Darker the Berry Blueberry Altbier

My family went blueberry picking last week and picked over 15# of blueberries. That's a lot of blueberry muffins, blueberry pie, blueberry pancakes, and blueberry cobbler. So, what to do with all of those blueberries? Make blueberry beer, of course! According to BJCP guidlines, the fruit beer category has very few parameters. It's pretty much wide open as long as the beer has fruit in it, and the fruit should be "prominent." I don't know about you, but this sounds like an open invitation to spit in the eye of tradition and be fermentive.

A few weeks ago, I nabbed 10# of mislabeled Weyermann Floor-malted Bohemian Dark malt in the bargain bin at my LHBS. My thoughts were something along the lines of:  "This would make a nice, dark, malty, German ale and/or lager, and I have been thinking about that Metropolitan Brewing Iron Works altbier I had that time at Haymarket Brewery." The following recipe is inspired by those "old" German ales brewed before the use of lager yeasts became so popular. It is a deep, rich amber-colored, malty beer with an assertive hop bitterness to (almost) balance the sweetness. This fruity version downplays the IBUs in order to bring forward the blueberry aroma and flavor.

Darker the Berry Blueberry Altbier (numbers do not include fruit additions)

5.00 gallon batch  O.G. 1.050  IBUs:  32.8  Efficiency: 75%

Grist:
7# Weyermann Floor-malted Bohemian Dark Malt (74.6%)
2# White Wheat Malt (21.3%)
0.25# Special Roast (50 SRM; 2.7%), reserve
0.13# UK Chocolate Malt (450 SRM; 1.4%), reserve

Hops:
1.25 oz. Mt. Rainer (6.0%; 90 min; first wort hop)

Yeast:
SafAle US-05

Procedures:
Mash in @ 130F (mash thickness 1.39 qt/lb)
Decoct 4.86 qt of thick mash. Bring to 155F, hold 20-30 min. Boil 15 min.
Mashout @ 168F with 4.5 qt boiling water. Add Special Roast and Chocolate malt at mashout.
Sparge with 3.25 gallons water @ 168F.
Vorlauf until clear (approx. 2 qt.)
Boil 90 min.
(Irish moss; yeast nutrient @ 15 min, if it suits your fancy)
Rack onto 5# blueberries in 6.5 gallon secondary (to accommodate berries and fermentation of fruit sugars) after primary fermentation is complete.

This recipe is for a blueberry ale, but other fruits or combinations of fruits and/or vegetables may be used to your individual taste. Be fermentive!