Tomato in beer.....

Ok, so I'm contemplating trying a tomato ale. I've done some searching and can't seem to find much about one. I plan on using a real light blonde as a base and then adding some tomato juice (homemade) to the beer. Here are my questions:

1. When should I add the juice? Boil, primary, secondary, bottling?

2. I'm thinking I'll need to hop very lightly, any ideas on that? Type of hops, or an IBU I should try to shoot for?

3. How much juice should I add? I'm thinking of using about 2 quarts.

Any other ideas would be greatly appreciated!! All comments are welcome!!

Bluelinebrewer said:

I'm contemplating trying a tomato ale. I've done some searching and can't seem to find much about one.

All comments are welcome!!

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Most likely because it's a bad idea. If you really want tomato juice in your beer, just add some to the glass of beer.

When I was in the Navy, I would do that for nurtrition...

I won't say it's a bad idea, but I will say "you go first."

Just remember that any sweetness will ferment out. I'd add it to secondary, to taste. Add a bit, and see how it tastes. You can't take it out if you start with too much.

Sundowner's idea is good- make sure you like the basic flavor combination before going all in.

I don't want this to discourage your efforts at all, and I would be fascinated to find out how this turned out, but I think Tomato Beer sounds disgusting. (To be fair, I don't like tomatoes that much anyway.

One thing I heard about Fruit Beers in regards to when you should add the fruit is based on what flavor you want to go after. If you add the fruit in the boil, you may end up with a "cooked" flavor to the fruit, just as if you had baked or boiled the fruit alone. If you add it after the boil, you will get more of a fresh taste, like tomatoes in a salad. In my research, it seems to me that the worst time to add fruit is right before primary. The CO2 from fermentation carries away a lot of aroma, and your beer is more susceptible to infection. So if you're going to add it after the boil, I would vote for secondary.

elkdog said:

I won't say it's a bad idea, but I will say "you go first."

Just remember that any sweetness will ferment out. I'd add it to secondary, to taste. Add a bit, and see how it tastes. You can't take it out if you start with too much.

Sundowner's idea is good- make sure you like the basic flavor combination before going all in.

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elkdog, your avatar infuriates me (I'm a Michigan State Alum)....

sundowner said:

When I was in the Navy, I would do that for nurtrition...

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When I was in the Navy we put some salt and pepper in too and called it a red-eye, best hangover cure for breakfast in Hong Kong. You could call your beer "The Hong Kong Breakfast"!

I wonder what the best way would be to capture fresh tomato vine aroma.

I'd definitely experiment with growlers in the secondary and/or doctor some beers.

this reminds me of a story from years ago not long after I had turned 21 . . . first of all I could count on one hand the number of times I have seen my father have a drink and while I had wanted to for some time, I had never been able to sit down and have a beer with my father. So he and I are fishing in Northern PA and we stop by this old hotel restaurant for dinner and when the waitress comes to take our order he looks at me and says to her 'I will have a beer'. When she followed up with 'What kind?' He was a bit flustered but ended up with a PBR. He followed up that order with a request for a glass of tomato juice. When his drinks came out he proceeded to drink half of the tomato juice and then poured the beer on top of the remaining juice. He looked across the table at me and with a little twinkle in his eye said 'I like mixed drinks'. I about fell out of my chair. . . I will always remember that first 'beer' I had with my Dad.

Sorry, a bit off topic, I have no advice on the tomato beer, other than to say that I do not think I would want one. But hey, that is what makes this hobby so great we can make whatever the hell we want and if it doesn't turn out well, I may know someone in PA that would like a tomato juice and beer that comes premixed . Good Luck.

The basic recipe is tomato juice (or sometimes Clamato or V8) juice mixed with Mexican beer (Corona or Modelo Especial) and the juice of half a lime in an ice-cold, salt-rimmed pint glass. Add the beer by pouring it from high above the glass so the contents can mix properly.

DRoyLenz said:

elkdog, your avatar infuriates me (I'm a Michigan State Alum)....

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This'll make you feel better. I had great seats in the student section for our big game against MSU in December '99, during my undergrad days. Mateen Cleaves was on crutches, and your team still blew us out of the gym. Just think about that season...

olllllo said:

I wonder what the best way would be to capture fresh tomato vine aroma.

I'd definitely experiment with growlers in the secondary and/or doctor some beers.

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I think that smell is one of my favorite smells from the garden with the smell of fresh peppers a close second and sweet corn flowers (pollen) third.

I've tried the tomato juice/beer cocktail and I like it. Sometimes I hold the beer and use vodka instead and it's even better!

Give it a go and let us know. I've heard *cough* that distillers use tomato paste as a yeast nutrient in the wort.

Tomato juice in the wort will result in a tomato wine beer. Not sure what that will taste like.

Well, I think I'll give it a go. Whats the worst that can happen???? If I can stomach Bud Light every now and then, I'm sure I can stomach one of these!! I think I'll go with adding it to the secondary.... Still pondering the issue of hops....

2 quarts sounds like a helluva lot. You should pour up a glass of a similar beer to what you want to brew. Then get out the measuring spoons and start adding the juice and taste as you go. Take notes. When you find an amount you like, then do the math to figure out how much will be good in the larger batch.

As vague an answer as this will be, I think it will all depend on the profile of the tomato juice (what variety of tomatoes you used, any salt that may have been added, etc.) There are thousands of varieties of tomato plants, so I guess it's tough to say without having an idea what the juice tastes like.

As far as hopping it, 2 quarts of tomato juice with a blonde base sounds like alot to me as well, so if you stick with that I would think you'd have to compensate with more hops. Might turn out more like a bloody mary ale if you went that route...

In any case, just feel lucky that your tomatoes didn't suffer from the Northeast blight. My tomato yield for the year has been a grand total of 3 so far, from about 30 plants...