Real fruit additions...what works, what doesn't?

[TripleC223]

My wife and I are interested in making a fruit beer with an American wheat as the base. I've ready plenty about how to add the fruit, but I'm having trouble finding what fruit actually works best, in terms of imparting noticeable flavors.

I've seen anecdotally that some fruit flavor sticks around, while other fruits disappear. It seems that apples, pears and peaches do not leave much flavor in the finished product. Raspberries, on the other hand, seem to be one of the better bets, as do apricots.

Does anyone have experience brewing with fruit they could share? We would like the fruit to be noticeable in the finished product without having to resort to fruit extracts.

Also, the plan is to add the fruit to secondary fermentation, either fresh fruit or frozen. Nothing would go in the boil.

 

[TasunkaWitko]

I did exactly this with apricots and an American Wheat Beer last summer. It worked very well.

Here is the link to my experience, if you're interested:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=588691

I added my fruit right at the end of the boil, and recommend doing so. Iwas worried about it working, but it came out nicely. There are of course other ways to do it, but I wouldn't hesitate to do it this way again.

Hope this helps -

Ron

 

[pshankstar]

I've brewed a Tweason'ale Clone recipe for my wife a few times. I simply rack to a secondary that has 6lbs of frozen strawberries in it. I let it sit for about two weeks before it goes into the keg.

This continues to work out great for this beer.

 

[Mlawson53015]

I currently have an american wheat of which i racked 2 gallons onto 2 pounds of frozen blueberries and the remaining 3 gallons onto 3 pounds of frozen pineapple. Im a little concerned about how the pineapple will turn out with some of what I've read. Havent gotten the chance to bottle the pineapple yet but just bottled the blueberry and the non carbonated sample had a nice subtle blueberry backend to it. Not overpowering at all. Probably could have done a bit more blueberry.

 

[Timberline]

I'll say at the beginning that I'm not a fan of wheat beer nor fruit flavoring in beer.

BUT

A local nanobrewery has a Blackberry Wheat that knocked my socks off. I'm going to try a version myself sometime. The blackberry flavor was very subtle but definitely present and blends well with the wheat beer. In contrast he also has a Strawberry Wheat and the strawberry is just way too much.

 

[Jtk78]

Not a wheat base, but I did a blueberry vanilla porter that I add 11lbs to. 6lbs puree and 5lbs of frozen blueberries. I also added 1lb of lactose. After about 2 months of bottle ageing, it's pretty good. Pretty subtle on the fruit taste. I'd make it again, but may even bump the blueberries up a bit more.

 

[microbusbrewery]

I prefer brighter fresh fruit character to cooked character, so I pretty much always add fruit in secondary rather than in the boil. I usually freeze the fruit first as this will break down the cell walls which improves flavor extraction. It also preserves the fresh fruit character until I'm ready to use it.

I usually treat my fruit with potassium metabisulfite before adding to secondary. I started doing this after getting a wild yeast infection in an apricott wheat beer. I add the fruit to a sanitized container, mix about 1/8 teaspoon of potassium metabisulfite in 8 oz RO water then pour over fruit. I then cover the container with a sanitized paint strainer bag and a clean towel and leave it overnight (stirring occasionally) to allow the potassium metabisulfite to off gas. The next day, transfer fruit to secondary and simply rack beer onto fruit.

As for types of fruit, I've used tart cherries, raspberries, apricott, peaches, pineapple, watermelon...I think that's about it. Tart cherries and raspberries are my favorite. Tart cherries can be expensive and hard to find (which is why I planted one in my yard) but Costco usually carries them in the summer and sometimes you can find them at Farmer's Markets (make sure they're not sugared). Pineapple can be tricky because it has a compound that can kill yeast. Randy Mosher's Radical Brewing is a good source for adding fruits to beer and he has suggestions for how much to use per gallon which is good because most fruit is pretty expensive when you start taking about adding X pounds per gallon.

Don't be afraid to add a little flavor extract to supplement fruit character, but you have to be very careful with the dosing rate. I haven't tried it yet, but adding a little bit of lactic acid can also really brighten fruit character. Again, careful measured doses.

 

[TravelingLight]

I follow similar methods mentioned here for my fruit beers. I prefer frozen organic (or fresh frozen). When I'm ready to rack onto the fruit after primary, I sanitize my carboy, but leave about an inch of diluted star san in the bottom. Dump in my frozen fruit. Swirl around to "rinse" the fruit with star san, then drain out the star san, then rack the beer on top.

Extraction times vary. But usually at least two weeks on the fruit. Definitely waiting until gravity is stable. The fruit is going to kick up some fermentation, so I let that ferment out.

 

[xpops]

i make a base blonde ale and secondary it different fresh picked fruits each summer (can't stand the fake extract flavour). Ones that are requested all the time are the raspberry Blonde Ale, and the Blueberry Blonde ale.

I'll wait until fermentation is done, then transfer into secondary on the fresh fruit (cut up and frozen to break cell walls, then thawed and put into sanitized/purged carboy) and let it sit another 2-3 weeks.

Raspberry comes through great at 3lbs for 5gal. Blueberries i've used as much as 6lbs for a 5gal batch...to be honest not much more flavour than 3lbs for same size batch...they just dont come through that well, but just enough to know it's there - (it's some peoples favourite!)

This past summer i did a strawberry rhubarb blonde. it's everyone's new favourite. 3lbs of strawberry, 1.5lbs of rhubarb for 5gal batch. The strawberry is faint similar to the blueberry, but the longer the beer sits out, the more the aroma and flavour comes out. Its a great batch that i'd recommend to try out!

cheers,

 

[TanMan15]

i make a base blonde ale and secondary it different fresh picked fruits each summer (can't stand the fake extract flavour). Ones that are requested all the time are the raspberry Blonde Ale, and the Blueberry Blonde ale.

I'll wait until fermentation is done, then transfer into secondary on the fresh fruit (cut up and frozen to break cell walls, then thawed and put into sanitized/purged carboy) and let it sit another 2-3 weeks.

Raspberry comes through great at 3lbs for 5gal. Blueberries i've used as much as 6lbs for a 5gal batch...to be honest not much more flavour than 3lbs for same size batch...they just dont come through that well, but just enough to know it's there - (it's some peoples favourite!)

This past summer i did a strawberry rhubarb blonde. it's everyone's new favourite. 3lbs of strawberry, 1.5lbs of rhubarb for 5gal batch. The strawberry is faint similar to the blueberry, but the longer the beer sits out, the more the aroma and flavour comes out. Its a great batch that i'd recommend to try out!

cheers,

That sounds awesome! I've got an American Wheat fermenting for another week or so and then I was going to throw in some strawberries. I might throw in Rhubarb too. Do you toss it in raw? Does it make the beer tart?

I'm going to split this 5 gallon batch of American Wheat up into a 3 gallon secondary and 2 gallon. The 3 gallon will be 4-5 lbs strawberry (now maybe with Rhubarb) and for the two gallon, I'm debating between blackberries, raspberries, and watermelon. I'm mostly leaning towards watermelon; it says summer the most to me.

 

[xpops]

That sounds awesome! I've got an American Wheat fermenting for another week or so and then I was going to throw in some strawberries. I might throw in Rhubarb too. Do you toss it in raw? Does it make the beer tart?

I'm going to split this 5 gallon batch of American Wheat up into a 3 gallon secondary and 2 gallon. The 3 gallon will be 4-5 lbs strawberry (now maybe with Rhubarb) and for the two gallon, I'm debating between blackberries, raspberries, and watermelon. I'm mostly leaning towards watermelon; it says summer the most to me.

i dont find it as tart as my raspberry, but it has a really surprisingly nice taste. i say give it a shot!

for the watermelon, i've toyed with that idea for a couple summer's now (favourite fruit...) but was never convinced it would either blend well with beer, or stand out very much. please let me know how the watermelon wheat turns out if you go that route!

 

[Yooper]

Watermelon goes nice with wheat beer.

I'm not a fruit beer fan myself (nor a wheat beer fan), but I had a friend several years ago who loved it. so I made a watermelon wheat for her.

It turned out so good that I actually drank quite a bit of it.

I made a honey wheat beer base, and then pureed one whole small watermelon in a blender. It was about two cups of very thick juice. I added that to secondary, and racked the beer into that and let it sit until it cleared then racked to a keg.

 

[xpops]

Watermelon goes nice with wheat beer.

I'm not a fruit beer fan myself (nor a wheat beer fan), but I had a friend several years ago who loved it. so I made a watermelon wheat for her.

It turned out so good that I actually drank quite a bit of it.

I made a honey wheat beer base, and then pureed one whole small watermelon in a blender. It was about two cups of very thick juice. I added that to secondary, and racked the beer into that and let it sit until it cleared then racked to a keg.

not a wheat fan myself either...and even fruit - not so much. These blondes are typically for others, but i do fancy one every once in a while. Maybe i need to put watermelon on the list for this summer, and just go for it!

 

[Mainer]

I've been brewing for about a year, and made an american wheat beer with raspberries and brett, a dogwood pilsner, and a black saison with cherries. I also have a helles lager with concord grapes presently in secondary.
I second most of what people have said here. Freeze, then soak in alcohol to sanitize (I like to use dark rum for a dark malt bill, or vodka for a light one. I've also been wanting to experiment with gin and port, but that's a story for another day), and add to secondary. Siphoning to your bottling bucket can be a challenge, so do what you can to avoid getting your siphon head or your racking cane clogged with pulp or seeds.

 

[chickypad]

Watermelon's my favorite too, and the only fruit beer I make on a recurring basis. I juice a medium watermelon and add 4 cups fresh juice to the keg. It is a more delicate fruit flavor so I think goes best with low bitterness, blonde or wheat. I do a very basic American wheat 50/50 2 row and white wheat, and about 20 IBU.