Raspberry Beer

Today's brew was a raspberry beer. No photos yet, but I hope to have some once I add the raspberry puree.

I started this one out on a sour beer base, started the mash yesterday and sprinkled some crushed grain on once I got home last night. It only soured for about 14 hours as opposed to my standard 24, so it won't be quite as puckering as a normal sour beer. That's okay though, because the raspberry should add some tartness once the sugars ferment out.

I'm planning to leave this one in primary for about two weeks, then transfer on top of 3 pounds of Oregon's Raspberry Puree in secondary. My other 6.5 gallon carboy should be clear by then, so I'll probably secondary it in that, then maybe move it to a tertiary. I'm hoping the puree is seedless, because the last time I tried a fruit beer (strawberry beer) my siphon got clogged with fruit pulp and I lost a few gallons of beer.

We'll see how this beer and the peach beer I'm doing next turn out. If the raspberry is too subdued I think I might use the blackberry puree I have for a porter rather than put it on top of a lighter beer. I just had a bottle of Captain Lawrence Brewery's Nor'Easter today (thanks Thrine!), a dark beer brewed with elderberries and aged in bourbon barrels, and it's given me some ideas for future dark fruit beers.