Help me save this beer!

[Fin-lander]

I brewed an APA, sort of an apri-hop type clone last fall. Brewing went fine, and then I decided to rack the beer onto 3 lbs of blended apricots in the secondary for a week. I pitted the apricots, threw them in a blender with a bit of water, and boiled them for about 1/2 hr. There was a bit of a secondary fermentation and then I crash cooled to let everything settle.

I tasted the beer after a couple more weeks in the keg, and all I can say is harsh. Very bitter with a tannic acid type twang - not very enjoyable. I have forgotten the keg in my beer fridge for several months, and tried a pint last night. It has mellowed a slight bit, but not much. Perhaps I should have peeled the apricots or something. As you may have guessed, this is my first attempt at brewing using whole fruit.

I was going to pitch the keg, but I thought maybe someone here could lend some knowledge and save the keg. It seems to me if I could sweeten it some and add some additional apricot or similar flavoring, it could be at least drinkable.

Any thoughts on what to do, and how? I'll try just about anything as it's just a bonus if this thing is salvageable. I was thinking adding a sweet apricot type syrup to the keg, but have no idea how as it's carbed already.

Thanks guys

 

[CityOChampBrew]

try a bottle of the apricot extract flavoring


not too expensive and it could just do the trick with the age you have given it

 

[lumpher]

when using fruit, always peel it and get rid of the white part. it contains tannin, which is bitter. when i use fruit, i peel it, get rid of the white layer, and either brew in or add the peel and fruit to the boil or secondary. saving yours? not much hope of mellowing, except mixing it in the glass with another brew

 

[Fin-lander]

Good to know on peeling the fruit - live & learn. I've thought about the apricot extract, but to be honest - the couple times I used it, I don't think it did much of anything. I don't remember it adding any sweetness, which I think this beer needs some of. Do you think either a bottle of the extract & some lactose or something similar would do well - or is it possible to just add some syrup from a can of peaches or similar? I'll wait to see if anyone chimes in later today and try something & keep you guys posted. Thanks again.

 

[CityOChampBrew]

Good to know on peeling the fruit - live & learn. I've thought about the apricot extract, but to be honest - the couple times I used it, I don't think it did much of anything. I don't remember it adding any sweetness, which I think this beer needs some of. Do you think either a bottle of the extract & some lactose or something similar would do well - or is it possible to just add some syrup from a can of peaches or similar? I'll wait to see if anyone chimes in later today and try something & keep you guys posted. Thanks again.

if you are looking for more sweetness just add some wine conditioner, since you have it kegged it will sweeten the beer and prevent any yeast from fermenting it as it will kill them, it can't hurt to add the extract along with it to enhance the flavor you want. I used half a bottle of blueberry in a wit recipe at bottling before and it really jumped out in the flavor of the beer.

 

[Fin-lander]

So, I wanted to update what I finally decided on - which was out of left field. I figured, what the Hell? If I ruin it, who cares, and I'll learn a bit in the process (which has been the foundation of my brewing career). I finally got round to it, so I picked up a six-pack of Apricot nectar (juice - small metal cans, can't remember the brand) sweet stuff. I opened the keg and dumped in 5 cans. I tried a half pint after a few cans, and the sweetness wasn't enough. I hooked up the gas for a few days and tried a sample. Definitely sweeter, but it made the beer a brown hazy mess (thank God I don't care about appearences.) It was now drinkable, but still had a strong bitter twang, and needed something more. Hops! I have a stainless hop-ball, so I sanitized, and threw in a 1/2oz of pellets sitting around (challenger) along with filling the rest of the ball up with dried chamomile flowers left over from a wit. I threw 'er in and backed away from the keg slowly. Turned on the gas, and ran before I came up with some more madness.

It's been a few days, and dare I say it's getting pretty good. The chamomile is definitely strong, but not overpowering, and the apricot is shining through nicely. There's still that bitterness that I doubt will ever go completely away, and the horrible brown color, but it will be salvaged none the less. The keg isn't nearly carbed enough yet anyway, and I expect the chamomile to fade in a few weeks. I will definitely give this a few more weeks.

I definitely don't recommend this recipe - or whatever you wanna call it - I just thought I'd update so somebody may get something out of it, and I hate it when posts go TU.

-FL