Raisins in beer

[mikey]

Just about to make some Coopers Best Extra Stout as per recipe on the recipes page and thought I best sample the real thing for comparison purposes. Besides being a great beer if made as per recipe, I thought I detected a fruity/ raisiny - ness to the bought thing and was wondering what people's thoughts were on adding some raisins to the recipe.

[Kevnlis]

Maybe it comes from the esters and dark malt? I wouldn't use raisins, they will most likely introduce an infection to your beer. You could boil them in some water and pitch the entire contents of this boil, but I worry about pectin extraction. Perhaps if you soaked them in 65-70C water for 10-15 minutes before using them you could get away with it, but no guarantees.

[Lachy]

I have found that a small amount of moist brown sugar can sometimes contribute a rummy/raisiny character to a dark beer. 250g should do the trick.

[mikey]

Maybe it comes from the esters and dark malt? I wouldn't use raisins, they will most likely introduce an infection to your beer. You could boil them in some water and pitch the entire contents of this boil, but I worry about pectin extraction. Perhaps if you soaked them in 65-70C water for 10-15 minutes before using them you could get away with it, but no guarantees.

Cheers for the advice. I wasn't convinced it was the right way to go henceforth the Q. I will try the brown sugar as per Lachy's suggestion; I have found it to be quite good in the past.

[Kevnlis]

A bit of molasses does wonders if you want a rum flavour.