Another Kiwi Fruit question

[beefy620]

Long time listener first time caller...

I get a lot of good information from these boards and almost always find the answers I'm looking for. Anyways...

I had an idea to brew a sort of wheat beer and put some kiwi in it, then I found out that wasnt too original of an idea. However in most threads Ive read Ive seen 4-5 lbs in a 5gallon batch of witbier not giving a very strong flavor.

I just got back from my local fruit/veggie stand and bought what a 25lb box of kiwi for 35$. Currently in the process of peeling and pureeing all of them and was wondering how much of this I should actually put in my secondary when the time comes.

Its a basic witbier recipe maybe little stronger than normal but nothing crazy. I assume peeled the kiwi come in around 20lbs or so. Would it be insane to just dump all of the frozen then thawed puree in or should i do less? BTW its a 10gallon recipe.

Thanks in advance and sorry for long rant.

 

[beefy620]

Well peeled and puree'd all of em, took a very long time have 5 1g bags of puree in the freezer, reasonably full.

If no one objects I'll add them all to the secondary after I brew up the wit and report back

 

[bshaf]

I know you've already decided but I've added 9lbs (unpeeled) to a 5gal batch of Berliner weisse and wished there were more kiwi (though there is distinct kiwi). So I'd just add it all if it were me.

Hope it turns out well!


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

 

[beefy620]

thanks for the reply...i will brew this up next tuesday i believe and just add them all my guess is atleast 20 lbs of puree...I hope it lends a very good flavor, I'll definitely post back my results when all is said and done

 

[beefy620]

Brewed this up, this past Tuesday. Will let ferment atleast 10 days or so then put all the Kiwi Puree in the fermenter after i thaw it. will keep posted.

 

[beefy620]

Just an update...
kegged today didn't get two full kegs, i think i put in WAY too much kiwi. There were a ridiculous amount of seed and floating kiwi puree particles in suspension along w/ the normally cloudy Wit style it was a bit much

Brought it down to 38 degrees over night and racked into a keg off the top of it and it has a distinctly green hue uncarbed it has a kiwi flavor and a slight 'woody' aftertaste that i actually get when eating the 'core' of a kiwi. very weird

I will update again after i get this carbed and chilled w/ how it tastes...but as of now I'm not too hopeful on this one
(other note...before adding the kiwi i did a taste test of the beer and it tasted just like a wit should, so any weird flavors are definitely from the kiwi

 

[PassTheBeer]

Any updates? Do you have a pic of your finished product? I'd really like to see since I was thinking of throwing kiwi in a wheat I am about to rack into the secondary.

 

[beefy620]

Pulled a glass of it right now. Tons of head retention a gold if not ever so slightly green hued beer. (could be my imagination)

tastes like a wheat beer with a bit of 'tang' to it, Kiwi is pretty acidic so pretty sure thats where its coming from. See above I used what I think turned out to be a retardedly large amount of kiwi. I think it will be a good summer beer for here in Florida. That distinct Kiwi flavor isnt really there per say. But the fruitiness and the tang. The aftertaste is very similar to the after taste of eating an actual kiwi. Though i suspect if i gave this to someone they wouldnt know that its kiwi they're tasting.

Has a fruity nose that I cant quite put my finger on.

Overall I'd probably do less Kiwi than I initially did but more than what a lot of others use. Somewhere in Between

 

[Snowden]

Sounds fun! I really enjoy kiwis. Will definitely be filing this away for a future batch.


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[PassTheBeer]

I picked up 4lbs of kiwi at costco, cut them up using the spoon method. If you haven't tried it, it makes the process very fast. Also from 4lbs I only yielded 1lbs of puree. So you might have only put in less than you think. Either way bravo for breaking the barrier and super kiwi'n a beer. I wish I could try it before I brew it lol.

 

[beefy620]

My friend drank some of mine tonight and he approved did say it was good...but kiwi flavor was odd but he still liked it
(i'm my own biggest critic when it comes to beer)

I still think it was way too much kiwi

I'll down a liter in a sec to find out

 

[passedpawn]

I made a kiwi beer a few years ago. Odd fruit flavor, wouldn't do it again.

Though, it might make a nice addition to a IIPA.

 

[grittanomyces]

I was told 10 pounds will impart a nice tart kiwi flavor (though as mentioned earlier, not tart enough for some), so maybe go back closer to that to keep the kiwi off-flavors to a minimum.

I'm doing a kolsch right now with just 3 pounds of kiwi and 2 pounds of strawberrry (only did this little because that's all the store had of kiwis, and I do want to keep it subtle). I will report back if this is way too little, even for a very light base where the yeast and hops do most of the work.

 

[beefy620]

Yes...drinking it right now...and the flavor is...slightly different than a week ago...

I like it...but most likely wont try again any time soon...ever?

 

[PassTheBeer]

I was thinking of mixing kiwi with a fairly sweet fruit like mango. Both taste great, could be a little balanced rather than tart.

 

[Oginme]

I made a kiwi-mango combination, but went easy on the fruit adds, so it came out kind of weak on the aroma and taste contribution from the mango and kiwi. It was based if off of a wit. The tastes were there, but not prevalent enough. The kiwi fruits did give an ending tartness comparable to partially ripe strawberries.

I've redesigned the recipe for a higher IBU content featuring tropical fruit flavors/aroma hops and plan on increasing the amount of fruit in the secondary. I had 2 lbs of mango and 3 kiwis all crushed in the original recipe of 10 liters.