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spddmn6

I love the smell of mash in the morning.
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Later on this upcoming summer I have plans to infuse some beer with fruit to get a particular effect. My question is what beer styles are more commonly combined with fruit as a general practice? I don't want to get too far off the path.

Also, I have been trying to figure out the proper fruit ratio to use. I have seen several charts with volumes (1-2lbs per gal etc.), but they don't exactly tell me what level of flavor I will be getting. I am also very sure the beer style has a large role in this a well.

Using the numbers 1-2lbs per gallon as an example. How much flavor can I expect on the low or high end of the recommended amount? I want to taste the fruit, but try not to overpower the other ingredients.

Thank for your help in advance, and I know this will all take tweaking over time. I just wanna get a good start for a baseline.
 
I think it's more important when you add the fruit or fruit juice/pulp to the beer. I am also interested when the perfect time would be.

I was thinking about a 100% wheat beer, Mnadarina Bavaria hops and some fruit juice additions, but I would not know when to add those.
 
It depends on what you're making. Some fruit is much stronger (and acidic) than others. For example, a light wheat beer I did a number of years ago used 1 whole small watermelon, pureed to just about 2 cups of thick liquid. I added the watermelon to a carboy, and racked the beer in that and let it sit about a week and then kegged. It was exactly right- not too strong with watermelon but not too light. However, two cups of peach juice would not have been noticeable at all in my opinion.

When most fruits ferment out, they become tart because the sugar is gone. So you may want to account for that and use some non-fermentable sweetener like lactose, or more sweet malts in your recipe (like honey malt).
 
Agreed with Yooper (of course!). How much fruit to add depends on what fruit you are using and how much fruit character you are after. So it will take some experimentation on your part.
My fruit experience is all based on adding to an Americam Wheat ale. I use the basic Blue Moon clone recipe from Nilo/Wayne (It's on the forum and about 60 pages long). I make two 5G batches each year. 2 G I add the traditional orange peel & coriander. 2 G gets 3 lb of blueberries- I don't like the results(not enough blueberry flavor) but others love it. 2G gets 2 lb raspberries. This is the sweet spot for me. 2G gets 2 oz. of Apricot extract- perfect. 1G gets 1G of Grapefruit juice plus 1oz Centennial dryhop and some grapefruit zest- it's still a work in progress but getting closer to where I want it. 1G gets 1G cranberry juice- needs work. This year instead of cranberry cocktail, I'm going to try a pure cranberry juice and some crushed cranberries. The grapefruit and cranberry I also added 1/2 cup of xylitol at bottling time to backsweeten a little.
edit- this is one place where I use a secondary, when I add the fruit.
 
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Agreed with Yooper (of course!). How much fruit to add depends on what fruit you are using and how much fruit character you are after. So it will take some experimentation on your part.
My fruit experience is all based on adding to an Americam Wheat ale. I use the basic Blue Moon clone recipe from Nilo/Wayne (It's on the forum and about 60 pages long). I make two 5G batches each year. 2 G I add the traditional orange peel & coriander. 2 G gets 3 lb of blueberries- I don't like the results(not enough blueberry flavor) but others love it. 2G gets 2 lb raspberries. This is the sweet spot for me. 2G gets 2 oz. of Apricot extract- perfect. 1G gets 1G of Grapefruit juice plus 1oz Centennial dryhop and some grapefruit zest- it's still a work in progress but getting closer to where I want it. 1G gets 1G cranberry juice- needs work. This year instead of cranberry cocktail, I'm going to try a pure cranberry juice and some crushed cranberries. The grapefruit and cranberry I also added 1/2 cup of xylitol at bottling time to backsweeten a little.
edit- this is one place where I use a secondary, when I add the fruit.
Do you prefer fruit over juice or vice-versa?
 
It depends on what you're making. Some fruit is much stronger (and acidic) than others. For example, a light wheat beer I did a number of years ago used 1 whole small watermelon, pureed to just about 2 cups of thick liquid. I added the watermelon to a carboy, and racked the beer in that and let it sit about a week and then kegged. It was exactly right- not too strong with watermelon but not too light. However, two cups of peach juice would not have been noticeable at all in my opinion.

When most fruits ferment out, they become tart because the sugar is gone. So you may want to account for that and use some non-fermentable sweetener like lactose, or more sweet malts in your recipe (like honey malt).
Thanks for your advice, I will look into the sugar balance as I am forming the grain bill.
 
I have two fruit Beers going right now. A Mandarin NEIPA and a Tart Cherry Wheat. I have done a few other batches as well. To me, fruiting is really just shooting from the hip but being educated about it. Each fruit will have different acid levels, different Brix levels, different water contents ect. Unless you use a pre-packaged puree product, it's a bit of a crap shoot. For a 5/6 gallon batch I have used 6 to 10 lbs of fruit. I always puree it (Blender) and pasteurize it (I use 170F for 20 mins) cool it overnight. I wait until Primary fermentation slows a bit (day 4-6) and add the fruit directly to primary. Wait about two weeks rack and bottle/keg. I've never used Juice - I always wanted that natural fermented fruit flavor. If you want a more candy-like flavor - just add extract or flavors.
 
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