Prune Beer

My sister love Dr pepper. I want to try to make a prune beer for her. I was thinking a Belgain Trippel, with some extra Special B, Partial mash. Anybody have any input. Im not sure what amounts i need to use, i guess that is something beersmith would help me with?

Why not go with a Belgian Dubble? They are great beers; they have a sort of burnt raisin, caramel flavor but are really dry and easy drinking with less alcohol than a Tripple. The most important ingredient (other than authentic Belgian yeast) is Belgian Dark Candi Syrup:http://morebeer.com/view_product/6788/102154. The syrup and the Special B are what give the beer a raisin-like flavor.
Check out the site for some Dubbles, see what you like and try it out.

I agree. Look more to a dubbel or a Belgian strong dark, or even a Baltic porter. Those styles are about dark fruit, especially the last two. You don't have to brew a whopper to style, either, if you are just trying to push the dark malt character. However, you do need to maintain some balance.


TL

Other than the fact that Dr Pepper has no prune anything in it ...

david_42 said:

Other than the fact that Dr Pepper has no prune anything in it ...

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i've always heard that prunes were one of the "23" flavors, but i guess not from any reputable sources.

i've never had a beer made with prunes, but i know that dogfish head's raison d'etre uses a lot of raisins. and i'd have to say that it doesn't taste much like dr. pepper.

for what it's worth i didn't care for it (flamesuit on).

Whether Dr Pepper has prunes in it doesn't matter. It tastes like it does. The beers we talked about don't have prunes in them, either, but they often taste like they do. For all we know, the Dr Pepper folks have been adding Special B or dark crystal to the drink all this time.

I've had more than one beer that reminded me of Dr Pepper. Most of them, actually, have been homebrewed stouts, but a number of Belgian strong darks have done it, too.


TL

Having made a spiced Ale using prunes I can assure you you are going to get something that has a very nice and complex sweetness but it will taste nothing like Dr. Pepper

I'm putting on a thick skin for this one but...

The drink, "Flaming Dr. Pepper," includes a light lager and a shot of mostly amaretto. I've had one as the first drink of the evening (i.e., not so drunk that anything with alcohol tastes good), and I have to admit that the concoction tastes quite a bit like Dr. Pepper. Maybe adding some amaretto or almond extract would help achieve the flavor you're after.

interesting idea. I Think i have a hefeweizen on hand, and i know i have amaretto(swmbo). Maybe ill give is a shot(pun intended)tommorw and ill tell you how it turns out. Thanks for the then info.

Edit: you said light lager, i read light ale. Guess ill have to wait....makes more sense for flavor tho. I have a pint stout in the fridge, not sure what it is tho. maybe its worth a try.

A hefe is probably a good brew to experiment with. Actually, any beer is good for an experimental pint. Google "skip and go naked".

I mentioned the lack of prunes only because the makers of DP will admit to only two things that aren't on thelabel: it contains lactic acid and it does NOT contain prunes.

I would have to disagree that hefeweizen is a good style to experiment with. Here's why; the yeast character will dominate the beer, if any fruits or extracts are used they might interfere with the esters and phenols, making the beer muddy. If you made a wheat beer and used American ale or wheat yeast it would be much better. Authentic German wheat yeasts are too "estery" to work with most fruits.
EDITlease note that this is only my opinion and that I have tried to make a fruit beer with hefe yeast, so I am not speaking out of experience.

Yuri_Rage said:

I'm putting on a thick skin for this one but...

The drink, "Flaming Dr. Pepper," includes a light lager and a shot of mostly amaretto. I've had one as the first drink of the evening (i.e., not so drunk that anything with alcohol tastes good), and I have to admit that the concoction tastes quite a bit like Dr. Pepper. Maybe adding some amaretto or almond extract would help achieve the flavor you're after.

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Take this in the spirit it is given out, Yuri, as I love the Dr Pepper depth charge (as we called 'em in college).

Yuri applies Occam's razor when it comes to mixology, but he'd probably serve it in a stainless shotglass milled from the left over keggle cuts.

Which, in retrospect, is the simplest solution (for him).

olllllo said:

Yuri applies Occam's razor when it comes to mixology, but he'd probably serve it in a stainless shotglass milled from the left over keggle cuts.

Which, in retrospect, is the simplest solution (for him).

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Yes, because if he makes a jig for it he can kick out 300 an hour, polished.

Aren't prunes dried plums? Why not use the plum?

Prunes and plums don't taste the same, any more than grapes and raisins do. Besides, I thought we were talking about getting the prune sort of flavor without actually using prunes, and I do like Special B for that.


TL

TexLaw said:

Prunes and plums don't taste the same, any more than grapes and raisins do. Besides, I thought we were talking about getting the prune sort of flavor without actually using prunes, and I do like Special B for that.


TL

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gotcha...must have misread it. thanks for the clarifacation.

I had a minute and went and picked up this from a Dr. Pepper FAQ :http://faqs.org/faqs/drink/dr-pepper/

There were differing opinions on wether DrP came from 23 fruit flavors or the following, but I find the following believable. And quite possible to be fermentable.

Quoting:

Max Wolheim ([email protected]), who "can't guarantee the accuracy of
any of this," posted this interesting article (with a small caveat) on
June 20, 1999:

Yes, I've heard the "23 fruit flavors" of Dr. Pepper [sic] for years.
I can tell you this is nonsense! I can't reveal the source (he'd get
fired), but here is a list of some of the real flavoring ingredients:

Vanillin (imitation vanilla)
Extract of almond
denatured rum (no joke)
Oil of orange
lactic acid (optional; once listed separately from
"flavorings")

Max goes on to say: "None of this is will be confirmed by the PR
people of the company, who reply with the evasive 'Dr. Pepper contains
neither rum nor vanilla.' Substitutions are possible, depending on
the bottler, so that Dr. Pepper in one part of the country might not
taste quite the same as in some others. But denatured rum is
universal to the formula." Take it for what it's worth.

End Quote

I don't have rum on hand to mix this up and see what flavor comes out, but it seems to support the amerreto theory.

chefmike said:

Vanillin (imitation vanilla)
Extract of almond
denatured rum (no joke)
Oil of orange

I don't have rum on hand to mix this up and see what flavor comes out, but it seems to support the amerreto theory.

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Interesting info. I think i have all this stuff in the form of drinking related products. Vanilla Vodka, Grand Marnier, Amareto, and probably 3 different rums. Wish me luck, i might need it tommorw. Ill tell ya how it taste

This is a very intresting thread, and i'm curious if any of you have come up with anything that tastes similar to dr pepper.

I'm mostly curious because I had recently done a dr pepper experiment of my own after seeing a recipe for mountain brew on byo. during a normal brew session I noticed a full 2liter dr pepper in my fidge and decided to brew a small batch of dr pepper beer.

I was less than scientific with my approach, using bits of left overs from the lager that I was brewing.

I used the dr pepper as the brew water only adding a little water to replace what had boiled off. I then steeped a little crystal 40L and carapils and added a little DME. I boiled a few pellets of cascade hops for 60 mins and a few pellets of saaz for 30 and 10 mins. I pitched some saflager 23 that I harvested from a pilsner that I had made a few months ago. I thought that this beer would work well with the california common style of fermentation, lending to the fruitiness of the dr pepper. after 10 days in primary I racked to a secondary for 12 days then bottled, and I primed the bottles with a little dr. pepper. the bottles are carbonating as we speak, and I tasted a little of the flat beer.

I was very suprised by the taste, most of the dr pepper flavor was gone. it was suprisingly balanced with out being very bitter and a nice malty flavor without being too sweet. I'm eager to try it out once its finished carbonating.

and I'm considering making a larger batch, paying much closer attention to my recipe.

theoriginalryan dissapeared for a long while, although he reappeared in April this year. Maybe he will share his results.

I never tried, as life got busy when my wife had our first child....