Blackberry beers latest in ongoing collaboration between Division of Agriculture, Brewers Guild, Little Rock brewery
Sept. 2, 2022
By Ryan McGeeney
U of A System Division of Agriculture
Fast Facts:
- Products part of ongoing collaboration with Arkansas Brewers Guild, Stone’s Throw Brewing
- Participants gave “blind tasting” reactions to two brewing varieties
- Division of Ag extension specialists to create value-added product to reduce produce waste
(571 words)
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LITTLE ROCK — Some found one a little sweet, the other with a little bite. Either way, beer drinkers seemed to warm to the two varieties of blackberry beer on tap at Stone’s Throw Brewing in late July, as extension specialists with the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture collected reactions to the Arkansas-made brews.
Amanda Philyaw Perez, extension food safety specialist and associate professor of food systems for the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture, said two slightly different brew processes were used for the beer varieties on tap.
“We created two beers, one with whole berries and one with berries that were strained to remove pulp and seeds that were each heated with malt and hops prior to fermenting,” Philyaw Perez said. “The beers fermented for two weeks and the kegs were tapped for the tasting.”
More than 100 participants sampled the brews during the two-hour event at the brewery’s downtown Little Rock location on July 22. The event was the second such collaboration between the Division of Agriculture and the Arkansas Brewers Guild. The first collaboration featured Arkansas hops, grown at the Division of Agriculture Fruit Research Station near Clarksville, added to a keg of Papa Geyer’s Imperial Pilsner in the latter stages of the brewing process at Stone’s Throw.
“Because of this previous work, they were open to a new project with the blackberries,” Philyaw Perez said. The Arkansas berries were not only grown in-state, they were originally bred at the Division of Agriculture’s Fruit Research Station in Clarksville.
Philyaw Perez said about 65 participants provided feedback on the blackberry beers.
After sampling both beers, which were labeled only as “A” or “B,” samplers chose their
favorite.
“Almost all the feedback was positive, with samplers stating that the beer was refreshing and not too sweet,” Philyaw Perez said. “Those who preferred the whole
berry beer mentioned it having a full, tart flavor whereas those that preferred the filtered
berry beer liked that it was sweeter and less tart. It's difficult to say which beer is the ‘best,’ because our blind taste test led to 34 preferring the filter berry beer and 31 preferring the whole berry beer.”
The Division of Agriculture offered another sampling night at the annual Stone’s Throw Rock the Block event on July 30, where feedback from more than 100 additional participants reflected the same pattern of preference: Both beer varieties were a hit, with a slim margin preferring the filtered berry beer.
Amanda McWhirt, extension horticulture specialist for the Division of Agriculture, said that collaboration with the Arkansas Brewers Guild is ongoing, although the next project has yet to be scheduled.
In addition to identifying buyers for whole, unprocessed blackberries, Philyaw Perez and her team are currently creating a value-added product from Ritter’s surplus blackberries in hopes of reducing the volume of annually wasted produce. The goal is to create a blackberry-based syrup or jelly product that potential buyers might purchase and sell to consumers.
Parties interested in learning more about this value-added product or in purchasing blackberries by the ton for processing into other products can reach out to Dr. Amanda Philyaw Perez at sharegrounds@uada.edu.
“We look forward to seeing this project grow into an Arkansas state beer through the Arkansas Brewers Guild,” Philyaw Perez said. “We also look forward to assisting Ritter farms with finding a buyer for several thousand pounds of blackberries seconds, not intended to the fresh markets.”
To learn about extension programs in Arkansas, contact your local Cooperative Extension Service agent or visit www.uaex.uada.edu. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram at @AR_Extension. To learn more about Division of Agriculture research, visit the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station website: https://aaes.uada.edu/. Follow on Twitter at @ArkAgResearch. To learn more about the Division of Agriculture, visit https://uada.edu/. Follow us on Twitter at @AgInArk.
About the Division of Agriculture
The University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture’s mission is to strengthen agriculture, communities, and families by connecting trusted research to the adoption of best practices. Through the Agricultural Experiment Station and the Cooperative Extension Service, the Division of Agriculture conducts research and extension work within the nation’s historic land grant education system.
The Division of Agriculture is one of 20 entities within the University of Arkansas System. It has offices in all 75 counties in Arkansas and faculty on five system campuses.
The University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture offers all its Extension and Research programs to all eligible persons without regard to race, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, religion, age, disability, marital or veteran status, genetic information, or any other legally protected status, and is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer.
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Media Contact:
Ryan McGeeney
rmcgeeney@uada.edu
@Ryan_McG44
501-671-2120