Kegging and bottling Radlers?

Hi everyone!

My first ever post and I'm hoping that someone out there is in a position to help me...!!?

I am thinking of brewing, kegging and bottling a Radler ( I know it's not everyone's idea of a good beer..!!) but I like them and would like to try to get some different flavours going in bottles. Is there anyone that has some experience in this when it comes to stopping fermentation (is filtering the beer the best option?), when do you filter in that case, and is there anything else I should be aware of, thinking about when making a Radler?
I would really appreciate it if someone could point me in the right direction so that I can have my friends over for a fun Radler night in the summer!!!

Anna said:

Is there anyone that has some experience in this when it comes to stopping fermentation (is filtering the beer the best option?), when do you filter in that case, and is there anything else I should be aware of, thinking about when making a Radler?

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Why do you want to stop fermentation?

I haven't read up on it in a while, but I think that Steigl's is 60% fruit soda and 40% beer. The beer they mix the fruit soda with is their lager---Goldbrau. I'm sure you can play with this percentage however you like, or even try a different type of beer to mix in. If I were doing it, I'd try to stick with brewing a lager or pilsner of some kind.

So whatever beer recipe you decide to go with, I would let that beer ferment out as you normally would. When it comes time to bottle/keg, I would throw whatever fruit soda you're using into the bottling bucket (or keg), add priming sugar (if you need it) and yeast (if you need it), then rack the beer on top of that. I think that once you get the juice and beer together, it's up to you how long you want to age it.

I suppose you could add the juice to the beer in secondary and just let it age with it until you keg/bottle. My thought for adding it at bottling/kegging time is because I would think that you want your beer to completely develop it's natural flavor before adding the juice.

I've thought about making this type of beer as well, so if someone has experience in this, I'd love to hear it too.

Not to speak for you Anna, but I'm guessing you refer to stopping fermentation so that the sugar in the lemonade doesn't kick up another round of fermentation? 

Camden tablets are the solution I've come across for this.  I haven't done any batches with fruit soda.  The shandy type brews I've done I just mix lemon flavor in the glass to taste.  I played with lemon juice, lemonade powder, and a bit of both (the latter is my personal favorite).  I've done a wheat beer with blueberries, blackberries, and raspberries (frozen mixed bag from the grocery store) in secondary... I didn't use camden tablets and I didn't leave much headspace in the carboy.  BOOM!  Secondary fermentation went nuts and my garage needed a good cleaning.  Lesson learned.  The brew tasted great though 

Not sure if this helps, that's what I know.

Thanks for your message jtoots!

You are correct in assuming that I'm thinking about the fermentation process starting again if you add more sugar...

Your wheat beer sounds delicious, even though it went all over the garage ;D!! I'll remember to leave enough head space and to use Camden tablets not to repeat the big BOOM!

Looking forward to getting this learning excersice going and will try to have a few brews done over the xmas period!

Merry xmas to all you brewers out there!

Anna

I have a situation with my Russian Imperial Stout in that after 3 months from fermentation, I tasted the beer and seems to have a "sour" taste.  The original recipe says to let it sit for a year, so am wondering if I should do something now (pasteurize) or just wait it out for a year??