so I have a fruity idea...

I'm pretty new to brewing in general ( Only 1 small batch of cider currently bubbling away ) and I really don't know if this is a good idea so I thought I would get some opinions.

When we go out my wife likes to get a malibu bay breeze; so I thought "hey, I'll toss some coconut, pineapple and cranberry juice in a fermenter with some sugar and see what happens". I don't know what type of yeast to use and I have no idea how it might end up. I would like it to be semi-sweet with a little kick. So...
yeast to try?
dont try it, it will suck?
eh?

there are plenty of fruit wines and hard lemonade recipes out there so you idea might not be that bad. sweet wine yeast might work good with your idea. i've never tasted a "malibu bay breeze" so i don't know what it tastes like. the yeast in the primary will eat most of the sweetness in the fruit and the CO2 they produce will carry off allot of the fruit aroma and taste. if thats important adding the fruit after fermentation is over or almost over would be a good idea. add the fruit to a secondary and rack onto it.

now, be careful the fruit you add doesn't have preservatives in it. they will kill any fermentation action. be sure to add plenty of pectic enzyme to the brew. fruit has a substance called pectin in it and it left alone will cause a cloudy brew. the enzyme will eat the pectin and allow it to clear better.

Thanks for the reply. I should probably clarify that I'm not intending to use any actual fruit, just the juices. A malibu bay breeze is normally coconut rum, pineapple juice and cranberry juice. One of those girly drinks with an umbrella and all that. While it would be nice to end up with a similar flavor I'm not sure that it is possible.
I'll definitely look into getting some pectic enzyme.

ah. still add the pectic enzyme. also add the juice to a secondary and rack the beer onto it. fermentation will kick up again but not nearly as vigorously. adding it in a secondary should help make it taste more like the original drink. and your right what ever you end up with wont taste like a rum based drink.

word of warning. your probably going to have to brew this beer multiple times varying the fruit juice mix each time till you get it right. i suggest getting a number of 1 gallon jugs and putting different mixes of the juice in them and rack a portion of the beer onto that. let it ferment then taste. it will cut down on the number of batches you have to brew to get the recipe right.

haha i ordered a few 1 gal glass jugs the other day and just opened the box when i got home from work. i don't have a problem brewing several batches, just means i'll have to drink it fast to make room for the next try... what a shame

just remember that rum is fermented sugar cane/molasses...and they add coconut flavoring post-fermentation once its stabilized.

many juices lose a ton of flavor or drastically change flavor when fermented.

It'll be a few more weeks before I find out if I'm stupid, or a genius. I'm fermenting 3.5 cups of regular sugar with a bit of yeast nutrient, in a gallon of water. After it ferments out (two more weeks?), I'm going to add two packets of Kool-Aid (tropical punch). I'm thinking instant sangria.

I have absolutely no idea if this will work, but it's fun trying.

malkore said:

just remember that rum is fermented sugar cane/molasses...and they add coconut flavoring post-fermentation once its stabilized.

many juices lose a ton of flavor or drastically change flavor when fermented.

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so might I be better off getting some concentrate to add in the secondary or at bottling time then?

you can do that. just make sure the concentrate has no preservatives. add it after fermentation in a secondary. if you added it at bottling you will end up with a case of bottle bombs.

Ah, I remember when I first started brewing and wanted to ferment EVERYTHING.