Raspberry Crop - 2017

Last year I grew up 15 raspberry plants in raised beds (read about that experience here).  We moved a few months ago and I had to leave them behind.  I enjoyed the experience so much that a nice sunny yard became a requirement in our house search.  We ended up finding a house with a yard big enough to grow quite a bit more raspberries than I planted last year.

This year I am planting 60 raspberry plants in 4 2 ft by 34 ft raised beds.  I selected 4 raspberry varieties (All from Nourse Farms):  Prelude, Joan J, TulaMagic, and Nova.  I grew TulaMagic and Nova last year and was really happy with the vigor I saw from them.  I selected Prelude and Joan J mainly based on when in the season they would produce fruit (descriptions also sounded very nice).

Once again, I'll be using raised beds to plant my raspberries.  These help keep the plants reigned in and allow for better control of the soil composition.  My planting location is on a slight hill (~10 in elevation change) so I've dug them into the hillside to keep them relatively level.  I used a mix of leaf compost and top soil to fill the planter boxes (roughly a 50/50 mix).

11/9/17 Update - R to L:  Prelude, Joan J, TulaMagic, and Nova

10/15/17 Update - R to L:  Prelude, Joan J, TulaMagic, and Nova

9/9/17 Update - R to L:  Prelude, Joan J, TulaMagic, and Nova

8/6/17 Update - R to L:  Prelude, Joan J, TulaMagic, and Nova

7/7/17 Update - R to L:  Prelude, Joan J, TulaMagic, and Nova

6/4/17 Update - R to L:  Prelude, Joan J, TulaMagic, and Nova

4/30/17 Update - R to L:  Prelude, Joan J, TulaMagic, and Nova

4/8/17 - R to L:  Prelude, Joan J, TulaMagic, and Nova

I got my plants before I was ready to plant so I had to hurry to finish.  Ended up waiting 5 days to plant them.  I kept the bare root plants in their bags which contained moist shredded newspaper.  They seemed to be pretty moist when I was finally ready to plant.

So, posting here at the start of the season.  Will keep a log of the progress over the next 6 months.  Fingers crossed.

Raspberry Growing Log:

• Weekend of 3/24/17:
• Staked out 4 raised beds
• Decided to use 2x8 to build these beds to try to keep costs down (2x12s would have been ~250 bucks per bed where 2x8 would be a bit over 100.
• Built first raised bed.  Ended up digging down 8 inches for the whole length of the bed.  Had to prop up the wood with rocks to get it level.  Determined that the up hill piece should be 8 in and the bottom of the hill should be 10 in to create a nice recessed look.
• The bed consists of three segments, 2x8x12, 2x8x10, and 2x10,10s
• This first one was a real learning experience.  I didn't use good braising when I built them so the middle narrowed a bit.  I wedged bracing in after I had it in the ground
• Weekend of 3/31/17:
• Built the second raised bed
• Ended up chopping up the sod first and then tried to be a bit more careful about the depth so that I didn't have to use rocks to level
• 4/4/17 - Plants arrived
• Weekend of 4/7/17:
• Built the third bed - stripped away the grass and dug down only as far as I needed to
• Built the fourth bed - this one was the best of them all as I'd incorporated my lessons learned from the previous versions.  My process was as follows:
• Stripped away the grass:

• Measured the elevation every 5 feet using stakes, a string, a line level, and a tape measure:

• Constructed the raised bed end segments with corner supports and a brace between the open ends

• Dug out the up hill side of the bed to a depth such that about 10 in would be exposed at the bottom of the hill and the bed would be roughly level

• Dug out and added the middle and end pieces in a similar manner

• I had 6 cubic yards of leaf mulch delivered for this project.  My top soil seemed pretty rich and I suspected it could work well by itself.  The recessed method I used left a lot of top soil in the beds themselves.  I decided to just buy pure compost and mix it with the top soil rather than buy the compost and soil mix that I purchased last year.  The pH is in the desired range of 6.5 to 6.8 (slightly acidic).

• I broke up the soil at the bottom of each raised bed and mixed in leaf compost until the soil was ~2 in below the top of the bed.  Then added two inches of compost to the top

• Planted the raspberries about 2 feet apart with the roots layed down a ~2 in deep trench.  Some of the Joan J already had some sprouts forming which is encouraging.  Gave them all a good dose of water after planting

• Planted the four beds as follows:

R to L:  Prelude, Joan J, TulaMagic, and Nova

• 4/30/17 - It has been about three weeks since planting and I'm happy to report that the raspberries are going strong so far.  I have growth from almost all my plants.  Most of this is from the stems (which will likely produce a bit of fruit this year) but there is also a pretty good amount of growth from the roots (aka suckers).  This is a really nice sunny spot that I've got which is making the plants pretty happy - I'm ahead of where I was last year.  Status on each variety as follows:
• Prelude:
• 13 of 15 have growth from the main stem
• 0 suckers from the roots (I'm categorizing these as growth more than 3 in from the main stem)

• Joan J:
• 15 of 15 have growth from the main stem
• 5 suckers from the roots

• TulaMagic:
• 14 of 15 have growth from the main stem
• 4 suckers from the roots

• Nova:
• 14 of 15 have growth from the main stem
• 2 suckers from the roots

• 5/18/17 - The plants have been doing well but have slowed down a little.  I decided they might appreciate a bit more nutrients.  I decided to use Bone Meal and Blood Meal rather than chemical fertilizer.  Blood meal provides nitrogen which helps with leaf growth while bone meal provides phosphorus which is good for root development.  I sprinkled 1 tbs of each around each plant (which is ~1/3 the recommended amount of 1 cup per 20 sq feet of each).  I was careful to keep it away from the main growth to avoid any burning.  I covered the beds with about an inch more of leaf compost and then watered to help get the nutrients into the soil.
• 6/4/17 - It has been about two months since planting.  Raspberries are growing well.  All four varieties have flowers in various stages of development on the growth from the main stem so it's looking like I'll get some fruit from all of them this year.  Here is some status on each one:
• Prelude:
• 15 of 15 have growth from the main stem
• 2 suckers from the roots
• Flowers pollinated and starting to form fruit

• Joan J:
• 14 of 15 have growth from the main stem
• 7 suckers from the roots
• Flowers pollinated and starting to form fruit

• TulaMagic:
• 15 of 15 have growth from the main stem
• 12 suckers from the roots
• Flower buds have formed but none have opened so far

• Nova:
• 14 of 15 have growth from the main stem
• 11 suckers from the roots
• Flower buds have formed and some have started to open

• 6/24/17 - I've had 5 berries ripen on the Joan J plants.  They were very tasty.  Also had my first raspberry ripen on the Prelude plants.  The TulaMagic and Nova are still forming.
• 7/3/17 - First raspberry ripened on the Nova plants.  Had about a dozen fruit ripen on the Prelude and close to that amount on the Joan J.  Had some really nice big fruit on both.  Haven't had any significant issues with birds stealing fruit yet - knock on wood.
• 7/7/17 - Plants are doing pretty well.  TulaMagic and Nova are the strongest growers with Joan J a close third.  The Prelude are significantly weaker - they have completed fruiting for the most part though so maybe they'll start putting out new growth for next year now.  I've started putting up my trellises (although I don't need them yet).  Hope to finish them in the next few weeks.
• Prelude:
• 14 of 15 have growth from the main stem (new growth from one died)
• 4 Suckers from the roots
• Fruiting has just about completed.  Got more than a dozen fruit from these plants this year.

• Joan J:
• 13 of 15 have growth from the from the main stem (growth on one died)
• 8 Suckers from the roots
• Had a pretty good amount of fruit from these but it's almost finished ripening for the year

• TulaMagic:
• 15 of 15 have growth from the main stem
• 22 suckers from the roots (almost too many to count)
• Fruit has formed and is starting to ripen 

• Nova:
• 14 of 15 have growth from the main stem
• 19 suckers from the fruit
• First fruit have ripened.  Have quite a bit more well on it's way

• 7/26/17 - My wife and I have been picking a lot of raspberries off these plants.  I'd been thinking that this first year was all about establishing the raspberries rather than getting much of a crop so I'd been eating most of the ripe ones.  Right now there are more than I'd want to eat so I decided to start saving some instead (by freezing).  The Prelude are mostly done but we are getting quite a bit from the Joan J still and the TulaMagic are really starting to ripen now.  Also getting quite a bit from the Nova.  I've been waiting until they get dark red and quite soft to pick them off.  It seems like they're a bit sweeter in this state (this may be overripe but I'm okay with that since their destiny is to go into beer rather than into a tart or something).  I've noticed that some have started to get a bit of mold and are very squishy - I've eaten some in this state and they still taste nice.  I am freezing these as well.  Here is what I picked today:

• 8/6/17 - The plants are doing great.  Summer fruiting is just about finished - got a little over two pounds of fruit (not including all the fruit that I ate).  All the plants have started sending up new suckers post fruiting.  The Nova and TulaMagic are still my strongest growers - getting close to the height of the top wire which is 4 ft.  Joan J is growing more bushy rather than higher it seems.  The Prelude had been significantly weaker than the others previously and I was getting a bit worried about them.  They seem to be doing much better now.  3 of 5 beds have trellises up - hope to finish the last one in the next couple weeks.
• Prelude:

• Joan J:

• TulaMagic:

• Nova:

• 9/9/17 - All four varieties have grown pretty significantly over the last month.  We've had nice weather (70s and 80s) and quite a bit of rain (which is unusual for August around here).  I have a lot of new growth from the roots on all plants and the older growth is turning woody at the base and growing higher than the top wire (4 ft wire).  I finally finished the final trellises - was a lot more work than I expected and I got bored with it after finishing the first couple rows.  The plants have been growing a bit out of control (drooping over and interfering with the new growth) so I'm tying some of the taller ones to the wires with will hopefully help the beds - I snapped off a few branches in the process which made me sad.  Fruit from the old growth is close to done but there is quite a bit of new fruit forming on the new growth
• Prelude:
• This plant started sending up quite a bit of new growth from the roots after the fruiting ended.  The older new growth was vigorous this month.  A few of the new growth plants have a bit of fruit forming on the tips.

• Joan J:
• This is an everbearing raspberry plant.  Pretty much all the new growth has a lot of fruit forming at the tips.  I think I'm likely to get a pretty nice crop out of these plants this year.  The plants haven't gotten as tall as the other this year - I'm thinking the lack of support for most of the growing season was likely responsible.  Many were laying over on the ground  I attempted to tie longer plants to the lower wire to get more airflow into the middle of the plant and help any new growth.

• TulaMagic:
• This is still the most vigorous grower.  One of the plants is probably close to 6 feet tall.  It has gotten quite unruly - I'll need to do more on this one to start separating the canes as they're a bit too wild.  This plant is forming quite a bit of fruit on the tips of some of the new growth.

• Nova:
• This is my second most vigorous grower.  It's canes have stayed more orderly than the TulaMagic which is nice.  Haven't done any tying up of these yet.  It has fruit on the tips of a couple new canes

• 10/15/17 - The plants have had a surprisingly productive late crop.  The Joan J produced (and are still producing) a lot of fruit.  I've also gotten a fair amount from the Prelude and Tula Magic.  I'm shocked to find that I've got 12.5 lbs of raspberries this first year - enough to make a full size batch!  Still quite a bit more coming in as well.  We're getting close to freezing weather so we'll see if it gets a chance to come to fruition (so to speak).

• Prelude:
• Spent quite a bit of time tying these up for support
• These were my weakest for quite some time but they've now pretty much caught up with the Nova and are looking very strong

• Joan J:
• These plants have produced a lot of fruit for me in the last month
• The bed has been a bit of a mess - lots of unsupported growth that is laying over on the ground - need to decide whether I'm going to trim these to the ground to focus on the fall crop next year
• A couple weeks ago we woke up to find about 5 or 6 plants ripped out of the ground and flung around the yard a short ways.  It could have been animals (raccoon would be my bet) or maybe a person.  The plants took the main root with them but most of the little roots stayed in the ground.  I replanted the cane but the leaves all turned brown on me.  Will have to wait to see if that half of the bed recovers next year - very disappointing.

• TulaMagic
• This is my strongest grower.  Hard to believe this beast started with a bunch of sticks just 5 months ago
• These have put out really nice clusters of late fruit on the tips of their branches
• I have started tying up the branches onto the trellis.  A lot of the plants are laying on the ground.  I probably should have instituted some order long before now.  Things may be easier once all the leave dry up.  I think I'll have a healthy crop from this guy next yea

• Nova
• These have put our a bit of fruity late season but probably the least amount of all of them
• The growth on these is quite a bit more orderly than the other plants.
• Tying them up was pretty easy

• 11/9/17 - The raspberries have continued to produce a lot of fruit over the last few weeks.  I've ended up collecting 22 lbs of fruit (enough for 2 beers) which I never would have expected.  We'll have our first hard freeze of the year tonight and then several days of very cold weather - I expect that the plants are going to be finished after this.  It has been a really lovely first year - if next year produces results no better than this year I'll have no reason to complain.

• Prelude:

• Joan J:

• TulaMagic:

• Nova:

• 12/3/17 - Spent a bit of time retying up the Prelude raspberry to the trellises with twine.  The string I'd used before wasn't holding well.  I also sifted quite a bit of sifted compost which I'd used to top dress about half the beds.  I plan to tie up all the plants and give them a bit of compost top dressing
• 12/10/17 - We got our first snow of the year.  The raspberries have started to dry out and drop their leaves.

• 4/14/18 - Read about the 2018 crop here.
• 4/28/19 - Read about the 2019 crop here.
• 4/26/20 - Read about the 2020 crop here.
• 4/19/21 - Read about the 2021 crop here.
• 5/1/22 - Read about the 2022 crop here

Flanders Red Blend #1 - Cherry - Tasting Notes

I blended up 10 gal of Flanders Red using half each of 18 month and 12 month old beer last July.  I split the 10 gal 2 ways:  one was bottled immediately (see tasting notes here) and the other was aged for an additional 6 month on 10 lbs of pitted sour cherries.  I bottled it a couple months ago and have been sampling one every couple weeks.  I think they've matured nicely in the bottle and are ready for a tasting.

It's very exciting to finally "complete" a beer that I've working on over 2 years.  I'd been excited about the concept of brewing my own sour beers using fresh fruit for quite a bit longer than that even.  I was happy to find that this beer doesn't disappoint.

This is a very nice beer served chilled but I find that the flavors pop quite a bit more when it's served at cellar temperatures.  That is how I've served it for this tasting.

Tasting Notes:

• Aroma:
• There is a bold cherry aroma to the beer - not hard to believe that 10 lbs of cherries went into this.  A bit further in the background there is an earthy character from the Brett in the blend.  These two aspects of the aroma work well in harmony.  Not really picking up anything I'd call "malt aroma" coming through.
• Appearance:
• Bold red color - definitely more red than the plain half.  Pours with a very thin layer of pink head that dissipates to nothing almost immediately.  The beer is a bit hazy but not completely opaque (lots of pulp at the bottom of the bottle - tough to avoid getting some in the pour)
• Flavor:
• It is a very sour beer.  The cherries pushed it another layer beyond the plain half I would say.  The sourness melds nicely with the strong cherry flavor.  There is a caramel flavor from the malt hiding in the background and a bready flavor that comes through in the finish very nicely.  It is a complex set of flavors.  No alcohol comes through in the flavor.  Also not really getting any vinegar out of this beer (not that I'd mind if there was a bit).
• Mouthfeel:
• It is a light bodied beer.  The acidity hits the back of the palate - very crisp (quite refreshing when chilled).  The cherries give the sense of a sweetness but it's really very dry.
• Overall:
• I think the beer and the large amount of cherries get along very well.  The beer is bold enough to make it's presence felt and play an effective supporting role to the star of the show.  The cherries come through in way that makes you well aware that you're drinking a cherry beer which is exactly what I'd hoped for.  It's a complex beer and I'm very pleased with it. 

I have a lot more Flanders Red aging - will plan on starting on Batch #2 this summer.

English Barleywine Vertical Tasting - 2016

This is a vertical tasting of English Barleywine I've brewed up over the last three years (2014, 2015, and 2016) - you can see the previous vertical tastings here:  2014 Version and 2015 Version.  This was a fun exercise that allowed me to check on the progress of some beers that I haven't tasted in a while, see how good or crummy my palate is or was (didn't cheat by looking at notes from previous years), and get a little bit drunk.

I've found that the beers have continued to evolve nicely.  I wasn't too thrilled about the 2014 version in the first couple tastings but it has mellowed really nicely and has turned into a really smooth beer that is quite similar to a nice whiskey.  The 2015 which I found to be pretty tasty last year has evolved in the wrong direction on the other hand (I'm hopeful that it will continue to evolve back in a good direction though).

I've made minor tweaks every year so it is also interesting to see how minor or significant those seem over time.  I did cheat a bit in this regard as I know what those differences were - not sure I'd pick them out as well if I didn't.

This tasting had four beers.  I drank maybe half of each as part of this testing.  My mother had some as well and helped shape my notes a bit which was great (thank you, Mom!).  The beers pack a wallop!  Not sure what I'm going to do in a few years when I have twice as many (may just have to have a sip of each).

Left to Right:  2014 Plain, 2014 Brandy, 2015, and 2016

Anyway this was a lot of fun and I'll plan on continuing the trend (will try to do it closer to Christmas next time).

2014 Plain Tasting Notes:

• Aroma:
• Fruity yeast ester - raisiny- .  Caramel malt.  Alcohol comes through on the nose
• Appearance:
• Copper color and fairly clear.  Pours with essentially no head
• Flavor:
• Dark fruit and caramel are the primary flavors.  Light hop bitterness - it's mostly malt on the finish.  I don't detect anything I would describe as papery from oxidation but I think it has picked up some slightly musty/aged beer notes
• Mouthfeel:
• Light bodied with a slight sweetness in the finish.  Slight warming.  Pretty smooth with no astringency
• Overall:
• A really smooth and flavorful beer.  There is a pretty nice balance between the beer and alcohol to this one that didn't seem to exist before - I think age has treated this one well.  My favorite this year.

2014 with Brandy Tasting Notes:

• Aroma:
• Dark fruit and caramel as with the plain half.  A bit of extra alcohol on the nose maybe.  Not really getting much of the oak that this one was aged with.
• Appearance:
• Same as the plain half
• Flavor:
• Similar to the plain half but with a bit more alcohol bite which reduces the already slight sweetness
• Mouthfeel:
• Like plain but a bit more warming
• Overall:
• Smooth and also very nice with age.  I prefer the lower octane plain half at this point though.

2015 Tasting Notes:

• Aroma:
• Fruity with caramel malt.  Oaky in a way similar to red wine.
• Appearance:
• Copper color.  Pretty cloudy.  This one poured with a bit less than 1 finger of head.
• Flavor:
• Fruity - dark fruit, raisin maybe.  The oak comes through pretty strongly.  Alcohol also comes through pretty strongly.  No hop bitterness left at this point.
• Mouthfeel:
• Medium light bodied and pretty dry.  Warming alcohol.  It has a pretty firm astringency that prickles the tongue.
• Overall:
• Rich and flavorful with a good level of complexity.  The astringency is a bit overwhelming.  It will be interesting to see if another year softens this at all.  This is my least favorite of the group this year.

2016 Tasting Notes:

• Aroma:
• Caramel and fruity ester - peach maybe.  Spice and herbal hop aroma.  Some alcohol comes through as well.
• Appearance:
• A shade darker than the others - amber.  Fairly clear.  Pours with a slight head that quickly dissipates.
• Flavor:
• Fruity with caramel malt character.  Some bitterness to the finish.  The rye comes through with an added subtle dimension.
• Mouthfeel:
• Medium bodied and slightly sweet.  A bit of prickliness
• Overall:
• A tasty and flavorful beer.  Good malt complexity.  Still some hop flavor coming through with was nice - will probably be gone by next year's tasting.

English Barleywine III - Tasting Notes

I brewed up this English Barleywine on Memorial Day 2016 (5/29).  This is a third in the series of English Barleywine that I've brewed on Memorial Day 2014 and 2015 with the same set of guidelines.  I didn't really meet any of the objectives for the first two and haven't done any better on this one.  Even so, I've been pretty pleased with how these have turned out.

Why English Barleywine?  To prove to myself that you don't need a lot of hops or lactic acid to make an interesting beer.  Malt can be cool too.  It's true.

I used rye in this beer to try to increase the malt complexity a bit over the more caramel malt focused previous versions.  I think that part was a success - it has a very rich pleasing matiness.

I also decided not to oak this one during its aging period (almost 6 months) after the last batch got a bit too oaky.

This beer developed a funky looking pellicle so I was thinking it might develop some Brett characteristics and super attenuate.  It turns out neither happened which is fine.

I've done a side by side tasting with the other three beers which I will post later.  I plan on brewing up another one of these on Memorial Day 2017, with some tweaks, and continuing this experiment.  I've decided to give each new beer a standalone tasting as a baseline.

Tasting Notes:

• Aroma: 
• Fruity yeast ester dominates.  Get a lot of caramel and grainy malt.  A bit of herbal hop aroma as well.  Smells like a strong beer in terms of alcohol.
• Appearance:
• Pours with four fingers of head after an aggressive pour.  Head lingers a few min but then drops down to a thin layer.  It is quite clear and amber in color.
• Flavor:
• Rich malt flavor up front.  It is a complex maltiness which is hard to describe.  It has sort of an earthy flavor that I'd like to ascribe to the rye (although it could be some Brett influence).  There is a bit of hop bitterness on the finish that balances the sweetness of the beer nicely.  Malt is the lingering flavor.
• Mouthfeel:
• Medium bodied.  Slightly sweet and quite smooth.  Warming from the high alcohol.
• Overall:
• A rich and malty beer.  Has a nice level of complexity and is strong enough to feel it after one glass.  I think this delivers the goods pretty nicely.  The final gravity was a bit lower than target but I think the level of sweetness works well.  I'm happy with how this one turned out.