Monday Rant: Homebrew Extracts

One of Beer Snob Sr.'s earlier homebrews.

I was visiting the infamous Beer Snob Sr. a few nights back to try one of his homebrews. This time it was the blueberry ale he had been working on.

Other homebrews I had the chance to try that were his included something from a kit called Cowboy Lager, which was some type of lager with a tart apple flavor, and a Honey Maibock.

His most recent creation was a blueberry ale which had a surprisingly dark tone to it. It was surprising to me since most blueberry ales I've come across in the past have had pure blonde bodies. It was his opinion that the blueberry taste wasn't as powerful as he expected.

Let it be known that he uses the Mr. Beer homebrewing set-up and that each of the kits he uses include some type of extract. (Remember that Beer Snob Sr. is not my father. In fact, he is a close friend that shares my interests in beer and great food. He's older than me and friends began to call us Beer Snob's Sr. and Jr.)

The kits that my father and I have used don't have extracts. We strive to use as many natural ingredients as possible. If any type of abstract is involved, we attempt to replace said extract with the original, and natural ingredient.

When Beer Snob Sr. complained about the lack of blueberry flavor, I pondered whether or not the flavor could have been more explosive if he had chosen to replace the extract with natural blueberries.

From experience, I know that the brewing experience gets that much harder when you decide to go the natural ingredient route. You also have to sometimes time the addition perfectly. It might benefit your beer's flavor if you wait to add the fruit during the secondary fermentation as opposed to the primary.

It does get more complex. Years ago I helped to make a cherry wheat beer with homegrown cherries only to have the top of the fermenter blow off in our coat closet. It's a tougher process when you replace the extracts, but I feel that the flavor ends up being more noticeable in the end.