Fruit Beers

[EmptyH]

I am relitively new to this hobby. I have brewed three beers so far (see sig). I have always enjoyed "different" or "unusual" beers and have been wanting to brew a fruit beer. I think part of the appeal of this hobby is being able to create something you don't normally readily find. I am currently reading Palmer's book and I think I am starting to understand the basics (at least a little), but he doen't seem to talk much about fruit beers. Where would be a good place to learn more about some of the unusual style beers? Nothing too crazy yet as I am still learning, but something different than you find at the corner 7-11.

For my next beer I am thinking something like a chocolate cherry stout. I figure I would use maybe 1 lb Chocolate Malt and 1 lb of Carmel Malt for specialty grains and 2 cans of LME (not sure what type yet) but I am uncertain of what kind of Cherries to use or how much? Should I put them in the primary or the secondary? How do I sanatize them to prevent infection? What kind of hops would work with this recipe?

Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

MTH

 

[Castle Meadow Brewery]

I'd put the fruit in the secondary with some pectic enzyme. It helps break down the fruit. You could also go w/ a cherry concentrate flavoring. My brother just did a strawberry beer w/ the flavoring and I'm not all that pleased with it. It's your call though. Don't skimp on the fruit either. I did a strawberry beer w/ 6 lbs of frozen strawberries in the secondary and I wished I used 10 lbs. Also frozen fruit can help with the sanitizing issue, Frozen fruit is usually frozen quickly after picking. Plus the freezing process causes the skin to break allowing for better flavor absorption

 

[EmptyH]

I saw the fruit liquid extract at my local brewstore, but I have heard it leaves a mediciny taste so I definately want to use whole fruit. I will check and see if my grocery store has any frozen cherries. So you think 10 lbs in the secondary would give it a good cherry flavor?

Thanks,

MTH

 

[Castle Meadow Brewery]

I'm not to sure on amount of cherries. Research around for recipes and see what the average is. As far as the fruit extract, definitely on the mediciny side.

 

[Alamo_Beer]

Hey I've got a recipe for a Chocolate Cherry Stout....It's out of the book "The Homebrewer's Recipe Guide"...I picked it up at Barnes and Noble and I'm pretty impressed with it...

Anways here goes:

Lover's Lane Valentine Stout

6 2/3 LB Dark LME
3 LB Amber LME
1/2 LB Chocolate Malt
1/2 LB Black Patent Malt
1/2 LB Roasted Barley

1 1/2 OZ Cascade (Bittering)

1/2 LB Semisweet Baking Chocolate

6 LB Sweet Dark Cherries
(Stemmed and lightly crushed)

2 Tsp Irish Moss

1 Pkg Irish Ale Yeast

1 1/4 LB DME (priming)

Steep grains at 155 for 30 min
Add extracts and cascade hops and melted chocolate (melt in bowl in microwave)
Boil
Chill
Ferment
Steep cherries in enough 155 degree water to cover them for 20 min
Add cherries and water to secondary and rack beer on top of it


So yeah thats what the book says...I've never made this just saw it so I have no idea how it tastes but it looks pretty good...(I thought about making it but decided not to since its getting hotter...)

Any more questions or whatever and I can check the book for you....you should deffinatly pick this book up though it's pretty cool

Take it easy

 

[BarleyWater]

I thought about making it but decided not to since its getting hotter...

Doesn't that make you feel a little like we should appologize to the people up north?

 

[Alamo_Beer]

appologize?

why?

I'm glad it's getting warmer...it's been WAY too cold for me.....My baja has some pretty nice gaps in the dash that act as a air conditioning...it sucks going 65 when the temp is like 45 or 50

 

[BarleyWater]

I hear that, my old truck had a pretty nice hole in the floor board, had to use a blanket when it go too cold. I love the warm spring time air, basking in the sun all day, enjoying some time at the park. Hell, I just played a round this afternoon, I just didn't want to make them TOO jealous, it was around 80 here today an they're shoveling their driveways.

 

[Brewtopia]

I would suggest 2 lbs of fruit per gallon of wort. I used cherries from Oregon Fruit Products in my Spiced Cherry Dubbel with great results. They are sterile and you can add directly to the secondary without worry of contamination.

 

[Alamo_Beer]

yeah it got up to 80 maybe a bit above today...It's awesome I can't wait to go out to the beach with some homebrew

So where exactly is Funky Town? I think I've been through there...

 

[EmptyH]

Thanks for the replies everyone, good info!!!

greenhornet- that recipe looks very yummy I have saved it off and will definately try it, I will let you know how it turns out. Does using fruit soak up much of the beer? Should I add extra water to the wort at brew time?

Thanks,

MTH

 

[Alamo_Beer]

Add extra water at brew time?

hmm...I don't think so.....

The fruit might absorb some but not too much I don't think but hey I don't really know

My guess would be to do a normall 1 week primary 2 week secondary (when you add the cherries) then do another week or so in another carboy (tetriary i think it's spelled) to let the beer clear a bit more then bottle

good luck and let me know how it turns out....i'm thinking of doing this one when it gets cold again

take it easy

 

[BarleyWater]

So where exactly is Funky Town? I think I've been through there...

What us from Fort Worth say when we don't want people to think we're hicks. I really is a nice place with a lot of culture, great museums and arts district good food, music, but people always think of horses, and I don't, never have, nor ever will, own a cowboy hat. Not to say anything bad about those that do, it just ain't me man. :fro:

 

[BarleyWater]

I feel like I should post something relevant to the topic so...

Don't heat up the fruit, it can cause it to gelatinize (think cherry jam). I think the best bet would be to go with frozen fruit, whick is usually flash pasturized and frozen immediatley, making it free from bacteria already. As for the amount, it depends on your tastes. I wouldn't start out with 10 lbs though. There are many different techniques as to how and when to use them. You could add them to your primary with some pectic enzyme, you may lose some of the fruity aroma, but you can then taste it when racking to secondary and see if it needs more, if so, "dry fruit" your brew. Add some to your secondary and rack on top of it.

I have read everywhere from 4 oz to 10 lbs for a 5 gal batch, so that much is pretty much up in the air, so think about which beers you like and how fruity they may be, and go from there. Here's a lot of fruit beer recipes, take the directions with a grain of salt as they have been submitted by whomever the hell wants to, and come back here if you have any more questions.

 

[BarleyWater]

Sorry, forgot the link

http://hbd.org/brewery/cm3/recs/08_toc.html

 

[Alamo_Beer]

Oh Fort Worthless....

Sorry too easy I actually lived in FW for a while when I was a kid (like 5th grade) but I remember the Zoo was really cool and my mom dragged me to the modern art museums a few times (which I later am thankful for)

Angelo's BBQ and Kinkade's (SP?) Burgers is what I miss though man those places were good

 

[EmptyH]

Sorry, forgot the link

http://hbd.org/brewery/cm3/recs/08_toc.html

Thanks for the link. Looks like some interesting options. Definately looks like I am going to have to play around with the amount of fruit. I will probably start out with 6 or 8 lbs and adjust up or down on the following brews.

Thanks,

MTH

 

[mountainrev]

Sorry, forgot the link

http://hbd.org/brewery/cm3/recs/08_toc.html

Did you see "lima bean ale" on that site?

 

[EmptyH]

Did you see "lima bean ale" on that site?

I said I was looking for something different ... but not quite that different:cross:

 

[dagrar]

Hey yall from Texas BITE ME

Cold and shoveling in Maine

LMAO

 

[Alamo_Beer]

haha it's 77 in the house right now...

I can't afford to turn the AC on yet bc my gas bill was so high last month and I'm affraid it'll be pretty high from the begining of this month to...

It's February and I'm already busting out the t-shirt trick...

Odds are I'll have to stop brewing in a month or two but thats ok bc I'll be able to do some upgrades

take it easy and have fun in the snow

 

[SteveM]

I apologize for taking this off the weather discussion and back onto fruit beers!

Here is a copy/paste from my blog on brewing raspberry ale - take it for what it is worth with respect to brewing a cherry ale. This goes way beyond a normal recipe post - it is more of a "how to" narrative. I hope it helps.


I've gotten in the habit of making a Raspberry Ale every fall for the holidays. This year I used black raspberries but red are fine also. Red are much cheaper to buy off-season but they are about the same price when you buy them in season.

I use about 5 3/4 to six gallons of water to start. A lot gets left behind during racking because the product is so cruddy during brewing. This leaves you a decent amount to bottle by the time you are done. Since you really do have two stage fermentation (the fruit sugars will ferment in the second stage) this extra water does not seem to appreciably affect the strength of the beer. I always use spring water but use whatever you prefer.

In the primary, I used 3 lbs of Munton extra light DME and 3 lbs of Carlson dry rice solids. The brands are not important - but to get a nice pale base color that will show the raspberry color you need to use real pale extracts. Rice is about colorless and flavorless, which makes it well suited for this brew.

Therefore also no steeping grains. The lack of steeping grains will keep the color very light but it will also affect head retention. It will take longer for you to get a nice head that holds up a while, but that's OK because for this brew you really need to let it age. Opening one that is a week in the bottle will probably produce disappointment.

I use a light hop load for my raspberry ales (in contrast to most of my brews) because a lot of hoppiness can mask the raspberry flavor. For my last batch I used just 2 oz of Mount Hood 3.8%, half at 15 minutes and half at 45 minutes.

The specific hops chosen is much a matter of personal taste. I just made a red ale using Amarillo hops (along with Williamette) and I have a feeling that Amarillo's strong and fairly distinctive flavor might really complement the raspberries. Next fall, I will probably try this.

I normally use about 3 lbs of fresh raspberries for a five gallon batch. You can buy them fresh in late summer just about anywhere but I like produce stores. They usually have the best prices and the freshest inventory. Grocery stores are usually higher priced. I like fresh but frozen will also work, if you miss the season. I've used more but as I keep piling up those six ounce containers, little dollar signs start spinning in my head. If you are in a place where they grow raspberries they might be cheaper. Black ones will give a more distinctive color but the flavor is about the same either way.

I give the basic brew a week or two in the fermenter, then rack to a secondary and add my fruit. I pasteurize the fruit by putting it into a pot with enough water to cover the fruit and bringing it to about 160F for ten or fifteen minutes. Stir it to keep it from scorching. Then it all goes into the secondary. I use a sanitized wide mouthed funnel to pour this "fruit slurry" (even without boiling it will become semi-mush) into the secondary.

I tried to buy a suitable wide mouth funnel but was not satisfied with anything I found. The handiest one I have can be easily duplicated - I use the top of a two liter soda bottle.

Even with four pounds the raspberry flavor has never been overwhelming. Using real fruit results in a lot more evolution of the flavor over time. Extracts seem to be much more stable in taste but also seem to have an artificial feel in their taste - hard to describe but that's how it felt to me.

Anyway, after a week or two in the secondary, I siphon the carboy out into a third stage to allow it to clear (it will be very cruddy at the end of the second stage). I give it yet another week or two to settle and clear, then bottle.

I have this in fermenters for a total of about five or six weeks. I started my current batch in late September and bottled it in early November. It was acceptable by Thanksgiving but really was in it's prime by Christmas, and is still improving. It takes a good month or six weeks to really hit its stride but the results are great. The raspberry flavor is a presence but not the dominant taste, and the brew is nicely astringent.

One more point - using extracts (normally just dumped into the bottling bucket along with your priming sugar) does not give you any kind of unusual coloring in your beer. This is a drawback in my opinion but the process is much easier - I just do two weeks of primary, then bottle. If you use extracts, you would not use extra water (described above). You could use a second stage even with fruit extract if you like to do that - in my experience rice solids result in a "loose" trub and take longer to clear compared to what we are used to with barley malt.

I've used both extract and real fruit and in my opinion the extra work (and cost) in using real fruit is definitely worth it.

 

[flippindiscs]

I have a few questions about using fruit in beer:

1) Alot of people seem to be just adding whole frozen fruit to the beer. What would happen if you were to use a blender to make a puree and then pasturize it before adding to secondary? Is there a specific reason to adding whole fruit?

2) Is it better to use organic fruit or is that not an issue?

Also my 2cents is to not use extracts. I tried blueberry once and the beer tasted like I added cough syrup to it or something.

 

[feedthebear]

No difference really. My next fruit beer I'm planing to use an Oregon Fruit puree. I want to see how much different the flavor is and how much less work. Skinning, pitting and pasturizing 6 lbs of peaches wasn't fun.

Since you'll be blending it yourself, you'll run more risk of having seeds or skin plugging your airlock than people who use whole fruit. You can minimize that by skinning first, if the fruit lends itself to that, or running the fruit puree through a strainer to keep those out. Or you can just use a blow-off until the fermentation slows down.

I prefer to use organic fruit. If the fruit has any pesticide residues, they can't be good for the yeast.

 

[Alamo_Beer]

Wow good post SteveM

I might try your raspberry beer this holiday

Thanks

 

[flippindiscs]

No difference really. My next fruit beer I'm planing to use an Oregon Fruit puree. I want to see how much different the flavor is and how much less work. Skinning, pitting and pasturizing 6 lbs of peaches wasn't fun.

How come you skinned the peaches? I would think that they would have some sort of sugars to them as well.

 

[feedthebear]

Besides blocking airlocks the skin, pits, and pulp can impart tannin and bitter flavors into the beer.

 

[BarleyWater]

I have a few questions about using fruit in beer:

1) Alot of people seem to be just adding whole frozen fruit to the beer. What would happen if you were to use a blender to make a puree and then pasturize it before adding to secondary? Is there a specific reason to adding whole fruit?

2) Is it better to use organic fruit or is that not an issue?

Also my 2cents is to not use extracts. I tried blueberry once and the beer tasted like I added cough syrup to it or something.

I've just heard that pasturizing leads to all of the fruit not being usable by gelatanizing it because of the heat binding the simple sugars into more complex ones. Maybe it just makes it take a little more time, I bet fresh fruit does taste better.

 

[Spearo]

SteveM...great info! The most thorough info I have seen on fruit beers. I noticed you have used blueberries in the past. Can you share your experiences? I am in New Hampshire and blueberries are plentiful here. I am going to do a blue brew this summer when the berries are in season. I am curious as to how much fresh blueberries I should plan on using.

 

[Kegofclub]

speaking of fruit beer:
I just tried a Leinenkugel Summer Wheat.
I'm serious when i say it tastes just like Blueberry Pancakes!
The blueberry flavor is a little strong for my taste, but it is different if your looking for something out of the ordinary

 

[feedthebear]

I've just heard that pasturizing leads to all of the fruit not being usable by gelatanizing it because of the heat binding the simple sugars into more complex ones. Maybe it just makes it take a little more time, I bet fresh fruit does taste better.

Pasturizing only heats the fruit to a high enough temp to kill any wild yeast and bacteria that may be living on it. It isn't warm enough to change the sugars. Pasturizing can be done as low as 145F for 30 minutes. Or it can be done for as short as 5 minutes at boiling (blanching). The hotter the temperature, the more pectin haze you may get. The longer in the water, the more sugars, aroma, color will transfer from the fruit to the water instead of going into the beer.

For putting fruit in the primary, it definitly needs to be pasturized or blanched. Thats why a lot of fruit in the primary recipies call for putting the fruit when the wort is around 160F. Its being pasturized by the hot wort.

For putting fruit in the secondary, pasturizing is not quite as important. The beer already has alcohol in it. The alcohol will usually kill off any wild bacteria and yeast before they have time to cause problems in the beer. Personally, I'd rather be safe than sorry.

 

[EmptyH]

Great stuff SteveM! I will give that one a whirl this fall. Sounds like a nice festive holiday drink.

 

[SteveM]

SteveM...great info! The most thorough info I have seen on fruit beers. I noticed you have used blueberries in the past. Can you share your experiences? I am in New Hampshire and blueberries are plentiful here. I am going to do a blue brew this summer when the berries are in season. I am curious as to how much fresh blueberries I should plan on using.

I used extract only when made a Blueberry Ale and I was not happy with it. I would probably try about three pounds of fresh or frozen blueberries if I tried using real fruit, and follow the same steps.

 

[mizzoueng]

A lot of good info here, glad I searched for it.

Has anyone ever tried to make a beer with oranges? I know that using teh zest is the primary method, but I want to use the whole orange.

I know the acidity of the orange becomes an issue.

 

[Chuck Love]

About a year ago I made a blueberry wheat. I used 6 lbs of blueberries - I threw in 2 lbs of fresh into my wort at the end of the boil (when I turned off the heat) and then another 4 lbs into the primary. I made the mistake of using a regular air lock on my plastic fermenter (I use glass carboys now), and on the 2nd day the top of that bucket was "buckled up" and almost blew off.

Luckily I was able to wiggle the airlock out w/o too much of a fruit explosion...I replaced it with a blowoff valve and ran the tubing into the tub of water I had my primary sitting in. I think I left it in the primary for about 2 weeks, then in the 2ndary for about a month. I kegged it after that. It was certainly drinkable a few weeks later...but then I tried some about 6 months after that and WOW what a good one. The beer was a nice purple color and had a great blueberry aroma and taste.

I think for my next fruit beer I'm going to go with Kumquats Wiki Link. Any suggestions on a style that might carry the kumquat flavor well? I'm thinking a wheat beer again...