Pilgarlic
Well-Known Member
The Brazilian Pepper, schinus terebinthifolius, is a devastatingly destructive exotic invasive shrub/small tree familiar to all in central and south Florida. Hated by environmentalists, admired by the unschooled, and treasured by beekeepers as one of the few plants in Florida that reliably produce enough nectar to produce a harvestable quantity of surplus honey in the hives. The plant produces an enormous quantity of beautiful, bright, red berries of about 2 millimeters in diameter, borne in copious clusters of hundreds of fruits. The seeds of these fruits, when dried, are the "pink peppercorn" you see in peppercorn melanges and specialty food stores.
Beers have been brewed using the pink peppercorn. About a year ago, I began to be curious about brewing with the fruit, including the seed, rather than the peppercorn which is the seed, with pulp removed, then dried. I harvested a small amount of the fruit and found it sweet, fruity (cherry, lime) and just slightly tart. Delicious. When the seed is crushed in the mouth it is slightly piquant, but not peppery like black pepper or chiles.
I decided that my Brazilian Pepper fruit beer would be an amber. I decided that I would go with a relatively clean bittering hop at a low bittering level and a small flavor addition. I went with Colombus. I wanted enough caramel to provide a sweet backbone as I knew the sugars from the fruit would be fully attenuated. At the end of the active fermentation stage, I added 4.5 pounds of fruit to my five pound batch, 2/3 of which had been ground fine in the food processor. The OG (not including fruit) was 1.052. After the fruit addition and full attenuation, the beer finished at 1.014. I have no idea what volume of sugar was added with the pepper fruit.
The beer was racked from primary onto the fruit and left on the fruit for six days, then racked off again to clear. At racking off the fruit, the beer, at 1.014, was exceedingly, almost undrinkable bitter. Disappointed but determined, here are my working assumptions and strategies:
First, I'm hoping that a good share of the bitterness is in suspended solids, so I'm crashing the beer at below 40F until it's crystal clear.
Second, I'll try blending the beer with an amber that I have in inventory to test whether the main problem is the quantity of fruit.
Third, I'll brew again, this time not processing the fruit in the food processor, hoping that the bitterness was released from the skin when it was shredded in the processer. The extreme bitterness in the beer is simply not detectable in the fruit.
The flavor of the fruit is very appealing, and I still imagine there's a good beer to be had here and I would welcome suggestions.
Note: the web is rife with accounts of the toxicity of this fruit, some of which are echoed on otherwise credible sites by otherwise credible sources. I am aware of this "common knowledge" and I have, obviously, given it little credence.
Beers have been brewed using the pink peppercorn. About a year ago, I began to be curious about brewing with the fruit, including the seed, rather than the peppercorn which is the seed, with pulp removed, then dried. I harvested a small amount of the fruit and found it sweet, fruity (cherry, lime) and just slightly tart. Delicious. When the seed is crushed in the mouth it is slightly piquant, but not peppery like black pepper or chiles.
I decided that my Brazilian Pepper fruit beer would be an amber. I decided that I would go with a relatively clean bittering hop at a low bittering level and a small flavor addition. I went with Colombus. I wanted enough caramel to provide a sweet backbone as I knew the sugars from the fruit would be fully attenuated. At the end of the active fermentation stage, I added 4.5 pounds of fruit to my five pound batch, 2/3 of which had been ground fine in the food processor. The OG (not including fruit) was 1.052. After the fruit addition and full attenuation, the beer finished at 1.014. I have no idea what volume of sugar was added with the pepper fruit.
The beer was racked from primary onto the fruit and left on the fruit for six days, then racked off again to clear. At racking off the fruit, the beer, at 1.014, was exceedingly, almost undrinkable bitter. Disappointed but determined, here are my working assumptions and strategies:
First, I'm hoping that a good share of the bitterness is in suspended solids, so I'm crashing the beer at below 40F until it's crystal clear.
Second, I'll try blending the beer with an amber that I have in inventory to test whether the main problem is the quantity of fruit.
Third, I'll brew again, this time not processing the fruit in the food processor, hoping that the bitterness was released from the skin when it was shredded in the processer. The extreme bitterness in the beer is simply not detectable in the fruit.
The flavor of the fruit is very appealing, and I still imagine there's a good beer to be had here and I would welcome suggestions.
Note: the web is rife with accounts of the toxicity of this fruit, some of which are echoed on otherwise credible sites by otherwise credible sources. I am aware of this "common knowledge" and I have, obviously, given it little credence.
