Dried Apricots in Apricot Ale

I am in the process of designing a recipe for an apricot ale, but need some help with the apricot part. I'd rather not use flavoring because I don't believe that the production process is a healthy one, and puree is pretty unattainable/expensive so I thought about using dried apricots. Most people recommend 3lbs of puree so what would that translate into dried fruit? I was thinking about 1lb?

And if I were to use dried apricots, how would I introduce them into the wort?

Here's my recipe, so any other suggestions are greatly appreciated.

• 4 lbs light lme
• 3 lbs wheat lme
• 8 oz 60l crystal malt (steep)
• 1 tablet whirfloc (15 min)
• 1lb dried apricots
• ½ oz 7% sterling (60 min)
• ½ oz 7% sterling (30 min)
• ½ oz 4.8% Willamette (15 min)
• English ale yeast

The best Apricot I've ever had (from Dry Dock here in Denver) is pretty simple-

.5lbs Crystal
7 lbs DME
1 oz Cascade 60min

I've had Pyramid's Apricot Wheat, and I think the simple blond base is a much better fit for the Apricot. Good call on the English Ale yeast.

As for amount of apricots- I'm guessing you'll want more than a pound. You could try adding a pound, and then maybe adding more in secondary if you think it needs more.

Nice and simple for sure. I like it!

Is there any reference to IBUs? I'm wondering if Willamette hops would work and how much too use. And would 60L crystal malt be good, or something lighter like 15l?

They say 1-20L on the Crystal, and 6.5% AAU on the Cascade.

The Wilamette would be earthy rather than citrusy.

I also checked the numbers- you're probably better off with 6 lbs of DME. 7 lbs pushes it out of the Blonde range, and you want a not too big, quaffable beer. Plus, DME is $$$.