using concentrated fruit juice to boost ABV in IPAs

[amcclai7]

So I had a crazy thought.

I hate sweet, malty IPAs. I think hoppy and sweet are conflicting flavors and therefore I quite often use sugar to dry out my IPAs, especially ones that are 7ish ABV and above. In the past I have used corn sugar and sometimes turbinado. I have heard of people using honey and other types of sugars with varying results. What about using concentrated fruit juice instead?! You obviously cannot use regular fruit juice to boost ABV bc the O.G. is so low (Somewhere between 1.040 and 1.060 for most juices I think)

This Product http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00724IF2M/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

Intrigues me. I couldn't find the nutrition label anywhere but based on the 8:1 reconstitution ratio they give, I'm guessing this bottle has at least 12oz of sugar in it. This would raise the O.G. by 6 points in a 5 gal batch and should increase the final ABV by .8%

Here's the question. This concentrate, and I believe most concentrates, have preservatives. This one has "benzoate of sodium (ins 211) and metabisulfite of sodium (ins 223), beta carotene (natural coloring), xanthan gum (stabilizer)"

Are these going to screw up yeast activity? and if not, what do you think about this crazy idea?

P.S. I would not do this as a replacement for corn sugar. The juice will impart a lot of flavor and costs way more than corn sugar. In a normal IPA I would never use it, but as an experiment, I think it could be interesting.

 

[lasagna]

I happen to have 3 bottles of concentrated juice from this same company (passion fruit, guava and cashew). I was planning on using the passion fruit one next week on a gallon of a wheat beer that I brewed today, as a test. Apparently, the preservatives in the juice can be bad for the yeast, so I'm gonna dilute in water as instructed on the label (1 part of juice for 11 parts of water) and hope for the best. Still haven't decided how much diluted juice will I use though (maybe something between 0,5 - 1,0 liter).

BTW, the nutrition facts states that it has 1,6 grams of sugar for every 17ml of concentrated juice, and I'm too much of a rookie to know what will that do to your IPA.

 

[amcclai7]

I happen to have 3 bottles of concentrated juice from this same company (passion fruit, guava and cashew). I was planning on using the passion fruit one next week on a gallon of a wheat beer that I brewed today, as a test. Apparently, the preservatives in the juice can be bad for the yeast, so I'm gonna dilute in water as instructed on the label (1 part of juice for 11 parts of water) and hope for the best. Still haven't decided how much diluted juice will I use though (maybe something between 0,5 - 1,0 liter).

BTW, the nutrition facts states that it has 1,6 grams of sugar for every 17ml of concentrated juice, and I'm too much of a rookie to know what will that do to your IPA.

Did you mean 1.6 grams or 16 grams? 1.6 seems like waaay to little for 17ml of concentrate, but I thought I'd ask.

 

[lasagna]

1,6 grams. The cashew juice has similar sugar rates and the guava one have half that amount.

 

[lasagna]

Did you mean 1.6 grams or 16 grams? 1.6 seems like waaay to little for 17ml of concentrate, but I thought I'd ask.

So, I bottled the beer and tasted it after 3 weeks and the taste reminded me of soda (without the sweetness). It just tasted a little too artificial. I will come back to brewing a wheat passion fruit beer eventually, but when I do, I will definitely use real fruit.