My next brew was designed specifically for my lovely wife, who just so happens to be a big fan of Leinenkugel Berry Weiss. After doing research on brewing fruity beers, I came up with the following:
BG's BeerenWeiss - brewed on May 17, 2010 - 1 can of MB Whispering Wheat Weizenbier - 1 full pouch of MB Booster - 1/2 lb. (slightly less) of Bavarian wheat DME - 1/8 oz Cascades hop pellets
I brought about 5 cups of water up to a boil, added all of the above ingredients, and killed the flame. I did not boil the DME or the hops for this particular recipe. I chilled the wort to about 100 degress then added it to my MB keg, and the temperature was about 69 degrees (perfect!) I then pitched my rehydrated 1/2 pack Danstar Munich that was left over from Weizenguy.The Munich got right to work, and a nice layer of krausen (bubbly foam layer on the top of wort) after about 14 hours.
On May 26 I took the steps to make this a fruity wheat by adding berries: 1 can Oregon Red Raspberry 1 can Oregon Blackberry
I sanitized my blender, and 1 can at a time, pureed the holy bajeebuz out of the berries. The puree was slowly poured into the keg, and using a sanitized spoon, gently stirred the wort/fruit mixture. Within a day or two my keg appeared to puke all over itself due to the crazy fermentation of the fruit. I should have taken a picture, but it was nasty looking, and my kitties were trying to get at it, so I just wiped down the keg and the cooler I ferment in as quickly as I could.
Everything settled down and had some time to come together, so I bottled on 6/6/2010
carbed through 6/24/2010 - then 3 to the fridge
1st tester on 6/30/2010 - I was anticipating a great beer and...no carbonation. Zero. :( My assumption is that these first 3 might have been under-carbed. The bottles were hard when I put them in the fridge, but not ROCK hard (Now I can totally tell the difference. always learning something). So that was my mistake and lack of patience. I'll toss my wife under the bus here and blame her for getting antsy and wanting to know when "her beer" was going to be ready. The taste was decent, but is like a wine cooler. ***late July update: Woohoo! The BeerenWeiss has definitely carbed up to an adequate level, and the taste is light and refreshing. There is a nice tartness to the beer, and I do not find it nearly as sweet as the Leine that inspired this brew...which IMO is a good thing! I feel that the added DME gave this a nicer body than it would have if only the Booster was used, so I would highly recommend this addition if you are looking to make a fruity wheat using the WWW as a base. ~Next Recipe~