Unique form of sugar

[ghack]

I've now have in my possession about a gallon of freshly pressed raw sugar cane juice.

November is the harvest in south Louisiana and I have an Uncle who grows a stand for his personal supply of cane syrup (a real delicacy). He has kindly supplied the juice it in exchange for an hour or two swinging cane knife and a taste of the spoils. I’ve used the syrup in several beers with good success, but I’ve never had the raw juice.

The stuff is a green-brown color with a taste best described a very sweet herbal tea with a distinct grassy note. The gravity clocked in around 1.062 which by my reckoning is about 1.3 pounds of sugar per gallon. Unlike the syrup, this has had no caramelization of the sugars and all of the volatiles and aromatics (whatever those might be) are present.

I am personally leaning to a Saison type where whatever herbal qualities it imparts would be appropriate, but I am looking for suggestions.

As it is a raw product it has been effectively pitched with a host of microbes, wild yeasts and bacteria and will begin spontaneously fermenting within hours. It will keep refrigerated for only a couple days. So it will have to be boiled, or very well pasteurized. I am thinking about adding it for the last fifteen minuets of the boil. I have it frozen at the moment, since I can't brew until next week, at least, so time is not a factor. Again, any suggestions are welcome.

 

[Dubcut]

I love cool stuff like this. I just made saison today as well. And though it's one of my favorite styles, maybe a more neutral yeast profile would be better for taking in the flavor of the cane juice. Maybe split the batch for two different yeasts?

 

[ghack]

I've got about 3 1/2 quarts to work with. Depending on the size of the batches (I do a number of three gallon brews) I could try it using it in a few different ways.

 

[RogerMcAllen]

I think you are on the right track.

Saison sounds good since a little funk from something wild will pair well as opposed to being a defect. Adding in the last 15 minutes or so will ensure that you kill anything while at the same time making sure that you keep some of the aroma character. I might add it a little later, closer to 5-10 minutes.

 

[StAnthonyB]

I've now have in my possession about a gallon of freshly pressed raw sugar cane juice.

Yes. Good stuff. The Spaniard food giant Goya retails it in the form of pressed 1# solid discs. I am going to begin using it to prime with in the near future. I've seen in the market for about $1 or so per pound.

 

[PiMaxC]

I think that would pair very well with something light like a wheat, I think I may try that myself