blueberry anything (since I don't like blueberries), but I just completed a strawberry wheat that's pretty tasty imo.

I would be inclined to go with a standard ipa, rather than a black one, if you want the blueberry to be a forward flavor. Having very little malt character was how I got the strawberry to pop in my batch. Add a lot and add it after primary fermentation.

I use a 5 gallon bucket. So, I mashed them up with a potato masher and then added them in a sanitized paint strainer bag so that I could easily remove them. They completely fermented out, then I removed them. I was left with a blast of fruit flavor.

You should go for it.

 

[ba-brewer]

I have used a couple of the fruit extract flavorings from morebeer including blueberry, the flavor is pretty good and does not seem artificial. I would make a standard wheat beer then dose bottles with some extract and get three different beers from a single batch.

Mosiac can have a blueberry flavor.

 

[rcs226]

A local brewery made one. I have never made one myself, but maybe this description can give you some hints. (See photo) It wasn't amazing at first, just OK, but after about a month in the cans it really developed well. If they made it again, I would buy it again. (if that means something). I would just stash it for a little while.

Can description doesn't match Instagram description though...

 

[anteater8]

I would also be inclined to use blueberries in more of a NEIPA base, since you don't want the fruit clashing too much with bitterness or being overpowered by roasted grain. This is a really good recipe: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/threads/northeast-style-ipa.568046/

You could add a bit of vanilla and/or lactose if you want to go for more a milkshake IPA.

Blueberries are also notoriously difficult to get a lot of flavor out of, which is one reason I've never used them. You may need to count on 3-4 lbs/gal to get a significant flavor impact.

 

[Abbas]

With adjuncts as they are called. The fruit has sugar, simple sugar so the yeast devours the flavor if added during fermentation.
So either a flavoring sold at your Brew store or online. Chocolate we use Nibs opposed to any Chocolate that had a sugar in it. (looks like bark) I am adding Grapefruit to an IPA, where I skinned the fruit, removed the white pith and dried in my drier, you can also buy this as an adjunct. However adding a Grapefruits Juice would be futile due to the juice is sugar and the yeast devouring or re awakening to late pitch it. Another avenue is trying to source a Hop that has overtones that you are looking for, but Blueberry is a tough onE, there are Passion Fruits. Best to add at pour time if you want an adjunct like that, Create a Blueberry Syrup concentrate, pout in Pint glass before pouring beer.

I've never tried using blueberry, but the flavor of blueberries and fruits in general doesn't come from sugar alone. Am I wrong?
That being said blueberries have such a subtle flavor, I would imagine you would need to use an obscene amount of blueberries to impart that flavor. Extracts may be the best bet in this case.