Raspberry IPA

[temptnmonkey]

I am new to homebrewing and this forum(not so new to beer drinking though ). I've read many of the books, etc, so I finally feel prepared to give it a shot. I wanted to make an IPA as my first batch, but I also wanted to try and be creative and make an IPA with a subtle hint of raspberry (I know some say hops and raspberry don't go together, but I think a little raspberry tart can bring out some of the hop flavors in a fun way). I plan to use frozen rasp.

Anyway I have a few questions: I want to do sec fermentation (where I'd add 1# of raspberry).

Would a 5g carboy need a blowoff to accommodate this rasp addition or would airlock be ok still?

How long would you recommend leaving the raspberries in the carboy?

Would you/ can you also dry hop with the raspberries in the 5g carboy?

My plan was ~1 week in primary, 2 weeks in secondary, 3-4+ weeks in the bottle

Thanks everyone! Cheers!

 

[unionrdr]

Well,I have seen red raspberry in citrus juice in the store,so it'd be ok,imo,to use it with "C" hops in an IPA. But leave the brew in primary for 3-5 days after a stable FG is reached before racking to secondary. You want the ale to be at it's best before racking onto the berries. I'd def use red raspberries to match the tart/citrusy hops flavors better. Not sure how long,though.

 

[Brewmoor]

We make a Raspberry IPA and it is one of our best sellers. There are many ways you can make it. I make ours with raspberry puree. I put it into the fermenter when it is almost at final gravity. I let the fruit in there at fermentation temp for about 24 hours. then cold crash it for three days. After that I transfer to my serving tanks and carbonate.

You could certainly use this method in a 5g carboy you would just have to adjust a bit. You might not need a blowoff tube. Your yeast will not be eating much sugar at this point so fermentation should be pretty mellow. We used an IPA hop from hop union. It is a blend with simcoe and some other proprietary hops. Came out really good. I just finished our second 7bbl batch of it yesterday.

 

[stompbox]

We make a Raspberry IPA and it is one of our best sellers. There are many ways you can make it. I make ours with raspberry puree. I put it into the fermenter when it is almost at final gravity. I let the fruit in there at fermentation temp for about 24 hours. then cold crash it for three days. After that I transfer to my serving tanks and carbonate.

You could certainly use this method in a 5g carboy you would just have to adjust a bit. You might not need a blowoff tube. Your yeast will not be eating much sugar at this point so fermentation should be pretty mellow. We used an IPA hop from hop union. It is a blend with simcoe and some other proprietary hops. Came out really good. I just finished our second 7bbl batch of it yesterday.

why not just use the raspberries a secondary then?

 

[Brewmoor]

Because the yeast is gone in secondary. This ways some of the sugars are eaten out of the puree. If you put it in secondary it will come out a bit too sweet in my opinion. Certainly another way to do it though.

 

[temptnmonkey]

I ended up leaving the raspberry IPA in the primary for 2.5 weeks, 1 week in the secondary with 2 oz of cascade for dry hop, and 3 weeks in the bottle. Tasted great.

Both flavors were certainly competing (rasp and hops), but it was a unique brew. I fermented it a little hot (100 degree weather and no chilling equipment--got it down to around 70 for pitch and it seemed to maintain the temp), and all the hop trub went into the primary (tasted a touch grassy), and I put too many hops for the 60 min, and not enough back end hops. Surprised I didn't really have any off-flavor issues, and if they are there, they are well masked.

Overall I am pleased with it considering it was my first ever brew altogether, let alone my first time creating my own recipe and using fruit! I learned a lot from it. I would certainly make this one again with a few different strategies. Upping the malt bill a bit, more back end hops, and fermenting it cooler/cleaner.

OG was 1.059 and FG was 1.010 (Safale US05 worked wonders apparently)

I named it "Kelly RIPA"

 

[Burndog]

I've had great success with the Raspberry IPA posted in this thread:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/threads/sgd-raspberry-ipa.660688/

Bought the Raspberries from Walmart frozen which was the best price I could find. Mashed them with a potato masher on the stove at sterilization temps (160).