zhooker
New Member
Brewing a saison in a few days, to which I'd like to add some Japanese apricot syrup in secondary. This fruit itself is exceptionally tart, so usually it is mixed 50/50 by weight with a sweetener such as brown sugar, left to macerate/ferment/stew, with the resultant syrup then pasteurized and packaged. People generally dilute this with water for a cool summer drink.
After primary finishes (~1.011), my plan is to rack this with the syrup in secondary, perhaps adding a dash of yeast to ensure successful and complete fermentation of the sugar from the added syrup, ending again back near 1.010.
My problem is that I am not sure how much of the apricot flavor will remain after the sugar is fermented out, nor exactly what this will taste like without the sweetness that usually accompanies it. As my original recipe is fairly similar to Dupont, I am considering grabbing 500-750ml of it from the store, pouring it into my 1L Erlenmeyer, mixing in a bit of syrup, then adding a bit of yeast and refermenting it. This seems like it would simulate the secondary fermentation process I'm aiming for in my main batch. The sugar would ferment out and I'd get a slightly stronger beer with some residual Japanese apricot flavor. Based on the taste, I could proportionally add more or less to the main batch to achieve my desired flavor.
I'll figure out all the exact numbers later, but just looking for some proof of concept here. Am I missing something that would prevent this being a somewhat suitable test for the main batch? Thanks in advance for all thoughtful replies.
After primary finishes (~1.011), my plan is to rack this with the syrup in secondary, perhaps adding a dash of yeast to ensure successful and complete fermentation of the sugar from the added syrup, ending again back near 1.010.
My problem is that I am not sure how much of the apricot flavor will remain after the sugar is fermented out, nor exactly what this will taste like without the sweetness that usually accompanies it. As my original recipe is fairly similar to Dupont, I am considering grabbing 500-750ml of it from the store, pouring it into my 1L Erlenmeyer, mixing in a bit of syrup, then adding a bit of yeast and refermenting it. This seems like it would simulate the secondary fermentation process I'm aiming for in my main batch. The sugar would ferment out and I'd get a slightly stronger beer with some residual Japanese apricot flavor. Based on the taste, I could proportionally add more or less to the main batch to achieve my desired flavor.
I'll figure out all the exact numbers later, but just looking for some proof of concept here. Am I missing something that would prevent this being a somewhat suitable test for the main batch? Thanks in advance for all thoughtful replies.
