Monk Fruit

[Virginia_Ranger]

So you may have heard of Dog Fish Heads beer Slightly Mighty --- its a low carb IPA sweetened with Monk Fruit. I am currently doing keto and its intrigued me and I wondered if anyone else has tried or is going to try using Monk Fruit in their beers. My thoughts are to ferment the beer as dry as possible and back sweeten with Monk Fruit but I'm not sure on a ballpark amount to use in a 4 gallon batch just to get out of the really dry beer category and back to a normal 1.013-1.016 tasting beer. Any thoughts?

 

[imasickboy]

Typically, monkfruit is blended with erythritol to tame down the sweetness to a normal level, as monkfruit itself is way sweeter than sugar. If you're using the blended stuff, it can be used in the same amount as regular sugar. But splenda would probably be cheaper and yield the same result.

If using pure monkfruit extract, I have no idea of the volume to use.

 

[day_trippr]

Apparently monk fruit extract has none of the side-effects that Splenda can cause.
If the OP can't find a tested recipe to work from the practical method may be to dose a measured volume and taste it...

Cheers!

 

[Virginia_Ranger]

Correct, monk fruit is suppose to not affect blood sugar levels unlike some other sugar free sweeteners. I am thinking I will need to do what your suggesting and brew it, put a small amount in the glass and then sweeten from there.

 

[isomerization]

I’m brewing a low cal IPA this weekend based off this recipe:

Does anyone have experience back sweetening with monk fruit extract? I have this product:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B07B4D9TF3/ref=ox_sc_act_image_1?smid=A26QH5Y6I2X2RR&psc=1

 

[brew703]

Following; interested to see how this turns out. Slightly Mighty is a decent beer.

 

[Virginia_Ranger]

Thanks for posting!

 

[rolomo]

How did it turn out?

 

[isomerization]

Actually pretty good, does remind me of a BRUT IPA quite a bit, maybe should have sweetened more? As is, very drinkable while still hitting the IPA vibe.

Final recipe: Low-cal Hazy IPA - All Grain American IPA Homebrew Beer Recipe - Brewer's Friend

 

[rolomo]

Glad to hear your feedback. Curious what form and content of monk fruit you used. I'm brewing a clone of Bell's "Light Hearted" IPA this weekend. In about two weeks I plan to back sweeten with a monk fruit that is 50% Mogroside V. The typical packages are more typically in the 25% levels and some blend with Erythritol (Stevia). Your recipe, above, and my recipe, both call for 0.2 oz but don't say how pure the monk fruit actually is.

Thanks for your insights and lessons learned!

 

[isomerization]

Glad to hear your feedback. Curious what form and content of monk fruit you used. I'm brewing a clone of Bell's "Light Hearted" IPA this weekend. In about two weeks I plan to back sweeten with a monk fruit that is 50% Mogroside V. The typical packages are more typically in the 25% levels and some blend with Erythritol (Stevia). Your recipe, above, and my recipe, both call for 0.2 oz but don't say how pure the monk fruit actually is.

Thanks for your insights and lessons learned!

Amazon product was in my link two posts above. Would strongly recommend not using one with erythritol.

 

[rolomo]

Thanks. I completely skipped over the link. Appreciate goatee the direction. Brewing tomorrow. Will provided details and updates.

 

[rolomo]

So I brewed an IPA about 8 weeks ago and back-sweetened with a Monk Fruit tincture that I had neighbors & family taste test using eye-droppers & 2oz shots of the lo-cal beer. Turned out well considering the volume that I poured at a summer kick-off party (yes, we were socially distancing). I think the key was the tincture and the taste tests. I also went with Monk fruit at 50%, a little pricey, but the quality (clean taste) was better. Efficiency was higher than expected so I ended up at 4.5%; and including the added vodka, the kCals came in at 133, I was shooting for 120 kCals. OG=1.036; FG=1.008; Mashed at 148f. Here is my basic recipe:
Name % IBU
Rice Hulls (Briess) (0.0 SRM) 7.2 %
Pale Ale Malt 2-Row (Briess) (3.5 SRM) 73.0 %
Vienna Malt (Briess) (3.5 SRM) 12.6 %
Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM) 3.6 %
Caramel/Crystal Malt - 20L (20.0 SRM) 3.6 %
Cascade [6.30 %] - First Wort 60.0 min 31.1 IBUs
Centennial [9.90 %] - Boil 20.0 min 10.1 IBUs
Cascade [6.30 %] - Boil 10.0 min 6.4 IBUs
Centennial [9.90 %] - Boil 10.0 min 6.0 IBUs
Cascade [6.30 %] - Steep/Whirlpool 10.0 min 3.2 IBUs
Centennial [9.90 %] - Steep/Whirlpool 10.0 min 5.0 IBUs
Imperial "IPA" Yeast
Cascade [6.30 %] - Dry Hop 7.0 Days 0.0 IBUs
Centennial [9.90 %] - Dry Hop 7.0 Days 0.0 IBUs
Monk Fruit (at Kegging) “Tinture” Add to Taste: ----