# Style Of The Week 10/12/08 - Fruit Beers



## Stuster (10/12/08)

Well, it's just the season to start thinking about putting fruit in beer (you can look away now FGZ  ), so by request this week we have BJCP Style 20, Fruit beer.

So there have been discussed a fair bit on AHB. First, there's the Wiki article on using fruit in beers, here. There are threads on fruit beers here, here, and the difficulties that can result here.

There's info on the style on Jamil's show here. An article on picking up armed only with fruit beer here. :lol: 

So tell us about how you make fruit beers. What base beer do you start with? Grains, adjuncts, kits, hops? What yeast is good? What fruit do you use? Fresh, frozen, canned, cordial? How much? When do you add it? What about sanitation? What about haze? How long does it take to be ready to drink? Any other tips? Tell us all you know so we can all make great fruit beers. :chug: 



> 20. Fruit Beer
> 
> Aroma: The distinctive aromatics associated with the particular fruit(s) should be noticeable in the aroma; however, note that some fruit (e.g., raspberries, cherries) have stronger aromas and are more distinctive than others (e.g., blueberries, strawberries)allow for a range of fruit character and intensity from subtle to aggressive. The fruit character should be pleasant and supportive, not artificial and inappropriately overpowering (considering the character of the fruit) nor should it have defects such as oxidation. As with all specialty beers, a proper fruit beer should be a harmonious balance of the featured fruit(s) with the underlying beer style. Aroma hops, yeast by-products and malt components of the underlying beer may not be as noticeable when fruit are present. These components (especially hops) may also be intentionally subdued to allow the fruit character to come through in the final presentation. If the base beer is an ale then a non-specific fruitiness and/or other fermentation by-products such as diacetyl may be present as appropriate for warmer fermentations. If the base beer is a lager, then overall less fermentation byproducts would be appropriate. Some malt aroma may be desirable, especially in dark styles. Hop aroma may be absent or balanced with fruit, depending on the style. The fruit should add an extra complexity to the beer, but not be so prominent as to unbalance the resulting presentation. Some tartness may be present if naturally occurring in the particular fruit(s), but should not be inappropriately intense.
> 
> ...


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## Stuster (10/12/08)

Ok, to bump this up, the last fruit beer I made was a raspberry wheat I made in May with the clean American yeast Wyeast 1272. The base beer was a simple blonde ale. Grain bill was 4.1kg JW Trad ale, 150g Bairds Pale Crystal, 100g JW Dark Crystal, bittered with NB to 25IBUs. That made 20L and half was put onto 600g of frozen raspberries which barls had picked up from the farm. They were definitely tastier raspberries than the standard supermarket frozen ones. So, it turned out pretty tart, though the crystal helped to balance it quite well. The colour came through really well. I'd say that's about the right level of raspberries for a 10L batch and personally I thought it worked better with a clean yeast than an earlier batch I'd made with a German wheat yeast. I was pretty happy, and more importantly my wife was happy with it too.


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## newguy (10/12/08)

I don't have good luck with fruit beers. Most haven't turned out. The only one that did was a kolsch I added mango pulp to. Mango in a kolsch is actually really good. I just kegged my last effort, strawberries in a Belgian blond. I haven't had a taste of it yet, so I'm not sure how it turned out.


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## kabooby (10/12/08)

I have not made a fruit beer yet. I enjoy them but not enough to have a full batch.

I think the first one I will do will be cherries in my Mocha porter. Something like a cherry ripe.

Maybe I should have thought about this earlier. I have relatives in young that we see every year for xmas. They always bring a heap of cherries. The thing is it's this Sunday  . Might have to wait till next year

If anyone has any tips on how many cherries to add please let us know

Kabooby


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## TidalPete (10/12/08)

I made my first fruit beer in early April. Did a Belgian Pale Ale with Leuven 3538 & wanted to add the McCain frozen raspberries. With no raspberries available at my local Woolies I tossed in 900g of McCain mixed berries (Raspberries, blackberries, blueberries). Too tart for my taste at first but now after 8 months very nice indeed. To my limited knowledge of fruit beers it seems that a long cc'ing period is beneficial. Hope that my second attempt, a Plum Pudding Ale, will be ok in time for Christmas after cc'ing for only two months?

Here's a pic of my Tuitti-Fruiti Belgian Fruit Beer. Doesn't seem to have as much colour as I had hoped but the taste is good.





TP :beer:


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## Swinging Beef (10/12/08)

I stopped by a german market day on the same morning I planned to rack a belgian wit I made using hoegaarden cultured yeast.
The market people had a cherry nektar they were selling that was 100% cherry.
I split the batch into two 9s (for some reason, I never get to 20 litres) and added 600ml of cherry juice to the 9litres wit, after doing some very rough taste tests with eye droppers and medicine cups to get the quantities right.

The result was ok, but next time I would use more cherry. The beer turned a really groovy light strawberry blonde colour and the very dense head was vaguely pink. There was a veyry mild cherry aroma, and a slight tartness compared to the 'non cherry' wit.
I thinkk where I went wrong was that the yeasties ate some of the cherry falvour in the bottle conditioning.

I would make this again and the cherry complemented the wit beer quite well. The cherry wit got consumed before the regular wit.


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## Stuster (10/12/08)

Cherry wit. Great idea. I've got plans (and the yeast in the fridge) to make a wit beer early next year so I'll have to try half with some cherries.


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## petesbrew (10/12/08)

A simple one from a couple of years back...
Blonde Berry Tart Fuel
Coopers Canadian Blonde (& included yeast) 
1kg Bodybrew or brew enhancer - not sure what I used, sorry.
20g cascade hops - completely stuffed up the measurements in the end
800g raspberries in primary 
then 500g raspberries in secondary 



Cascade was a bad move, too many contrasting flavours, but otherwise it was fantastic.
Kitwise, Just leave the hops out and let the berries do their work.

Since then, I've done a mulberry stout, not too bad, but not too good,
and another raspberry blonde last month, but sadly it got infected.


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## newguy (10/12/08)

I suppose this is in keeping with the original post.....

Those of you that have brewed fruit beers, do you pasteurise the fruit or attempt to sanitise it in any way, or do you just dump it in? I pasteurise by heating to 80C and naturally cooling to pitching temp, then I pour it into the fermenter. I throw in 1-2 tsp of pectinase while I bring the fruit's temperature up to break down the pectin which avoids a pectin haze in the finished beer. I'm just way too paranoid about infections to leave the fruit alone.


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## TidalPete (10/12/08)

newguy said:


> I suppose this is in keeping with the original post.....
> 
> Those of you that have brewed fruit beers, do you pasteurise the fruit or attempt to sanitise it in any way, or do you just dump it in? I pasteurise by heating to 80C and naturally cooling to pitching temp, then I pour it into the fermenter. I throw in 1-2 tsp of pectinase while I bring the fruit's temperature up to break down the pectin which avoids a pectin haze in the finished beer. I'm just way too paranoid about infections to leave the fruit alone.



Newguy,

From the info I have gleaned from this forum I just put the frozen fruit (McCain's) into the secondary fermenter then sparge on top, then wait.
If this is the wrong procedure then I am always willing to learn?


TP :beer:


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## winkle (10/12/08)

TidalPete said:


> I made my first fruit beer in early April. Did a Belgian Pale Ale with Leuven 3538 & wanted to add the McCain frozen raspberries. With no raspberries available at my local Woolies I tossed in 900g of McCain mixed berries (Raspberries, blackberries, blueberries). Too tart for my taste at first but now after 8 months very nice indeed. To my limited knowledge of fruit beers it seems that a long cc'ing period is beneficial. Hope that my second attempt, a Plum Pudding Ale, will be ok in time for Christmas after cc'ing for only two months?
> 
> Here's a pic of my Tuitti-Fruiti Belgian Fruit Beer. Doesn't seem to have as much colour as I had hoped but the taste is good.
> View attachment 23144
> ...



Pete was that the beer at the bulk buy you were dishing out?, quite nice drop from memory. Have you found a significent fading of colour over time? All my acerola ales start off bright pink and fade to bugger all over a few months .


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## TidalPete (10/12/08)

winkle said:


> Pete was that the beer at the bulk buy you were dishing out?, quite nice drop from memory. Have you found a significent fading of colour over time? All my acerola ales start off bright pink and fade to bugger all over a few months .



That was the one Perry. No significant fading to my recollection but as I said, the tartness has mellowed somewhat. 
Still got 7 bottles left. :beerbang: Got big hopes for the Plum Pud Ale in a few months.

TP :beer:


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## Fatgodzilla (10/12/08)

Stuster said:


> Well, it's just the season to start thinking about putting fruit in beer (you can look away now FGZ



As that great American philosopher P Simon wrote ...................... and the words of the prophets are written on the subway wall ..


​
Consider myself looking as far away from this thread as I can !


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## Stuster (10/12/08)

I've just added the frozen berries exactly as TP describes, racking on to them in secondary. No infection issues, but that's only for two batches of raspberries. I did do a batch of cherry wheat but all I could find at the time were cherries in a jar  which would already have been sanitised.


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## clay (10/12/08)

newguy said:


> I don't have good luck with fruit beers. Most haven't turned out. The only one that did was a kolsch I added mango pulp to. Mango in a kolsch is actually really good. I just kegged my last effort, strawberries in a Belgian blond. I haven't had a taste of it yet, so I'm not sure how it turned out.



Hi Newguy,
my wife has been onto me about making a mango beer. Do you remember the fruit to beer ratio you used?

Also, has anyone made a strawberry beer? My neighbours recently gave us a heap, too much too eat, so I froze a big bag full to use in a beer.


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## drsmurto (10/12/08)

Tis the season alright Stuster. 

Fruit trees are looking pretty full this year.

2 x apricots, 1 fig that towers over the house, several plums of various varieties and the one i really want to find a use for is the nectarine.

The others i can make jam/sauce out of but everyone i speak to tell me the best thing to do with a nectarine is eat it. Cant argue so they are so damn juicy, like nothing you can buy in a supermarket.

SO i was thinking about fig in a simple pale ale similar to Stusters but not sure about the nectarine.

Wheat beers arent my thing so any suggestions.

Got plenty of strawberries growing in the garden along with some 1st season boysenberries but i reckon my chances of stealing the strawbs for beer are slim and FA.


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## barls (10/12/08)

ive done a few fruit beers and meads. its the same process for me make the base. use frozen berries in the secondary with pecineze and camden tabets added. leave 24hrs then rack on to the fruit must.
i did a cherry mead with about 3kg of cherries but its a very mild flavour and thats in 5L.
also have a blueberry mead which had 800g of blueberries in it that needed more.
i find that 1kg of frozen raspberries from a farm i know is about the right mont in a 20L batch of wheat beer.
for all those that are looking in sydney try frozberry in hornsby


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## bconnery (11/12/08)

DrSmurto said:


> Tis the season alright Stuster.
> 
> Fruit trees are looking pretty full this year.
> 
> ...


I would second the eating idea with nectarines, however. I have long held the idea that perhaps a fruit apa, with the nectarine flavour completed by the likes of DSaaz, which I find to have a stonefruit like quality, would be worth a try...
The list is so long though that I havn't got around to it yet. Plus they'd be a bit of a pain to de-stone in sufficient quantities...


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## bconnery (11/12/08)

As some may know fruit beers are a bit of a favourite of mine so this post is going to get a bit long  Plus I'm bored...

I use real fruit in all cases. 
I know people like extract and juice but to me no commercial or homebrewed fruit beer made so has been as good as those made with real fruit. Be it frozen or fresh it just seems to work better to me. 
In all cases I do fruit in secondary, usually racking onto the fruit after fermentation is largely complete. 
I freeze the fruit if it isn't already frozen and then defrost with microwave or boiling water. 
I don't worry about additional sterilization or enzymes or anything. 

The base beer is important. You want a good base that will work with your chosen fruit. I tend to use a light wheat base for most, the exceptions being my recent Cherry Dunkelweizen and my specialty Belgian Sour Orange Ale. 

I think it is that simple. Good quality base beer that will complement the fruit of choice. Adjust the fruit amount for the type of fruit, which can be the challenge. 
As with any ingredient the fruit can be the focus or a compliment to other flavours. 

Noble hops, particularly tettnang in my book, are great in fruit wheats. 
I like wb06 or k97. The spicy aspects of the former seem to compliment fruits to me. 
If I do use a bavarian type I ferment lower and pitch plenty to reduce the production of banana etc 

My mixed berry hefeweizen, which a few people have made, is here... 
Boy was this beer pink! Had a great tart flavour but a sweetness too. 

My family's favourite is the annual Strawbeery. 
I've made this beer every year from kit days to AG. 
Wheat beer base, currently 60/40 wheat/pils, keeping it low in alc. lowish IBU and always noble hops. Particularly hallertau or tettnanger. 
3kgs min. of ripe strawberries, usually more like 4 - 4.5. I get a jamming box from a grower. 
I usually use something like k97 or wb06 as opposed to a bavarian type wheat yeast. 
This year I actually split the batch and used the same amount of strawberries in a half batch and it was a much stronger flavour, not surprisingly. A real tart end to the beer and a strong strawberry aroma. 
You get a beer that isn't strong in fruit flavour but has a kind of background that works in well with the wheat. 
Here's the most recent full batch version. I add some munich and things in this time but I don't think it needs it. 


For the dunkelweizen I used the Morello cherrys in jars. 2*700g jars, liquid and all, in half a batch of the base beer below... 
Recipe: Bob's Your Dunkelweizen
Brewer: Mooshells
Asst Brewer: 
Style: Bavarian Dunkelweizen
TYPE: All Grain
Taste: (35.0) 

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size: 24.00 L (Including kettle loss etc.) 
Boil Size: 34.00 L
Estimated OG: 1.049 SG
Estimated Color: 44.2 EBC
Estimated IBU: 15.0 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 70.00 %
Boil Time: 75 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU 
2800.00 gm Wheat Malt (Barrett Burston) (3.0 EBC) Grain 52.58 % 
1800.00 gm Munich I (Weyermann) (14.0 EBC) Grain 33.80 % 
400.00 gm Wheat Malt, Caramel (Weyermann) (115.0 EBCGrain 7.51 % 
200.00 gm Wheat Malt, Choc (Weyermann) (1000.0 EBC) Grain 3.76 % 
125.00 gm Caramunich II (Weyermann) (124.1 EBC) Grain 2.35 % 
15.00 gm Hallertauer Aroma, New Zealand [8.50 %] (Hops 13.4 IBU 
20.00 gm Hallertauer Mittelfrueh [3.70 %] (5 min) Hops 1.6 IBU 
1 Pkgs Safwheat (DCL Yeast #WB06) Yeast-Wheat 

And last but not least my Belgian Sour Orange ale. 
I play with the grains and sugars in this one but the important part is lots of sour orange flavour. The sour oranges grow in the valley where my folks live and are apparently also known as a Rangpur Lime. 
My original intention was to create a flanders red / oud bruin type beer without the bugs and it has worked well. 
It took me a few goes to make a beer as good as the extract version of this but I feel I have now. 
Here's the latest couple. 

Recipe: From Flanders to Rangpur
Brewer: Mooshells
Asst Brewer: 
Style: Flanders Red Ale
TYPE: All Grain
Taste: (35.0) 

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size: 21.00 L 
Boil Size: 34.00 L
Estimated OG: 1.051 SG
Estimated Color: 21.7 EBC
Estimated IBU: 17.7 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 70.00 %
Boil Time: 75 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU 
200.00 gm Brown Sugar, Light (15.8 EBC) Extract 4.35 % 
200.00 gm Brown Sugar, Light [Boil for 5 min] Extract 4.35 % 
2800.00 gm Pilsner (Weyermann) (3.3 EBC) Grain 60.87 % 
1000.00 gm Vienna Malt (Weyermann) (5.9 EBC) Grain 21.74 % 
250.00 gm Melanoidin (Weyermann) (70.0 EBC) Grain 5.43 % 
150.00 gm Caraaroma (Weyermann) (350.7 EBC) Grain 3.26 % 
15.00 gm B Saaz [8.20 %] (60 min) Hops 15.9 IBU 
20.00 gm B Saaz [8.20 %] (2 min) Hops 1.8 IBU 
10.00 items Rangpur Lime Rind (Boil 60.0 min) Misc 
500.00 ml Rangpur Lime Juice (Boil 5.0 min) Misc 
700.00 ml Rangpur Lime Juice (Boil 60.0 min) Misc 
1 Pkgs Forbidden Fruit (Wyeast Labs #3463) Yeast-Wheat 


Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Light Body, No Mash Out
Total Grain Weight: 4200.00 gm
----------------------------
Single Infusion, Light Body, No Mash Out
Step Time Name Description Step Temp 
75 min Mash In Add 18.00 L of water at 69.4 C 65.6 C 


Notes:
------
Caramelized 200g brown sugar with 700ml juice and all rind. Added 4L of first runnings for additional caramelization. 
Caremlized for approx 60 mins, added @45. 
Added 500ml of boiled juice direct in primary. 

THe QLD Xmas case swap beer.
Recipe: Have yourself a sour little christmas
Brewer: Mooshells
Asst Brewer: 
Style: Flanders Red Ale
TYPE: All Grain
Taste: (35.0) 

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size: 25.00 L 
Boil Size: 35.00 L
Estimated OG: 1.054 SG
Estimated Color: 23.9 EBC
Estimated IBU: 20.7 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 70.00 %
Boil Time: 70 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU 
2000.00 gm Vienna Malt (Weyermann) (5.9 EBC) Grain 33.90 % 
1500.00 gm Pale Malt, Galaxy (Barrett Burston) (3.0 EGrain 25.42 % 
1500.00 gm Pale Malt, Maris Otter (5.9 EBC) Grain 25.42 % 
200.00 gm Caramunich II (Weyermann) (124.1 EBC) Grain 3.39 % 
175.00 gm Melanoidin (Weyermann) (70.0 EBC) Grain 2.97 % 
75.00 gm Amber Malt (85.0 EBC) Grain 1.27 % 
50.00 gm Caraaroma (Weyermann) (350.7 EBC) Grain 0.85 % 
30.00 gm Northern Brewer [6.60 %] (60 min) Hops 20.1 IBU 
15.00 gm D Saaz [4.40 %] (2 min) Hops 0.6 IBU 
10.00 items Rangpur Lime Rind (Boil 60.0 min) Misc 
500.00 ml Rangpur Lime Juice (Boil 5.0 min) Misc 
700.00 ml Rangpur Lime Juice (Boil 60.0 min) Misc 
200.00 gm Brown Sugar, Dark (98.5 EBC) Sugar 3.39 % 
200.00 gm Palm Sugar (98.5 EBC) Sugar 3.39 % 
1 Pkgs French Saison (Seasonal) (Wyeast Labs #371Yeast-Ale 
1 Pkgs SafBrew Specialty Ale (DCL Yeast #T-58) Yeast-Ale


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## MaestroMatt (11/12/08)

I remember during my uni days I used to drink a Koslch from the Wig and Pen Brewery in Canberra and always thought that adding fruit to a Kolsch would be a good idea - it already has certain fruity tones to me.

What would be a good fruit to put with a Kolsch base?


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## brettprevans (11/12/08)

the King of Fruit beers, extract, (now AGing) has spoken.

Ive made a few of Ben's brews and they are great. His Strawbeery and a couple of others are getting a go this summer.


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## drsmurto (11/12/08)

I can get berries relatively cheap ($10/kg) so maybe thats what i should look into. 

Jam strawberries should start appearing very soon - saw them last year for $3/kg.

Any comments on using a Kolsch base rather than a weizen? I like it, more so as i have very little wheat but also as i actually like a Kolsch.

Do you treat the beer with any finings before kegging?


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## newguy (11/12/08)

clay said:


> Hi Newguy,
> my wife has been onto me about making a mango beer. Do you remember the fruit to beer ratio you used?



Sorry for the delay in answering. I juiced 16 Phillipine mangoes and added that to ~17-18l of kolsch. The mangoes available in most grocery stores here are the Mexican "Tommy" variety. They're very large and are red when ripe. I found the Phillipine mangoes in a Chinese grocery. They're yellow and about 1/2 the size of the Tommy variety. I can't recall for certain, but I think that there was 2-3l of juice. Hope this helps.


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## newguy (11/12/08)

MaestroMatt said:


> What would be a good fruit to put with a Kolsch base?



2 or 3 years ago for the AHA's Big Brew Day, we contracted a local micro to produce 1200l of what was essentially kolsch wort - approx 85% pale, 5% light munich and 10% wheat, bittered with a single addition to ~20 IBU. A lot of people that bought that wort ended up making fruit beers and most seemed to turn out well. Strawberries, raspberries (in moderation), and blueberries all worked very well. Someone tried making a plum kolsch and it didn't work out so good but I think that's because plums usually don't have a lot of flavour (I find anyway). I've done a mango kolsch (mentioned earlier) and it was really good.


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## brettprevans (11/12/08)

DrSmurto said:


> Any comments on using a Kolsch base rather than a weizen?


from my limited experiance with both (mostly drinking them rather than brewing), I recon the kolsch would be better with the light berry but its a bitch to settle the yeast out. if kolsch hears a mouse fart is stirs up. I like the kolsch style. *CM2 now waits for lots of other who know better to tell me that im wrong*

Jaming Straws - closest I could find this afternoon (after phoneing around) was in Silvan (about 60min from melb). $5 per kilo. not bad so ive order 4 kg for saturday pickup. Guess im making making Ben's strawbeerry this weekend!


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## bconnery (11/12/08)

DrSmurto said:


> I can get berries relatively cheap ($10/kg) so maybe thats what i should look into.
> 
> Jam strawberries should start appearing very soon - saw them last year for $3/kg.
> 
> ...



I think a Kolsch would work very nicely for fruit beers in general. I don't see the cloudiness as an issue. 
I haven't actually made one yet so I can't speak from experience but I've drunk some and I say go for it!

Truth be told i haven't actually kegged any fruit beers yet because I generally need to distribute them to family a bit so I bottle them. 

I would just rack them from the fruit for my final step which is a few days in the fridge for cold conditioning and then gelatine as I normally do.


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## brettprevans (29/12/08)

well my strawbeery ale is down (BConnery's recipe)
I should have read the wiki article forst though.....


_DON'T boil, you'll lose all your fruity goodness and risk leaching pectic acid into your wort, causing a haze in the final beer._
bugger, well i only sort of boiled it. more like bough it to a simmering bubble.

_DON'T pulp. Don't bother - This will just make it harder to rack your beer off the fruit. See "Freezing" below._i pulped them too. but i did freeze them afterwards.

_DO freeze your fruits for a few days or weeks before you use it. This will break-down the cell membranes and make the fruitiness easier to extract into your beer._ finally got something right

_Unless you grow them yourself, don't bother with strawberries - you need a truck-load of them to make any impression on the beer. Or alternatively buy a large box of 'jamming' strawberries from a market._couldnt get jamming strawberries even from a berry farm. used 4kg of normal strawbs

smells and looks greatin the secondary. should be ready to keg in a few days. will post pics once ready,


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## winkle (9/1/10)

Will be doing a batch of my Acerola Pale Ale this week since we're into fruit beer weather. This time using 0.5kg of steamed rice and mashing it at 64 c. Yeast - 3711, should end up pretty damm dry B) .


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## kook (9/1/10)

Just tried some cherry witbier that I'd made for the wife, using the morebeer flavourings. Bit dissapointing - they don't seem to add any colour, and the flavouring/aroma seems a bit muted. Will add another bottle in 24hrs and see if it helps. FYI - ratio was one 4oz bottle in 10L of beer.


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## drsmurto (21/1/10)

With the hefeweizen now bubbling away and the strawbs ready to be chucked into secondary my thoughts have turned back to the nectarines.

They are almost ready, i can smell them metres from the tree and its leaning over under the weight of all the fruit.

IIRC Mercs own makes a peach beer? Since nectarines are peaches without the 'fuzzy' skin i thought i could be onto something here. I could easily spare several kg to go in a beer, i gave away more than 15kg last year to work colleagues along with yellow plums and vast quantities of figs (which this year are bigger than the nectarines!).

I think since its a much more subtle flavour than berries it would work more in a kolsch base than a weizen......

Its also the last year for my satsuma plum which is falling over and will need to be cut down after fruiting. I had plans of putting the plums into an old ale or a stout.


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## Pennywise (21/1/10)

kook said:


> Just tried some cherry witbier that I'd made for the wife, using the morebeer flavourings. Bit dissapointing - they don't seem to add any colour, and the flavouring/aroma seems a bit muted. Will add another bottle in 24hrs and see if it helps. FYI - ratio was one 4oz bottle in 10L of beer.




Are those the flavouings that Craftbrewer sell? If so, I've found that the flavour actually gets more intense as time goes on (well, from the one time I've used them anyway). I made a rasberry wit and could hardly notice the flavour to start with, about 2 weeks later, it was quite noticable.


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## bconnery (23/1/10)

DrSmurto said:


> With the hefeweizen now bubbling away and the strawbs ready to be chucked into secondary my thoughts have turned back to the nectarines.
> 
> They are almost ready, i can smell them metres from the tree and its leaning over under the weight of all the fruit.
> 
> ...


Let me know how you go with the nectarines. They are my favourite fruit so I've been trying to work out what beer might work for them. 
I think a kolsch could be good. 
I had an idea of something using hops like D-Saaz, from which I get a strong stonefruit flavour, as a sort of complement. Kind of a fruit APA as it where. But I'm not sure whether that's really a good idea. 
Otherwise maybe stewing or baking them first with some vanilla or cinnamon sugar and then in the beer? Or toast some malt in a juice of the pulp of them?

15kgs, the mind boggles. You'd see me a lot if I lived round your way


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## barls (23/1/10)

just put the the keg of raspberry wheat i did a while ago ( a case swap at least a year ago), ill try to get a pic of it.


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## barls (29/1/10)

here it is boys and girls.


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## raven19 (29/1/10)

DrSmurto said:


> With the hefeweizen now bubbling away and the strawbs ready to be chucked into secondary my thoughts have turned back to the nectarines.
> 
> They are almost ready, i can smell them metres from the tree and its leaning over under the weight of all the fruit.
> 
> ...



I have a Kolsch in secondary with Gelatine already added. Shall I keep some aside for a small experiment? Happy to split the proceeds with you Dr if you are able to spare some fruit.


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## drsmurto (29/1/10)

raven19 said:


> I have a Kolsch in secondary with Gelatine already added. Shall I keep some aside for a small experiment? Happy to split the proceeds with you Dr if you are able to spare some fruit.



Sounds like a plan! 

They are very close to being ready, probably another week at most.

How many litres do you want to trial? I can easily spare a few kg.


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## raven19 (29/1/10)

Well the Kolsch is pretty darn tasty as is. Have 20L ish in the secondary. Maybe a 5L experiment, will use some different dosing rates of fruit for some side by sides...

Iirc 3G used a heap of rasberries in his wheat a while back - ended up a tad too acidic. But when blended it was tops.

Thinking 3 x 2L old juice containers, dose with differing amounts of fruit. Ferment out, then bottle.

I dare say 2 kg would be more than enough...?


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## drsmurto (29/1/10)

No problem.

Does this count as collaboration brewing? :lol: 

Ok, so nectarine beer sorted, now for the figs.


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## mfeighan (29/1/10)

sort of OT, but what is a kolsch and what commercial examples could i try - dan murpheys is down the road so semi decent selection to choose from

back on topic
i did a double batch of wheat beer and split it to experiment with fruit, added about 1.2kg raspberries into a secondary fermenter with 20l
just tasting out of the fermenter it is quite tart but has a nice subtle raspberry background. did i add too much berrys for the tartness or should i have brewed a higher fg beer to combat it or is that the taste i was supposed to get  FG is 1010 and hasnt moved for a few days


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## raven19 (21/2/10)

DrSmurto said:


> No problem.
> 
> Does this count as collaboration brewing? :lol:
> 
> Ok, so nectarine beer sorted, now for the figs.



I ended up going Peaches in the Kolsch - bottled it this arvo.

I went with varying %'s of fruit in 3 different mini-batches. Will need the Dr's sampling still! :icon_cheers:


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## bconnery (3/3/10)

Mikey said:


> sort of OT, but what is a kolsch and what commercial examples could i try - dan murpheys is down the road so semi decent selection to choose from
> 
> back on topic
> i did a double batch of wheat beer and split it to experiment with fruit, added about 1.2kg raspberries into a secondary fermenter with 20l
> just tasting out of the fermenter it is quite tart but has a nice subtle raspberry background. did i add too much berrys for the tartness or should i have brewed a higher fg beer to combat it or is that the taste i was supposed to get  FG is 1010 and hasnt moved for a few days


The amount of berrys is a personal taste. I like the tartness, so it sounds like your beer would be what I aim for when I make them. 
You generally expect some tartness from a rasberry beer. 
I suppose you could try increasing the final gravity to combat the tartness and the little bit of extra fermentation you'll generally get, I've just never tried it myself, because I wouldn't want that, so I can't speak from experience. 

OT
http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum//ind...showtopic=13334
Lot's of info in the style of the week thread. 
A light coloured german ale, but with lager elements. 
Not sure you'll find any in Dan Murphy's, you probably need a specialty beer store or a german club
Examples I have purchased in Australia are:
Sunner Klsch
Hunter Beer Co Klsch
Wig and Pen Kemberry Regional Ale
Red Duck Overland Bright Ale
Reisdorf Klsch


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## zoidbergmerc (23/3/10)

I just made a raspberry beer and It's amazing.

It was just a cheap wheat beer kit with some BE1 and 30g of sazz Hops, then I racked off 10L and added 1 kg of frozen raspberries and bottled after 5 days in the secondary.

The beer just tasted like raspberries, but instead of the tart\bitter flavour at the end it's replaced with a smooth wheat beer flavour.

I'd reccomend making a cage to put around your tap on the inside of the fermenter to stop the raspberries getting in the tap.

The left over raspberries I made into a pie.


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## vykuza (23/3/10)

I started another thread about adding pink grapefruit to a wit to get close to a strange (yet delicious) beer the Mrs was keen on.

Would I be better off adding the citrus juice to the boil or the fermenter (secondary?) to maximise the flavour from the juice? Will it not end up a bitter mess? Though I don't remember it being particularly sweet, would I need to backsweeten a little to cut the acidity?


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## HoppingMad (23/3/10)

In a moment of madness I decided to create an AG watermelon and honey dew melon wheat beer. :blink: 

Bottled now and awaiting carbonation so time will tell on this one.  

Here's the recipe but currently I would recommend anyone mad enough to try such a venture to ease off on the amount of fruit unlike me - mine currently tastes very melony - more like a fruit punch than a beer at present. Would have preferred more balance or more beer flavour. Tastes like a girly beer at the moment - a bit like a melon barcardi breezer! But was an interesting experiment.

_______________________ 

Watermelon Beer (19L batch)

2.72 kg Pale Malt
1.81 kg Wheat Malt
20g Hallertau MF 4.7%

1.8kg Honey Dew Melon (one whole fruit was used)
4.2kg Watermelon (two thirds of a large watermelon)

Mash: 66.7oC for 1 hr. 90 min boil.
SG 1050
FG 1008

Yeast - US-05 for neutral flavour to allow fruit flavour to be dominant.

Fermentation process Primary:
Ferment beer as usual for primary without fruit addition. FG 1012 /US-05 yeast at 19 degrees

Fermentation process Secondary:

Cut fruit into chunks and freeze in ziplock bags in preparation. Thaw out in time for secondary. Mash chunks to pulp in a pot and heat to 80 degrees to pasteurise. Hold for one minute at 80 degrees then shut off flame. Allow pot to sit warm for 5-10 mins before attempting any cooling. Avoid higher temps or boiling as too much heat for too long will create 'stewed flavours'. Found melon lost some sweetness under heat application so added 8 tablespoons of cane sugar and stirred in. Cooled pulp then placed in secondary fermenter in a strainer bag. Squeezed some juice through bag, and left some solids in bag tied in the bottom of vessel. Racked primary fermented beer onto fruit in secondary drum. Fermentation re-started, like crazy. Was some gush out of airlock but not heaps. Use a blowoff tube if cleanliness is an issue. My secondary ferment was completed much faster than the first so expect secondary to be vigorous if trying.

Brewer's notes: Finished beer is very red! Reckon a different fruit like a stone fruit using a similar process could be quite interesting also. But with a way smaller fruit amount. Unsure if pasteurisation step is really necessary as freezing may kill off bacteria. Had read on US recipes for watermelon wheat that some had reported beer spoiling in a short time due to the fruit's instability so had opted to pasteurise. Time will tell.


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## Stuster (23/3/10)

Nick R said:


> I started another thread about adding pink grapefruit to a wit to get close to a strange (yet delicious) beer the Mrs was keen on.
> 
> Would I be better off adding the citrus juice to the boil or the fermenter (secondary?) to maximise the flavour from the juice? Will it not end up a bitter mess? Though I don't remember it being particularly sweet, would I need to backsweeten a little to cut the acidity?



I've never used citrus, but since nobody else has answered....

I'd say to add it to the secondary. If you add it earlier, you'll lose more of the aromatics but still have any sourness it adds. With the acidity issue, I guess it depends on how sweet you want it and how you package. Do you want it sweet? Do you bottle?


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## bconnery (23/3/10)

Nick R said:


> I started another thread about adding pink grapefruit to a wit to get close to a strange (yet delicious) beer the Mrs was keen on.
> 
> Would I be better off adding the citrus juice to the boil or the fermenter (secondary?) to maximise the flavour from the juice? Will it not end up a bitter mess? Though I don't remember it being particularly sweet, would I need to backsweeten a little to cut the acidity?



I make a beer with a variety of sour citrus. I tend to boil mine but as part of some caramelization of a portion of the wort. 
I've also added some right at flameout. 

When to add it depends a little on the amounts you want to use too. I think with juice a little less flavour is lost to fermentation, but I don't have any hard data on this, just a feeling. 
I'd start by adding to secondary and see how you go. 

As to whether it is going to be bitter, and whether to backsweeten, that depends on what you want. 
I like my fruit beers tart so I don't. 
Given that a wit is not particularly bitter to begin with I don't think you need to backsweeten but that's just me. 

If you are doing secondary anyway you could draw off a portion of the beer and add grapefuit juice in measured amounts to a series of samples, determine how much you like, then scale it up to the volume of your batch. This would also allow you to see if you wanted to sweeten. 
I'm a chuck it in and see how it goes kind of guy, but the method above might be a good way of getting close to what you want.


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## vykuza (23/3/10)

Thanks guys, it looks like I'll drag out my extra fermenter and do a secondary for this one. From memory, the beer I'm trying to emulate wasn't particularly sweet, so I'll just mash high and not bother with back sweetening.


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## winkle (11/11/10)

After having a talk with some pinoys the other day, using tamarind in a beer came up.
(I have the ability to discuss one subject *only* in conversations these days apparently).
This is what I'm thinking of.

Sampaloc Bruin
Oud Bruin (sort of)
20 litre post boil

3.6kg BB Pale,
60gm Medium Crystal/Carafa 2
30gm saaz 60 min
15gm hallertau 10 min

1 litre Tamarind juice (Tamarind pulp converted to syrup) used in secondary* for two weeks.

I'm not totally convinced on this qty - I'll play around with some pulp and extracts over the next week or two. :icon_cheers:


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## rheiny (11/11/10)

Nick R said:


> I started another thread about adding pink grapefruit to a wit to get close to a strange (yet delicious) beer the Mrs was keen on.
> 
> Would I be better off adding the citrus juice to the boil or the fermenter (secondary?) to maximise the flavour from the juice? Will it not end up a bitter mess? Though I don't remember it being particularly sweet, would I need to backsweeten a little to cut the acidity?



I made a lime 'radler' last year that worked out as agreat lawnmower beer. Just added juice from 3 limes cut up the rind and added that to the fermenter with a Coopers cerveza kit and brew enhancer (I know it's not all grain but we have to start somewhere). It added a nice bit lime tartness to it but more refreshing than bitter. I didn't boil the fruit it all went straight into the primary.
Ifinished a similar one with lemon about 2 weeks ago. Just waiting for the secondary in the bottle to carbonate before trying it. It was allright staright out the fermentor though.


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## winkle (8/12/11)

I've brewed a batch of a 35% wheat, 65% Pils ale thats had 1 kg of acerola 'cherries' sitting in secondary for a week, fermented with Wyeast 3724 (Belgian Saison).
The question is - do I filter or simply intercept the fruit bits using a sanitised stocking whilst kegging?
Dunno if I can really bring myself to filter a saison :unsure:


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## sponge (8/12/11)

Just a quickie. 


(the only thing im good for...)


Do people have problems kegging/bottling from secondary once the fruit has gone in?

I would imagine that the fruit may possibly get stirred up a little from transfering to the keg, even after CCing, similarly to hop flowers?


Sponge


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## winkle (8/12/11)

Depends on the fruit really. The acerolas I was talking about float (mostly) and usually retain thier shape so no real problem, I brew a witbier using guavas and once thawed I stuff them into a stocking then dump them in. Watermelon, strawberries and the like - I guess would settle out with the yeast and could be racked off (haven't done one as yet though - more experienced fruit brewers like Ben may be more informative).
I've ended up just straining out the small fruit bits, everyone can learn to like slightly hazy beer at Christmas B)


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## manticle (8/12/11)

When I add fruit or other solids to beer (like cacao nibs) I usually use either a sanitised stocking or a minimash grain bag so i can avoid the bits.

Too late now but if they either float or sink, I would have thought racking would be a good way to reduce the solids.


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## sponge (5/4/13)

I've got a few mates asking for a fruit beer for a party coming up in a months time so I was looking at doing a simple weizen base, 50/50 wheat/pils, 17IBU and 1.040 with wyeast 3068.

I was thinking of 1.040 just because the fruit would probably add a little extra in terms of fermentables and would rather start off a little under gravity to compensate.

Now I was originally tossing up between racking onto either mango or blueberry, but after reading a few posts, will probably lean more towards blueberry and try and get a little extra banana out of the 3068 for a banana-blueberry type flavour.

I was always under the impression blueberry was quite subtle in a weizen though (similarly to the mango as suggested above?). I was originally going for 2kg/20L, but may bump that up to 4kg as helles did in another thread. I understand strawberries are in a similar boat, which only present a subtle strawberry flavour to the weizen, with raspberries being more suitable, although a little tart.

Last year I made a mixed berry saison, but turned out far too dry for my likings with it finishing around 1.003.

I am mainly wondering if I should be leaning more towards one fruit over another? I am thinking blueberry would possibly be best (keeping in mind that I am making this for the ladies and a few of my less masculine mates) as it would lend a nice flavour (and colour) without being too tart (unlike raspberries/cherries), with mango or strawberry being too subtle. I'd prefer a single fruit over a mix of fruits to really see what it brings to a beer by itself.

All comments/suggestions welcome.


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## raven19 (11/4/13)

Brew a bigger batch and split half onto each fruit?
If not agree, go the blueberry - the mango would be quite subtle and may not get you much in terms of flavour.


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## sponge (11/4/13)

Yea I ended up (well, haven't racked onto fruit yet, but fermenting atm) deciding on blueberries. The mrs seemed to prefer the idea of blueberries over some of the other fruits so that made the decision a little easier still. 

Should hopefully get around to racking onto the berries over the weekend, then leave it for another week or so.

I shall report back once kegged and taste tested.


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## mckenry (27/6/14)

I was in Croatia last year and one of the classic sunshine, waterside beers was a grapefruit radler. This thread seems the most sensible one to post in, but there doesnt seem to be much info around. I was thinking of making a bland beer and adding 100% grapefruit juice to the keg until it tasted right, as I wasnt keen on fermenting the juice as Ive read about loss of flavour during ferment, extra fermentables to consider for ABV etc, but maybe theres a better way? Does anyone have info on making a beer like this? I'm happy to rack onto fruit if thats the best way. If so, how do you treat your grapefruit prior?
Thanks brothers,
mckenry


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## O'Henry (27/6/14)

I'd probably put some grapefruit rind in, for the oils and punchy aromas. Not sure where though, whirlpool and secondary if needed? You thinking lager or ale?


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## indica86 (27/6/14)

Zest would be the go.
Much more flavour for you $$ that way.


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## mckenry (27/6/14)

O'Henry said:


> I'd probably put some grapefruit rind in, for the oils and punchy aromas. Not sure where though, whirlpool and secondary if needed? You thinking lager or ale?


Hey O'Henry ! I'm thinking lager, but would like to get away with an ale if I can.


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## O'Henry (27/6/14)

I think you could do it either way, or split the difference and use Cal Common yeast. The effort of a lager would be hard to justify adding fruit to, especially if it is lagered for a while imo...


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## mckenry (3/7/14)

O'Henry said:


> I think you could do it either way, or split the difference and use Cal Common yeast. The effort of a lager would be hard to justify adding fruit to, especially if it is lagered for a while imo...


I just had a thought. I have a culture of Belgian Abbey II.
How do you guys reckon a light colour, lowish BU beer would go with this yeast, to create a grapefruit radler?
Grapefruit may be rind, or juice to taste. Not sure yet, but how bout that yeast? I liked it in my belgian golden as it had that classic tartness that I remember grapefruit juice to have. Complimentary or opposing?


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## O'Henry (5/7/14)

Split batch? Can you do two 25 litre batches from the one brew?


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## mckenry (6/7/14)

O'Henry said:


> Split batch? Can you do two 25 litre batches from the one brew?


Good call. I will.


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## vykuza (29/8/14)

Frozberries has a special on sour cherries in NSW for September for $7.5/kg, so I'm heading up next week to get a couple of kilos for a sour cherry wheat beer. Aiming for 2kg for a 23L batch. At the same time I'm going to grab some strawberry puree and rhubarb for the Berliner Weisse I'm brewing at the moment, and putting half the batch on the fruit for something different.

Having not used the sour cherries before - does anyone know how much sourness it will bring to the party? I'm not looking to do a cheats kriek, but sour and cherry goes so well. I can always adjust with lactic acid.


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## O'Henry (10/9/14)

It depends a lot on the variety. I would aim for a minimum of 150g/l fruit, 200g if you can, and more of the rhubarb. It doesn't come through as well. Also, rhubarb's tartness is from malic acid, not lactic, so it may bring more sourness without as much of the fruit flavour.

Strawberries have a lot of aroma compounds in the sugars so the flavour will fade as the sugars are consumed. It is bloody great after 1 or 2 weeks, but can't stand up to the lasting flavour of raspberries (3 years) or cherry (10+).


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## BrewedCrudeandBitter (11/9/14)

I made an absolutely terrible Christmas ale last year when I first started out which used a can of cherries in syrup thrown in a bit of boiling water with some spices and blended up.

I thought I had tipped it all out but I found a bottle not long ago and tasted it for old time's sake. It was still a terrible beer but had improved dramatically and where there was once not a hint of cherries it was quite prominent almost a year on.


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