Adding Wild Gooseberries to Beer

 After reading about the Hunter, Angler, Gardener, Cook going foraging for berries in the Sierras I became interested what type of berries could I find in San Diego County. Well, there are actually quite a few (blackberries, thimble berries, salmon berries, currants), but the one I was most interested in was the wild gooseberry. There are several varieties of the gooseberry in San Diego County, but the most abundant and convenient is the Fuchsia-Flowered Gooseberry (Ribes speciosum). Once I knew what to look for I saw them everywhere. They are located on trails in Poway, Clairemont, Scripps Ranch and most of the county.



First off, they are extremely easy to spot in the spring due to their beautiful and bright colored flowers. (flower picture borrowed from here). And then when the berries are starting to get ripe in late July the leaves turn a nice bright red color.







Now, here is the catch. These bushes have some crazy spines on them and they make picking difficult. In addition, these plants grow in the same places that poison oak does (also another way to find them). So look along stream beds that are shaded by Oak trees. The other unfortunate part is the berries ripe in btaches. I had to collect 3 or 4 times over 2 weeks to get a usable amount.






As I collected the berries I would give them a good wash and then into a ziplock in the freezer. From there I pretty much followed the directions on Hunter, Angler, Gardener, Cook.

1. 4 cups of Sierra gooseberries into a large pot. Barely cover the berries with water, cover the pot and bring to a boil.
2. Boil for 2-3 minutes. Turn off the heat and, using a potato masher or large spoon, crush the berries to a pulp. Do not blend.
3. Let this steep, covered, until it gets to room temperature, then pour everything into a container and let it sit overnight in the fridge.
4. Strain the juice through a sieve lined with cheesecloth or press with a juicer. This will store in the fridge for a week or so, as-is.

I ended up with about 6 oz of juice with a gravity in the 1.040s. The juice is delicious and has a very strong aroma. The flavor is difficult to explain: it has a good level of tartness and a is sorta candy-like. This juice was added straight to my Holiday Party Oud Bruin.

Homebrew Tasting: Dark Saison - Sour Version

For the most part my Dark Saison really came together. I tasted the beer about a month after fermentation and it was very rough and muddled. Even with the Saison yeast the beer had a decent amount of alcohol warmth, but that was to be expected for a 9% beer. I knew with time that this beer would end up being pretty nice. I decided to bottle a gallon of the straight version. Then another 6-12 oz bottles with Jolly Pumpkin dregs at bottling and  6 more bottles with Avery 15 dregs (I used a sanitized pipette to take 2 ml of yeast stored in White Lab vials) . I then had about 2.5 gallons that I racked to a keg and added dregs from Jolly Pumpkin and Avery 15. I was inspired to go sour after reading the Mad Fermentationist review his Dark Sour Saisons. And I knew this would go over well as a special keg to bring out this Fall and Winter.

One flavor that I forgot in my tasting notes was tobacco. I have heard that term so much, but never experienced it until it hit me after drinking my second glass that night. (Notice in the picture I only gave myself smaller 10 oz pours so I feel like I'm at a bar).

I'll be tapping the rest of the keg soon and give you feedback from others.

Dreg Series: Ommegang Belgian Dubbel

I am in general a fan of Ommegang. You know when you have one of their beers that it will be a solid, tasty beer. Not necessary the most interesting and complex flavor, but a great drinking beer. After the Achel dregs went bad, I needed a back-up so a quick run to the local good beer store, Best Damn Beer Shop, and I had a bottle of Ommegang Dubbel.

There is some mystery as to if the White Labs 410 is the Ommegang strain or if it is only a proprietary yeast strain not available to homebrewers. I will try to find out by comparing my results with the reviews of WLP410 and see if I agree. It appears like it is on the phenolic and spicy side of the Belgian flavor spectrum and some report a small amount of tartness produced.

This batch got the same treatment as the other dregs beers. I used 6 oz of a 1.030 starter wort + nutrients boiled and cooled. And added directly to the 750 ml bottle. Do this 3 days before and shake as often as possible. It was pitched at 65F and allowed to free rise up into the high 70s. I had activity in 12 hours and this beer seemed to ferment out in less than a week. Then it was bottled after 3 weeks.

12 hours














Day 1














Day 2














The three-way taste test will be posted shortly with the 575 Dubbel and Westmalle Dubbel.