Real fruit or "flavorings"

Interested in others opinions on this.
I would like to do a fruit/wheat but I would rather use real fruit products as opposed to just flavorings or/extracts.
Boiling/reducing the rasberrys/cherries whatever just seems like it would taste better than a few ounces of Shilling cherry flavoring.
I don't meen to come off as elitest or anything, I just am wary of "fake" stuff in my beer.

i'm sorry....what's your question?

Just peoples opionions/preferences on what they think works best or tastes better.
What are the advantages of either?

My preference is REAL fruit only! Some of the flavorings - peach and apricot tastes like soap and the raspberry tastes yech!

Flavorings are cheap, easy & vile!

Real fruit!! Add it to the secondary and leave for two weeks. Then rack to a clean carboy and leave another week. MMMMM

It's all about the real fruit. For my raspberry wheat 3 pounds frozen berries in primary then 3 pounds in the secondary. Mmm… mmm… Good.
Drinking it now

I used Cherry PUree from Oregon in my Cherry Wheat. Very happy with how it taste. Innicially though I thought I did not taste the cherry much and then I let it age a bit longer. Came out great!

Last Christmas I did Cherry, Peach, Apricot, Dutch Apple, Blueberry, Raspberry and Strawberry Wheats The raspberries were from Orgeon Fruits, The peach and Apricot was from Delmonte (watch the lable for no preservatives) and rest were frozen.

The frozen fruits had a stronger fruit flavor than the canned fruits. I thought the raspberry, peach and apricot was awsome. The apple was tart and blueberry tasted like wine to me but he ladies loved it.

ALWAYS try to stick with fresh fruit when in season, frozen if it's not and canned if it's your only other source. Do you really want to put all that effort into your beer and risk it to extracts? Do yourself a favor and save the extracts for the kids soda pop!

Also I put half of my fruits in the primary after it cooled to about 150 degrees f and left them to ferment. The second half I put in secondary. Don't forget the irish moss! They alll came out clear as crystal although the blueberry and raspberry looked like wine.

Good Luck!
Debi



If you want a real beer you make it yourself ... If you want imatations you go to the store and buy it!


Good Luck!
Debi

Indiana Red said:

Interested in others opinions on this.
I would like to do a fruit/wheat but I would rather use real fruit products as opposed to just flavorings or/extracts.
Boiling/reducing the rasberrys/cherries whatever just seems like it would taste better than a few ounces of Shilling cherry flavoring.
I don't meen to come off as elitest or anything, I just am wary of "fake" stuff in my beer.

Click to expand...

On the Subject.. My Cherry Tree is about to start its spring growth.. Do I need to consider the natural sugar in the cherrys? Also Do you sanitize them, pit them or just drop them bad boys in?

My Wife and I normally use Grain alcohol, Rum, and Gin to make Christmas booze with the cherrys.. you basically put the Cherrys, Raw Sugar, and the alcohol in jars.. 6 months later you have a cherry flavored drink that has no alcohol "bite" but one small glass will knock you on your butt. The grain alcohol one we never give away because it has no bite at all and is like cherry flavored pure alcohol (we fear having someone die by drinking it un-mixed)

Anyway back on.. this year I'm going to use some in beer.

I've added Oregon peach puree to the secondary with good results. It has a good flavor, plus it's pit-free and sterilized.

I've brewed Raspberry Ales using "Oregon" brand canned raspberries. It turned out delicious and was actually my first ever homebrewing adventure. I agree on the artificial flavorings. You'll get your ale completed more quickly, but it is a "foreign" or artificial substance in your brew.

Buy Oregon brand...a little more expensive but an excellent canned fruit product in my opinion. Follow the directions above.

Excellent feedback. I am about to do a Raspberry wheat and am thinking that minor processesing of the berries might work well. Simmering them in a little water to get a syrup and adding this to the fermenter. Less pulp/seeds etc.
That double infusion Jsin mentioned sounds awsome.
Is that 6# for 5 gal batch ?!?

That's right 6 pounds for a five-gallon batch. The keg was empty in 6 days with just two of us drinking it. We forgot all about my ESB and Maple Red Ale that where on tap at the same time. In the future the double infusion is the only way I will make fruit beers.

Well, thats what I'm making today the.
What are the details of the recipe you use? I will probly be going with the same grain bill as the german wheat i made 2 weeks ago but with the amer hef yeast.
Also, how should I hop this one? I want to easy on it, and I have about 1 OZ of Hallertauer and .5 oz of Tettnanger pellets.
I' off the my LHBS right now so I'll have time for the yeast to warm up to pitcvh this afternoon.
Wish me luck.

Following Jsin's reccomendation, #3 of frozen Ras, simmered to pasturize and to get it to a syrup consistancy, added to the wort and pitched.
1 week later did tne same thing when racking to secondary.
Man, that stuff is Blood Red. Ferm'd down to 1.006 and the raspberry flavor is..well...Intense. Wish it was a bit sweeter, I may doctor it up with a little lactose or table sugar on a few of the bottles justto experiment.
Tasty though. Thanks for the advice.

Indiana Red said:

Wish it was a bit sweeter, I may doctor it up with a little lactose or table sugar on a few of the bottles justto experiment.

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table sugar isn't going to sweeten it up...it'll ferment into EtOH & CO2, probably overcarbonating your beer. i've been thinking about sweetening up my strawberry ale, but the best solution i've been able to come up with is the lactose.... i don't really like the taste of the artificial sweeteners, but i believe those would also be an option for you...

Speaking of raspberries and such has anyone done a Framboise? I heard that the wild yeasts needed to ferment it can contaminate the brewing equipment for regular brews. Any thoughts on that? My wife love the Lindemann's framboise and I would like to make some for her but worry about the contamination.

Indiana Red said:

Interested in others opinions on this.
I would like to do a fruit/wheat but I would rather use real fruit products as opposed to just flavorings or/extracts.
Boiling/reducing the rasberrys/cherries whatever just seems like it would taste better than a few ounces of Shilling cherry flavoring.
I don't meen to come off as elitest or anything, I just am wary of "fake" stuff in my beer.

Click to expand...

I agree with you in that I don't like fake stuff in my beer either. Fruit extracts can add a lot of fruit "kick" to your beer, but they don't have the depth of flavor that real fruit has. Real fruit offers acidity that you can't get from extracts.

A good option, depending on the type of fruit you intend to brew with, is to go to a health food store and get fruit juice. I bought some sour cherry and it added a lot of great flavor to my Kriek lambic I made. But Oregon brand berries in the can are also great. If you use them, they are also organic and sterile, so you can add them directly to the fermentor. Only ferment the fruit itself for a week or so because if the spent fruit sits in the beer it can create off flavors you don't want. Although, extended aging will rid the beer of this off flavor - if you have six months before drinking.

I've used fresh fruit too. If you do you want to crush it to break the skins. You want to steep it for 15 - 20 minutes at 180 degrees F. (according to Papazian's book), as opposed to boiling. Boiling affects the pectin and creates a haze in your beer. I've used this technique and had no problems.

That's all I got!

John Trappist

Johannes said:

Speaking of raspberries and such has anyone done a Framboise? I heard that the wild yeasts needed to ferment it can contaminate the brewing equipment for regular brews. Any thoughts on that? My wife love the Lindemann's framboise and I would like to make some for her but worry about the contamination.

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It happened to me once using raspberries. The brews came out great! A bit overcarbed but great!

I can't speak to contamination. I'm using glass carboys with blow off tubes. It's not like I have a oak barrel of sacc sittin around to mess with things. However, I have heard the same thing as you. Going down the path of Lambics and what not would require separate equipment to prevent cross-contamination.

I guess I don't have an issue with that. So you label one of your carboys or BBs and only use it for your wild brews. You may need another racking cane and special tubes but that's not an issue.

Indiana Red said:

Following Jsin's reccomendation, #3 of frozen Ras, simmered to pasturize and to get it to a syrup consistancy, added to the wort and pitched.
1 week later did tne same thing when racking to secondary.
Man, that stuff is Blood Red. Ferm'd down to 1.006 and the raspberry flavor is..well...Intense. Wish it was a bit sweeter, I may doctor it up with a little lactose or table sugar on a few of the bottles justto experiment.
Tasty though. Thanks for the advice.

Click to expand...

I've got a question... What about if you took the berries added them to a straining bag and tossed them in with the water that you would use for your wort? After the boiling you could fish the bag out and dump the berries into the primary then if they would contribute anymore to the beer. I'm thinking of a way to get as much flavor w/out any seeds or bits getting into the beer.

If you have the time definetly use the real fruit. If you need a quick batch of beer though use the extracts. They dont taste as good but they are still fairly decent.

david_42 said:

Flavorings are cheap, easy & vile!

Click to expand...

lol! ..

nugget said:

I've got a question... What about if you took the berries added them to a straining bag and tossed them in with the water that you would use for your wort? After the boiling you could fish the bag out and dump the berries into the primary then if they would contribute anymore to the beer. I'm thinking of a way to get as much flavor w/out any seeds or bits getting into the beer.

Click to expand...

Boiling the fruit can extract pectins and create a haze in the finished beer. You're better off steeping the fruit at pasteurizing temps before adding it to the primary, or just adding the "Oregon" brand canned fruit to the secondary. If using fresh or frozen fruit, the seeds and pulp should sink to the bottom of the fermenter or float to the top, so racking around them isn't usually a problem. If you plan to use cherries it's best to get rid of the pits before you add them to the brew to prevent them from getting stuck in the siphon (which can be a pain).