Pear Juice & Saison

[jblack138]

Any input is greatly appreciated on this subject!

I'm wanting to brew brew a Partial Mash Saison. I've thought about getting a kit, but also contemplating buying everything from scratch. Don't have a recipe, but thinking of using Wyeast 3724 Belgian Saison yeast strain. I'd like to add extra pear flavor to the beer, but not an overpowering amount.

Any suggestions for getting that extra flavor? Add it during the boil or after? What about using pear juice instead of priming sugar at bottling? This doesn't have to be my very next brew, but I would like to get on it to have ready before summer is over.

 

[daksin]

I really like the idea of a pear saison, I may have to steal it. Pear juice at bottling would be tough because you don't know the sugar content of the liquid, or how fermentable it is. I would add juice at flameout and count it as "top up" water. If you're new to brewing, 3724 can be a little touchy- it likes to really get hot, so you'll need some way to really burn it out- 75F or higher to get it to finish. 3711 is easier to work with and provides great flavor.

Another good option for the pears would be to get some really flavorful pears and add them as sliced/diced fruit to the fermenter after fermentation is complete- you may want to do this in a secondary container so you have enough space. When the fruit drops down to the bottom (a week or two), go ahead and bottle as usual. I think that would be my preferred method, but juice would be way easier and probably have similar results. Remember that fruit sugars are very fermentable so you will not get a ton of flavor either way- they will ferment out almost completely regardless so you'll want to use a lot of fruit or juice.

 

[Calder]

Don't add the juice to the boil. The high temps will set the pectins and you will have a beer that will never clear.

The juice will be pasteurized, so you can add it straight to the fermenter with no preparation.

It will add simple sugars, so will not add much flavor. I assume you are making an extract, or partial boil, just use the juice as your make-up water. 1 gallon of juice is somewhere close to 1 lb of table sugar, so get rid of any sugar in your recipe and use a couple of gallons of juice.

Yes, you can bottle with it. Use about half a pint per gallon (2 to 2.5 pints for 5 gallons) in place of priming sugar. If you really want to do it right, measure the gravity before use. 1.046 would mean 1 gallon equals 1 lb of table sugar (or half a pint = 1 ozs of sugar). Using a refractometer would waste none, using an hydrometer would only use about 5 ozs (and then you drink it).

Just make sure the juice doesn't have any preservatives that would halt the yeast activity (ascorbic, citric, and malic acids are OK)

 

[jblack138]

Thanks for the input!

I figured adding it to the boil wouldn't add flavor but I wasn't sure where to add it anywhere else. My thought process was bottling with it in place of priming sugar in hopes that I could retain some of the flavor. I never thought about using it as top off water. I've got a local food store that specializes in organic stuff & they have pear juice.

If I went the fresh fruit route in a secondary, how much do you think I would need? I've dry hopped, but never added anything else to my fermentors to get extra flavor. And by all means, take the idea & run with it! If you get it done before I do, let me know how it turns out!

 

[Hanso]

3711 is a good choice and will tear through it. I'm drawn to the idea of using slices of ripe pear in secondary with 3711. I'd avoid bottling with pear juice even with good measurements and the calculations because 3711 is almost Brett-like in its attenuation, and probably would eventually eat up even the complex carbohydrates, leading to potentially over carbonated bottles. It would take a good amount of experience to properly bottle condition with juice and that particular yeast.