Fruit in beer, nectar vs puree vs jam

[yyvjpv]

I have been thinking about a couple of beers I'd like to do with fruit and am wondering about the ideal form of fruit to use. I see quite a few people make a puree, but if I could get the fruit nectar (presumably pasteurized) might that work? Just figured it would be easier, I wouldn't have to remove as much solids, and if pasteurized I wouldn't have to worry about an infection.

In a slightly different direction, what about using a fruit jam? Would the pectin or extra sugar cause any problems? Living where I do sometimes getting fresh fruit that tastes decent can be a challenge thought fruit jam might be a solution, but I feel like there might be unforeseen problems that I am not anticipating.

Thanks!

 

[shortyz]

I have been thinking about a couple of beers I'd like to do with fruit and am wondering about the ideal form of fruit to use. I see quite a few people make a puree, but if I could get the fruit nectar (presumably pasteurized) might that work? Just figured it would be easier, I wouldn't have to remove as much solids, and if pasteurized I wouldn't have to worry about an infection.

In a slightly different direction, what about using a fruit jam? Would the pectin or extra sugar cause any problems? Living where I do sometimes getting fresh fruit that tastes decent can be a challenge thought fruit jam might be a solution, but I feel like there might be unforeseen problems that I am not anticipating.

Thanks!

people like using raw fruits bcs it garentees theres no other **** going into your beer. do not use jam it has loads of additives that are probably not preferable.

i am brewing a rhubarb strawberry beer right now... no idea how it'll turn out but worth a shot.

also if your using raw fruit in your secondary make sure you freeze it first to break down the cell walls so it ads flavour to the beer easier. you can also pasteurize it after you freeze it by bringing it above 72c. this can activate pectins swell, but i have no idea what pectin does to beer.

 

[yyvjpv]

Cool, thanks for the info. I'd love to hear how the rhubarb strawberry turns out!

 

[Leithoa]

Once the pectin is set it will make the beer hazy. You can buy pectinase which breaks the pectin down but unless you care about clarity it has no other affect on the beer.
I've only made fruit wines and melomels but if I were to make a fruit beer I used the same process:
put chunked fruit in cheese cloth or a grain bag, let fermentation subside ~5 days and then pull the bag.
Any fruit bits and other glorp should settle out once fermentation is complete.

 

[MindenMan]

When I made my apricot ale, I pureed apricots from a can, put them into a zip bag, and brought them up a little over 160* F for about a minute. At 161* F, it only takes 15 seconds to pasteurize your fruit. After reading through the posts about adding fruit, I added my fruit into a secondary, and waited for the S.G. to not move for 3 days. Two or so weeks later, as I remember, I then racked into my bottling bucket primed with 0.75 ounces of corn sugar per gallon.