I have had a request from SWMBO...

[Stu Sturtevant]

I need some ideas. I have had a request from SWMBO to create a beer for our Hawiian wedding reception using pineapple. What type of beer would that fruit work with? For ease, (and because i am still new at this) i would like to add the fruit to a beer mix. Any ideas?

 

[Cheesefood]

I need some ideas. I have had a request from SWMBO to create a beer for our Hawiian wedding reception using pineapple. What type of beer would that fruit work with? For ease, (and because i am still new at this) i would like to add the fruit to a beer mix. Any ideas?

Don't use pineapple.

http://homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=17462&highlight=pineapple

 

[Sir Humpsalot]

How much time do you have to work with? To perfect a recipe?

If you are REALLY a new brewer, I would probably start with pineapple juice, but I'm not an expert on brewing either. But I know taste.

I'm thinking, with the slight tartness, you'll want to go one of two ways: Get a very clean light beer, in which case I would maybe start with a pilsner recipe.

But a Pilsner tends to be somewhat bitter and dry. If you really want more pineapple flavor- and this probably gets trickier- you might try a more malty beer, such as a Belgian Ale, but often these are slightly dark, with roasty flavors that will probably not go well with pineapple. I'd probably go with something like a pilsner. In any case, the beer should have a color which is reminiscent of pineaple, just to complete the image, so try to stay light. And remember, extract brews tend to be darker anyway, so be extra careful to preserve the light color.

As for hops, I strongly vote that you use Cascade as your aroma hops. Cascade has a citrusy aroma that will go very well with pineapple.


EDIT TO ADD:

Someone just said Simcoe. I think that may be even better for pineapple, though I haven't tried them personally.

Minimize the use of pineapple though. I think you can get something very close without using a lot of adjuncts. Remember, "chocolatey" beers usually don't have chocolate, "coffee like" beers don't usually have coffee. Oatmeal stouts usually have oatmeal though. What I mean is, you don't necessarily have to add the target food to your recipe in order to get the target flavor.


Best of luck!

 

[Boston]

Instead of pineapple, maybe some Kona?

 

[olllllo]

Pineapple is going to be tough to pull off.

What about Ed Wort's Apfelwine sweetened with pineapple concentrate?

ApfelPine?

 

[Sir Humpsalot]

Pineapple is going to be tough to pull off.

Just curious why people think this will be difficult? Seems to me you could get at least 80% of what you want with hops alone. Without so much as a drop of pineapple juice.

What about Ed Wort's Apfelwine sweetened with pineapple concentrate?

ApfelPine?

Hrmmm... I know that pineapple wine exists already....

Why are the knowledgeable brewers afraid of pineapple flavored stuff?




In fact, if you have a CO2 set up, I might make the lightest beer I could, with citrusy hops, and then maybe experiment in a glass by adding a little pineapple juice. Find something that tastes good, maybe just a few drops in a glass even, and then throw it in the keg with some campden tablets and force carb...

 

[seyahmit]

If not pineapple, how about something with Kiwi. There was a Kiwi Wit recipe in BYO a couple months ago.

 

[Fiery Sword]

What about Pineapple Melomel? Honey pase w/ some pineapple juice, and maybe a little apple or grape juice to boot? That might be very interesting, and I think would jive more than a Pineapple "beer".

 

[Stu Sturtevant]

Pineapple is going to be tough to pull off.

What about Ed Wort's Apfelwine sweetened with pineapple concentrate?

ApfelPine?

Sounds interesting. How may oz of extract should I use?

I also like the Kona idea posted above as well.

 

[Stu Sturtevant]

Just curious why people think this will be difficult? Seems to me you could get at least 80% of what you want with hops alone. Without so much as a drop of pineapple juice.



Hrmmm... I know that pineapple wine exists already....

Why are the knowledgeable brewers afraid of pineapple flavored stuff?




In fact, if you have a CO2 set up, I might make the lightest beer I could, with citrusy hops, and then maybe experiment in a glass by adding a little pineapple juice. Find something that tastes good, maybe just a few drops in a glass even, and then throw it in the keg with some campden tablets and force carb...

Ok, this one is WAYYYYY above my level of brewing skill at this point and time. Simplify for the newbie.....

 

[the_bird]

How much time DO you have? The melomel shouldn't be hard to do (I've never done a mead, but they sould a lot easier to make than beer), but it'll take longer to condition.

 

[Sir Humpsalot]

Ok, this one is WAYYYYY above my level of brewing skill at this point and time. Simplify for the newbie.....

Simplify what? The hops thing? Basically, just like wine has different flavors, so do hops. Some wines are described as "leathery" or "buttery" or "hint of pineapple" or "black currant" or "cherry" or "apple flavor" or whatever. Those things aren't actually in the wine, but those are the flavors you perceive. I'm just saying that a good selection of the right strain of hops may result in very pineapple-like flavors.


As for the campden/force carb thing... What I'm saying is that you can use these tablets to stop fermentation and inhibit bacterial growth. By doing this, some level of sweetness will remain in the beer. However, since you've stopped the yeast, you won't be able to naturally carbonate it, so you will have to use CO2 to artificially carbonate it in a keg.

 

[magno]

If you have time I would go for pineapple mead. I think the flavors would jive better, plus the mead fits into the wedding theme.

- magno

 

[Sir Humpsalot]

I don't think you could go wrong with a pineapple mead. But, then, mead is a bit of an acquired taste.


But, I say, don't also discount the power of suggestion. If you brew a beer that is reminiscent of pineapple and you add two drops of pineapple juice, and you tell everyone it is a pineapple beer, nobody will doubt you. And, if it tastes good, that's all that really matters.

 

[Desert_Sky]

If you are really headstrong about the pineapple, I think the best beers to add fruit to are hefes/wheats

 

[RoaringBrewer]

Brew an American Wheat or Very Light Pale Ale with Simcoe and Amarillo Hops and No Pineapple? As Cheesefoods recommended thread will show, there are many who perceive pineapple flavor just by using these specific hops, and 0 of the fruit itself... If your SWMBO is not satisfied (you'll know when the beer is 'done' in about 6 weeks), have one of these backup plans below going:

Brew the mead as suggested (if you have 6 mo - 1 year or so before the wedding)?

Edworts Apfelwein is also verrrry easy to make, very alcoholic, and if you ferment it dry it doesn't have much hint of apple until after at least 2 glasses (i.e. it doesnt have a dominant apple taste). You could kill the yeast after fermentation with tablets as suggested and use pineapple concentrate to sweeten it... The pineapple should be even more dominant than the apple I would think at this point. The only problem then is no carbonation unless you force carbonate it with C02. You could complete this project in about 4-6 weeks as well...

Or you could brew all 3...

Now back to the question. How much time do you actually have?!

 

[olllllo]

This is apple cider and it's real simple. No boiling. Takes about 6 weeks start to finish.
Here is the basic recipe.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showpost.php?p=139065&postcount=5

It's very simple to make.

5 Gallons of Tree Top Apple Juice from Costco
2 pounds of Dextros (corn Sugar)
1 packet Dry Montrachet Wine yeast

1. Sanitize your carboy (I love my Better bottles) and big funnel.
2. Pour half of one gallon of juice in the Carboy. Then add 1 pound of Dextrose to the half empty bottle of juice. Put the cap on and shake it up to dissolve the sugar.
3. Repeat step 2 with another gallon of apple juice and the other pound of Dextrose
4. Pour the half bottles of juice/dextros into carboy
5. Pour the rest of the juice into the carboy saving about a quart
6. Sprinkle the yeast into the funnel then rinse with the rest of the juice so all the yeast is now in the carboy.

You can fit all the juice in it, don't worry.

Wait 4 weeks at least then keg, chill, & carbonate. I don't do a secondary, but you can if you want to age it beyond 4 weeks. I would not rack till it clears like the first bottle.
...

The end result is a crisp, dry, refreshing Apfelwein at 8.5% abv that rocks on hot summer days.
...

Here is the basic cost:
$15.00 for 5 gallons of Tree Top Apple Juice from Costo or Sam's
$ 3.00 for 2 pounds of Dextrose
$ 0.79 for a packet of Red Star Montrachet Wine yeast

$18.79 for 5 gallons of kick your butt 8.5% Apfelwein or about 35 cents per 12 oz. serving.


For more sweetness this is what digdan recommends:
2 cans of Langers Apple Concentrate per 5 gallons.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showpost.php?p=174002&postcount=447
(this is where you might substitute pinapple concetrate)
If you're bottling we'd have to make sure that the perservatives in the concentrate make it unfermentable because this would be added at bottling.

Need to get expert opinion on that.


Here is Toot's FAQ for the recipe.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showpost...&postcount=366
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showpost...&postcount=367
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showpost...&postcount=369

 

[olllllo]

Just curious why people think this will be difficult? Seems to me you could get at least 80% of what you want with hops alone. Without so much as a drop of pineapple juice.

Hrmmm... I know that pineapple wine exists already....

Why are the knowledgeable brewers afraid of pineapple flavored stuff?

In fact, if you have a CO2 set up, I might make the lightest beer I could, with citrusy hops, and then maybe experiment in a glass by adding a little pineapple juice. Find something that tastes good, maybe just a few drops in a glass even, and then throw it in the keg with some campden tablets and force carb...

1) By his own admission, he's new at this. Fruit beers can be difficult to pull off.
2) A SWMBO requirement was to have pinapple, not just taste-like pineapple. Subtle difference, but picking up on that type of thing has kept me happily HWO (He who Obeys).
3) It's for a wedding. People are going to expect beer to taste like Beer®.
4) Assumed CO2 set up didn't exist. Nor does lagering. That limits clean tasting beers. Wheat ain't everyone's cup 'o' tea.
5) I fear no beer.

 

[Desert_Sky]

Brew an American Wheat or Very Light Pale Ale with Simcoe and Amarillo Hops and No Pineapple?

Maybe I should of added more Simcoe, but the last Simcoe Amarillo I did was all grapefruity tasting

 

[olllllo]

Sitting here thinking...
I am so doing the ApfelPine for this summer for a Tiki Madness Party.
Need to carve up Tiki #2.

 

[the_bird]

If it's beer on the menu, I vote for wheat beer (which already has a kind of sourness to it) with a high-quality extract, not juice. Wheat isn't to everyone's liking (you won't be able to get BrewPastor to perform the ceremony), but neither is pineapple. Wheat beers are easy to make, you can make a very good one using nothing but extract. Not a lot of hops, but use some of the aforementioned "citrusy" varieties for bittering and maybe a little bit of flavor/aroma.

If you have time, I would also make the melomel.

 

[Cheesefood]

If it's beer on the menu, I vote for wheat beer (which already has a kind of sourness to it) with a high-quality extract, not juice. Wheat isn't to everyone's liking (you won't be able to get BrewPastor to perform the ceremony), but neither is pineapple. Wheat beers are easy to make, you can make a very good one using nothing but extract. Not a lot of hops, but use some of the aforementioned "citrusy" varieties for bittering and maybe a little bit of flavor/aroma.

If you have time, I would also make the melomel.

Bird, your IPA tasted like grapefruit. Not just sort of like grapefruit, but in a very juicy-fruit kind of way. I loved it and it's going to be my first all-grain I think.

I would go with something like you did as opposed to unleashing an untested flavor on a wedding. Most people are going to drink BMC regardless of what he makes, but your IPA would be a big hit.

 

[Fiery Sword]

A friend of mine has been knows to get pineapple chunks dropped into Blue Moon at bars. (And he somehow still claims to be manly.)

If the melomel floats your boat, I have a mead book at home that I could dig thorugh to find a recipe that would be happy with pineapple.

It all depends on your timeframe.

....And for the record, I have no clue how I've never read through the Apfelwein thread before. I'm going to clear some schedule to do some of than in March or so for the summer....and I bet it will be a hit with TWMBO. (THOSE who....)

 

[the_bird]

Bird, your IPA tasted like grapefruit. Not just sort of like grapefruit, but in a very juicy-fruit kind of way. I loved it and it's going to be my first all-grain I think.

I would go with something like you did as opposed to unleashing an untested flavor on a wedding. Most people are going to drink BMC regardless of what he makes, but your IPA would be a big hit.

See, that's really odd. It wasn't an IPA, first of all. It also didn't use any of the "traditional" citrusey hops. I can't find my copy of Complete Joy, but it was all the types of hops that you would typically find in a British pale ale, not an APA. I'm glad that you liked it, but that wasn't what I was going for...

Hmm, hopefully I still have another bottle or two in storage so that I can give it another sampling, see if I pick up the citrus.

 

[zoebisch01]

....and I bet it will be a hit with TWMBO. (THOSE who....)

Isn't that only legal in Utah?

...but I digress

 

[the_bird]

Isn't that only legal in Utah?

...but I digress

Speaking of which, SWMBO has us watching "Big Love," the HBO show about a polygomous family. The first few episodes were filled with man-butt, but not a tittie to be seen! What the hell kind of show skews all the nakedness towards the guy-side?

 

[Fiery Sword]

I was more thinking of a gaggle of my friend's SWMBOs....I have enough trouble handling one!!!!!!

 

[Fiery Sword]

What the hell kind of show skews all the nakedness towards the guy-side?

Hell, I'm still getting over seeing the guy from NYPD Blue's fas aZZ on TV 10 years ago.......let alone Carson Kressley with Doug Mirabelli's jock strap.......

 

[olllllo]

I was more thinking of a gaggle of my friend's SWMBOs....I have enough trouble handling one!!!!!!

I believe the correct term is a fearsome of SWMBO.

 

[the_bird]

Hell, I'm still getting over seeing the guy from NYPD Blue's fas aZZ on TV 10 years ago.......let alone Carson Kressley with Doug Mirabelli's jock strap.......

The Sox being on that show was proof-positive that they were NOT going to repeat as champions... that whole damn offseason pissed me off.

Oh, yeah, still