Tomato beer

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It sounds like it's hard to capture the tomato flavor with the actual fruit. I'm wondering about vegetable juice like V8. I love the stuff, and im curious what it would be like added to the secondary or even at bottling.

I can't decide what style it would go best with, but im definitely gonna mix up a beer with some V8 and give it a shot. Perhaps a porter?
 
I love beer and tomatoes juice I am thinking some Florida Ugly tomatoes that have been dehydrated then re-hydrated in the wort and maybe a few in secondary. I am thinking an American Pale Ale beer.
 
Short's Brewery makes a beer called Bloody Beer which is basically a bloody mary flavored beer. It is seasonal in the fall (harvest time) and I have only had it twice. I actually thought it was a really good beer. They use Roma tomatoes along with different herbs and spices. Not sure why they chose Roma's, but there may be something to it.

From their website-

"Bloody Beer
A lighter bodied beer with an appealing ruby red glow and aromas of spicy tomato juice. Fermented with Roma tomatoes and spiced with dill, horseradish, peppercorns, and celery seed lead to an astounding initial tomato flavor, followed by a lingering finish that allows each additional ingredient a chance to resonate on the palate. Decant carefully, and let this 2009 GABF silver medal winner warm slightly in order to appreciate the full magnitude of flavors."

If you can get your hands on one, give it a try. I am going to try to mimic this soon. I will let you know how it turns out:mug:
 
I just mixed up a bit of store brand V8 and some Otter Creek Stovepipe Porter. It was not the glorious creation I had hoped for. I think I need to use far less juice, because it overpowered the beer.
 
I would think it will take some spices in either a secondary fermentation or primary kind of like dry hopping to bring out the "tomato" flavor in a beer brewed with tomatos. The spices listed on that Mamma Mia beer are probably a good start. Maybe some thyme too.
 
http://wyobrewing.blogspot.com/2011/10/tomato-beer.html


I have been wanting to try a tomato beer for a longtime but have never got around to doing one until this fall. This was the fall to make a*beer with tomatoes*as the plants were 10' high in the greenhouse and I am running out of applications for them*while behind on canning.*There isn't a lot of information out there on tomato beer--mostly people making inquiries in chat rooms but no recipes and no follow up. Generally the person is told to make tomato wine or to just add tomato juice to their finished beer, which we call Red Beer out west, but is called tomato beer elsewhere and that complicated my searches. I was on my own to make tomato beer.

My original plan was for a light beer, mostly pils and a little wheat malt with a touch of caramel, but a quick look at my grain stores forced me to change drastically what Tomato Ale would be. I had almost no base malts but I decided to piece together what I did have to make a 3 gallon batch. I mean, who was going to tell me that isn't how you make tomato beer? Mostly I was hoping to luck out. I added a pound of flaked maize to bring up the gravity and to counteract the maltiness from a third of the grain bill*up to that point being Munich and Maris Otter.

I wanted to add the tomatoes at different stages throughout the process to have the best possible chance of imparting tomato flavor and aroma. I picked a bunch of tomatoes, washed them and then set to processing the fruit. I sliced some cherry tomatoes in half and dried them in the dehydrator to make sundried tomatoes which were added to the boil. I par-boiled and peeled some of the cherry tomatoes and soaked them in vodka in the fridge for a garnish for the beer and for bloody mary's. I juiced enough tomatoes*to get 3 1/2 quarts of juice which I let separate with the thicker red juice sinking to the bottom and the clear tomato water rising to the top. I separated the two liquids a few times decanting through a*fine sieve*until all of the tomato water was clear and bright with a slight yellow hue. I ended up with about 1 1/2 quarts of water and 2 quarts of red juice.*The thick red juice I added to the primary fermenter, while I reserved the more delicate and aromatic*tomato water for secondary.*I also roasted a baking sheet full of tomatoes to be added to the boil. Most of the tomatoes used were an assortment of cherry and grape varieties of different colors*with some heirloom*Black Ethiopian thrown in for good measure.

Tomato Beer Recipe:

Specifics:
3 gallon batch
Anticipated OG 1.046
Anticipated TG 1.011
Anticipated SRM 6.79
IBU 35.5
*OG/TG/SRM all likely higher due to tomato additions

Grain:
1 lbs. Munich 10L
1 lbs. White Wheat Malt
1 lbs. Flaked Maize
.5 lbs. Pils
.25 lbs. Dark Wheat Malt
.25 lbs. Maris Otter

Hops:
.5 oz Czech Saaz at 60 minutes
.5 oz Czech Saaz at 30 minutes
.25 oz Czech Saaz at 5 minutes

Yeast:
SafBrew S-33

Extras:
Apx. 30 Sundried Cherry*Tomatoes at 20 minutes
Apx 40 Roasted Cherry Tomatoes at 40 minutes
1*oz. Dried Chamomile flowers at 5 min
2 qt fresh tomato juice to primary fermenter
1.5 qt fresh tomato water to secondary fermenter
2 sprigs fresh rosemary at flameout
2 oz fresh parsley at flameout
1 tbs fruit pectin to fermenter


Notes: I drew 4 gallons of pre-boil wort and boiled it down to 2.4 gallons in one hour (leaving room in 3 gallon fermenter for juice additions). After cooling I transferred to fermenter on 2 qt. of the fresh red juice, pitched yeast and fruit pectin. After 10 days in primary I transferred to secondary, adding 1.5 qt. of tomato water. After 20 days in secondary*beer was bottled with corn sugar.

Tasting Notes: The beer actually*smells and tastes like*a tomato! I can't*believe this worked so well, especially considering my makeshift grain bill.*The aroma is*the delicate scent of the tomato water that reminds*of the smell of brushing against tomato*plants. There is no presence from the rosemary or parsley.*The beer*is a little acidic but isn't far off from biting into a tomato filled with beer.*Does that sound gross? Well, it's not. I am very pleased with how this beer turned out and the vodka soaked cherry tomatoes add a nice touch.

Although this worked out very well, the next tomato beer I do will have a more traditional grain bill. *I am not sure how important each of the four tomato additions was to the finished beer but I think the tomato water to secondary was the key addition. Another change I might make is to par-boil the tomatoes before juicing to kill*any lacto that might be living on the skins, but so far I don't notice any infection.

If you have brewed a tomato beer or you decide to take one on, let me know how you did it and how it turned out.
 
passedpawn said:
A friend of mine made Clamato beer and it was good. Damned good.

I like tomatoes:

on a burger
sliced with mozzarella , basil, and oil
In my salsa
In my marinara
NOT IN MY BEER

All kidding aside, I'd try it if it was in front of me as I'm game for most anything, but it wouldn't make the brew list without a sample first. Just doesn't sound good.
 
I like tomato juice in my draft beer (hair of the dog) like a bloody mary topped with salt. Not sure I would want to brew a batch tho.
 
CrackShotHolmes said:
Short's Brewery makes a beer called Bloody Beer which is basically a bloody mary flavored beer. It is seasonal in the fall (harvest time) and I have only had it twice. I actually thought it was a really good beer. They use Roma tomatoes along with different herbs and spices. Not sure why they chose Roma's, but there may be something to it.

From their website-

"Bloody Beer
A lighter bodied beer with an appealing ruby red glow and aromas of spicy tomato juice. Fermented with Roma tomatoes and spiced with dill, horseradish, peppercorns, and celery seed lead to an astounding initial tomato flavor, followed by a lingering finish that allows each additional ingredient a chance to resonate on the palate. Decant carefully, and let this 2009 GABF silver medal winner warm slightly in order to appreciate the full magnitude of flavors."

If you can get your hands on one, give it a try. I am going to try to mimic this soon. I will let you know how it turns out:mug:

This beer fn rules. I tried it when it was released as their Imperial series back in 07 and thought they weren't going to release it again. Overjoyed doesn't even begin to describe how I felt when they released it again. And this has a really solid malt backbone as well, that just makes it a good beer.
 
Funny that I came across this thread. My girlfriend and her friends ALL drink bud light red eyes....and I was thinking about making a beer for them. Thank god I turned my girlfriend into a hophead, even the thought of red eyes turns my stomach.
 
If you have extra tomatoes MAKE SAUCE NOT BEER.

I would imagine someone in history has tried this before. I also imagine someone in history never did this again. I'm not one to preach Reinheitsgebot (sp?) but for ****s sake, tomatoes and basil DO NOT BELONG IN BEER.

I tried an Asian beer that had basil in it. It was horrible. The whole time I was drinking it, I was thinking to myself 'There is a reason beer wasn't invented and perfected in Asia'.
 
This beer fn rules. I tried it when it was released as their Imperial series back in 07 and thought they weren't going to release it again. Overjoyed doesn't even begin to describe how I felt when they released it again. And this has a really solid malt backbone as well, that just makes it a good beer.

This beer is relesed in September. I'll be drinking some.
 
Finally got my hands on a few Bloody Beers this year. GOOD STUFF! If you've never had it, give it a try! You might be pleasantly surprised.
 
Sounds delicious! I will have to hit up the specialty beer shops around here and see if i can find it.
 
sounds delicious. I might make a batch with some clams and spice to give it more of a clam digger taste.
 
I grew up watching my Grandfather drink beer with tomato juice and salt. One day i tried it for kicks and nearly puked.
 
Hey guys, just joined. Had a thought in my head about tomato beer but from a different perspective. You know that amazing characteristic smell when you walk into a greenhouse full of tomatoes? Smells like the vines?

well, could that be added to a pale ale or similar light and floral beer as an aromatic towards the end of fermentation? Like how I’ve seen some breweries use tea? Was thinking rather than be literal with tomato, impart enough of that “tomato experience” into the end of the flavour to make your brain go, “yep, that reminds me of tomato”.

Anyone have enough experience to give advice whether that could work?
 
Tomatoes run 2-3% sugar. You might try drying them first to concentrate the flavor.

bottle-bg-green.jpg
By curiosity, I'm a chef without real knowledge of beer making and/or cider making but I'm very curious about the different elements surrounding me...
So my question will be: If I add dextrose (sweetener not sweet) to a tomato juice and also champagne yeast (that would make a tomato juice with enough sugar to become a beer), would that turn into a beer or a wine?.
sorry if I'm very basic in my assumption.
Nicolas
 
Although they are often used as vegetables in cooking, tomatoes are fruits by definition so when you ferment their juices you would end up with wine, not beer. Let us know how you like the taste.
 
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