Getting that Apricot taste, Could REALY use some help

[Lazersgopewpew]

Hey everyone,
I'm in the middle of brewing a Ginger/Apricot Blonde Ale And I think I'm having some trouble getting that apricot taste.

I'm a fan of using fresh ingredients but couldn't get my hands on some good (sweet) fresh apricots. Instead I used canned apricots.

After Primary fermentation ended, I pureed 4 pounds of canned apricots (preservative free) and dumped them into the primary bucket. (to be honest, didn't see the need in transferring to another bucket) Within 30 minutes I had bubbles in the airlock (which i know is the yeast fermenting the fruit sugars)
After the secondary fermentation died down about a day later, I snuck a taste of the beer and there was no apricot taste at all.
Now I know this may be Way premature, and that beer flavors change after carbonation and bottle conditioning, but this is my first fruit beer and I'm just a bit ansy..

I guess my main questions are:
How long will it take for the Apricot taste to start showing itself?
Did I make a mistake not racking the beer into secondary?

Thanks for the help everyone.

 

[chuckstout]

I havnt made a fruit beer, but need to soon for my fiance. Somewhere i read a good start is 1-1.5lbs of fruit per gallon, good luck

 

[sweetcell]

another way of getting apricots into your beer is to use Palisades hops. the IPA i just made with them has some apricot aroma and taste. might not be as much as if you used fresh or dried fruit, but it's there!

racking to secondary, or not, shouldn't make a difference in your case.

chances are that fermentation you saw was the yeasties gobbling up the sugars in the syrup. i'd give them a little more time to work on the fruit.

 

[BigEd]

Hey everyone,
I'm in the middle of brewing a Ginger/Apricot Blonde Ale And I think I'm having some trouble getting that apricot taste.

I'm a fan of using fresh ingredients but couldn't get my hands on some good (sweet) fresh apricots. Instead I used canned apricots.

After Primary fermentation ended, I pureed 4 pounds of canned apricots (preservative free) and dumped them into the primary bucket. (to be honest, didn't see the need in transferring to another bucket) Within 30 minutes I had bubbles in the airlock (which i know is the yeast fermenting the fruit sugars)
After the secondary fermentation died down about a day later, I snuck a taste of the beer and there was no apricot taste at all.
Now I know this may be Way premature, and that beer flavors change after carbonation and bottle conditioning, but this is my first fruit beer and I'm just a bit ansy..

I guess my main questions are:
How long will it take for the Apricot taste to start showing itself?
Did I make a mistake not racking the beer into secondary?

Thanks for the help everyone.

Canned fruit tastes mostly of sugar and water. Not a good choice for beer IMO. Oregon fruit puree, frozen fruit and/or a combination of flavor extract are better alternatives.

 

[ReverseApacheMaster]

Add more fruit or add extract. Or both.

 

[federaleigh]

I used the same amount of canned apricots in an american wheat beer. I drained all the syrup I could before pureeing and adding to secondary. The apricot flavor was noticeable at about 4 weeks and gradually increased. It peaked at about 6 weeks for me.

 

[Lazersgopewpew]

The apricot flavor was noticeable at about 4 weeks and gradually increased. It peaked at about 6 weeks for me.

Is that time in the secondary or post bottling?

 

[acidrain23]

+1 on the Palisades. You will definitely get an apricot aroma. Maybe dry hop an oz of them if you can find them.

 

[federaleigh]

Is that time in the secondary or post bottling?

Actually that was time post boil. Primary 2 weeks. Secondary with apricot 1 week. Kegged. Apricot was noticeable after 1 week in keg. really noticeable at 3 weeks in the keg.

 

[Strongbad52]

A begian yeast might help as well. When i brewed a tripel i noticed an apricot note from the yeast - sort of like the banana & clove you get from hefe yeasts.

 

[befus]

I used dried apricots re-hydrated with apricot nectar, boiled, pureed, and added to the fermenter the third day. The result was excellent with much apricot flavor and aroma.

 

[Lazersgopewpew]

I used dried apricots re-hydrated with apricot nectar, boiled, pureed, and added to the fermenter the third day.

That was my original plan, but I saw several posts on the forum warning against them because of the Sulfur Dioxide. Did you experience any kind of stalling in your secondary fermentation?

Oh and Btw I took a sample from the fermeter yesterday and there was a hint of apricot flavor there, so I'm hoping that's something that's going to get stronger over the next week or so.

 

[ghpeel]

Palisades, as mentioned, do give a little apricot kick, but it fades eventually, especially as a dry hop. I'd go the dried appricot route.

 

[befus]

That was my original plan, but I saw several posts on the forum warning against them because of the Sulfur Dioxide. Did you experience any kind of stalling in your secondary fermentation?

Oh and Btw I took a sample from the fermeter yesterday and there was a hint of apricot flavor there, so I'm hoping that's something that's going to get stronger over the next week or so.

I left them in the fermenter for three weeks with no secondary, and, using San Diego Super, it attenuated to a dry 1.005, so no I did not. I also added like four ounces of honey in with them and if that yeast thought about stalling it changed its mind with the tasty treat I gave them. It was dry enough that I added 4 oz. of lactose at bottling just to make sure it had a tad of mouth feel and accentuate the fruit more. Remember three packs of dried apricots AND 28 oz. of apricot nectar which would dilute any preservatives pretty much, AND the honey. That yeast wasn't about to slow down.