Tart, refreshing, and packed with juicy raspberry flavour. A crisp sour ale that balances fruity zing with a clean, dry finish.

This Raspberry Sour is bright, tart, and packed with juicy raspberry flavour. We use Philly Sour yeast, which is really easy to work with. You can pitch it just like a regular ale yeast, but it naturally produces lactic acid to give the beer its refreshing sourness. The result is a light to medium bodied beer with soft carbonation, a vibrant pink-red colour, and a lively, fruity tartness.

This recipe is really just a good base for adding fruit to. You can substitute just about any frozen fruit and get great results, raspberries are just a reliable option that everyone seems to enjoy. Some fruits have more or less flavour so adjust as you think necessary. Make sure to use 2 packs of yeast.

Vitals

Original Gravity: 1.047
Final Gravity: 1.009
IBU (Tinseth): 6
BU/GU: 0.12
Colour: 4.9 EBC 

ABV: 5.0%
72% efficiency
Batch Volume: 23 L
Boil Time: 60 min

Mash Water: 14.3 L
Sparge Water: 16.04 L
Total Water: 30.34 L
Boil Volume: 28 L
Pre-Boil Gravity: 1.032

Mash

Sacc Rest — 67 °C — 60 min
Mash Out — 75 °C — 10 min

Malts (3.6 kg)

1.8 kg (45%) — Joe White Maltings Pilsner, Malt Craft Export — Grain — 3.2 EBC
1.8 kg (45%) — Joe White Maltings Wheat Malt Craft — Grain — 3.5 EBC

Other (3.4 kg)

400 g (10%) — Corn Sugar (Dextrose) — Sugar — 0 EBC
3 kg — Frozen Raspberry (Fruit) — Other — 0 EBC

Hops (10 g)

10 g (6 IBU) — Saaz 4.5% — Boil — 60 min

Miscs

4.88 g — Calcium Chloride (CaCl2) — Mash
0.85 g — Epsom Salt (MgSO4) — Mash
1.7 g — Gypsum (CaSO4) — Mash
3 ml — Lactic Acid 85% — Mash
2 ml — Lactic Acid 85% — Sparge

Yeast

2 pkg — Lallemand WildBrew Philly Sour 75%

Fermentation

Pitching Temp — 20 °C — 1 days
Main Ferment — 22 °C — 7 days

Carbonation: 2.6 CO2-vol

Water Profile

Ca2+: 58
Mg2+: 3
Na+: 8
Cl-: 82
SO42-: 43
HCO3-: 16

We would suggest using frozen fruit instead of fresh, largely due to price. Feel free to use any fruit of your choice, but raspberry is always reliable. In the original packaging thaw and refreeze the fruit 4 or 5 times to extract more juice from the fruit. To retain as much fruit flavour as possible add the fruit to the fermenter when the specific gravity is 1.020 or lower. Add the fruit to a large polyester bag or BIAB. We have dextrose added to the recipe to help the beer attenuate and leave a crisp finish and to promote the Philly sour yeast to produce more lactic acid. If you'd prefer to kettle sour this recipe we would suggest using a workhorse yeast like Lalbrew Nottingham or Kveik Lutra instead of the Philly sour.