# Brewing With Fruit



## Juzz (31/10/08)

I had a read and found a bit of info on brewing with fruit and thought I may as well give it a crack. Using the below details I made up a batch and after 3 days in the primay decided to rack and then add the fruit. I have split it out into 2 batches, a 9ltr blueberry (900g of fruit) and a 10ltr raspberry (1400g). I was aiming for about 1kg of fruit per batch but the rates of 100g/l and 1400g/l was purely accidental as that was just how much was in the boxes (I used frozen fruit). 

can Muntons blonde
can light LME
500g honey
200g carrapills
Safale US 05
25g P.O.R. @ 40min

19ltrs
1hr boil
OG = 1056

I am wanting to see if i have a chance of producing a decent beer so I have the following qns....

1. Have I used way too much fruit?
2. Would it have been better if the fruit rates were reversed as the blueberrys are more subtle in flavour?
3. Should I have left it in the primary for longer?
4. Have a used a crap receipe?

If this is sucessfull then I'll give the the next fruit beer a go on a wheat base.

any thought appreciated

Juzz


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## Fourstar (31/10/08)

Recipe looks good,

im doing an american raspberry wheat atm.

Just pitched the yeast lastnight

Raspberry American Wheat

64% JW Wheat malt
28% JW Trad Ale Malt
8% JW Pils

Amarillo 15 IBU (60 min)
Amarillo 7.5 IBU (20 min)
Amarillo 20g flameout.

US-05
OG 1.052


I ended up with 1KG of raspberries which i covered in 500ml of water to pasturise. I then blitzed and passed thru a sieve 3-4 tmes to remove the bulk of the seeds and froze. Pitched the raspberries onto it in secondary on monday. to defrost in the wort. shes back up to 20deg atm and smeels rather sweet. im assuming this will dry out quite quickly once the fricose begins to be easten away by the yeast. my ratio of fruit to beer was 50g:L or 100ml of puree`: L of beer.

My fg before pitching was 1018 so it should finish lower once the fructose goes, you'rs will be allot sweeter until the fructose goes and become nice and tart due to more fermentables. dont worry, all will be fine.


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## raven19 (31/10/08)

Fourstar - you are getting me real keen to try this recipe! I am getting this feeling I need to drive to beerbelly very soon...... Thanks again for the PM on this info too.
Cant wait to hear how it tastes!
Cheers!


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## bconnery (31/10/08)

Juzz said:


> I had a read and found a bit of info on brewing with fruit and thought I may as well give it a crack. Using the below details I made up a batch and after 3 days in the primay decided to rack and then add the fruit. I have split it out into 2 batches, a 9ltr blueberry (900g of fruit) and a 10ltr raspberry (1400g). I was aiming for about 1kg of fruit per batch but the rates of 100g/l and 1400g/l was purely accidental as that was just how much was in the boxes (I used frozen fruit).
> 
> can Muntons blonde
> can light LME
> ...


1. No, or rather, probably not. I've seen people use less, especially with Rasberry, but I have used much more with some fruits, and slightly less with others. 
2. Not sure. Haven't tried blueberries in a beer but you might just find that it is a more subtle fruit flavour. Hard to know until you taste them. 
3. Probably. I like to let it ferment out so that in secondary you are just getting the fruit flavour and aroma and they aren't likely to be driven off by the co2 production in primary. 
4. You haven't said what sort of honey but not really. I like fruit wheats myself but a blonde type beer is another popular choice. I would have left out the honey definitely myself though. I like the fruit character to be the driving aspect but blending with the beer. Not saying it won't work, just not what I would have done. 

I think wheats are a great fruit base. 
I also like noble hops, tettnanger, hallertau as my hops for fruit beers personally, but as a pure bittering addition using por is fine.


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## Jase71 (31/10/08)

What are the issues, if any, with the naturally occuring yeasts occuring on /some fruits? I have heard that if using apples for example, you need to add something to kill off the yeast first, then add your fermenting yeast of choice.


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## bconnery (31/10/08)

Jase71 said:


> What are the issues, if any, with the naturally occuring yeasts occuring on /some fruits? I have heard that if using apples for example, you need to add something to kill off the yeast first, then add your fermenting yeast of choice.



Not sure about apples but as I always add my fruit in secondary the bulk of fermentation is complete. 
You do get some additional as the sugars in the fruit act with the small amount of residual yeast, and presumably the same would apply but I don't worry about it. 

You can use products, I believe, to sterilise the fruit, but I just freeze it then defrost, usually in the microwave, and rely on this killing enough of the organisms. 
Then again I am a fan of wild and strange beers so if it happened to me I'd probably love the result...


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## Fourstar (31/10/08)

raven19 said:


> Fourstar - you are getting me real keen to try this recipe! I am getting this feeling I need to drive to beerbelly very soon...... Thanks again for the PM on this info too.
> Cant wait to hear how it tastes!
> Cheers!



Im getting excited too! I'll take a sample from the fermenter tomorrow (can't tonight as im off to the int'l rules match) to check SG and take a picture for ya. I'm assuming it should be quite brite as they have been puree'd. If not, it will get a big hit of gelatine in the keg to clear her out!

Before racking onto the raspberries, the base itself was great! A nice quaffer for a hot day. So if you wanted todo a split batch by all means go for it! I'd just make sure youre mash tun can handle the 60% wheat without hulls or else you might need some. I had a really slow sparge.

cheers and beers! :icon_cheers:


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## sid (2/11/08)

I use herbal teabags to add a hint of fruit to my beer, have used raspberry/peach, added 2 teabags into the boil, it inparts a slight taste and aroma of the two fruits to the beer. It's easy and safe to use if adding to the boil.


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## flattop (2/11/08)

Anyone tried figs?
I have a fig tree that goes nuts around NYE and i usually pull 4-5 buckets of fruit off it over summer.
Last year i made Fig jam but i'm full of jam this year (i have a truckload of plums also).
I wouldn't be adverse to trying a kilo or two of figs in the beer but it's a very sweet additive and strong flavor, perhaps it would overpower the brew.


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## Juzz (5/11/08)

Thanks for the replies it is good to see that I havent stuff it up totally. 

Things are going well with the brew but I am starting to think I am going to have issues racking and leaving the friut behind...any tips? I was thinging about using a new sterilised steel wool ball from the kitchen as a filter??


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## bconnery (5/11/08)

flattop said:


> Anyone tried figs?
> I have a fig tree that goes nuts around NYE and i usually pull 4-5 buckets of fruit off it over summer.
> Last year i made Fig jam but i'm full of jam this year (i have a truckload of plums also).
> I wouldn't be adverse to trying a kilo or two of figs in the beer but it's a very sweet additive and strong flavor, perhaps it would overpower the brew.


I haven't but I'd say go for it. 
With the stronger flavour you could always pick a stronger base beer. A dark belgian with figs for example...
Ditto with plums although I'd love to see that plum colour in a lighter base beer too, maybe a belgian golden type thing.


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## scrumpy (10/1/11)

hey I know this is an old thread but hey,

im of to get a couple of kgs of sour cherries today so i can also make a american wheat (on cherries)

I've made american wheats before never on fruit tho.

how long should i let the beer sit on the cherries for? would a week or 2 do it?? my american wheats have in the past been drank quite fresh (2 weeks muturation or so)

cheers 

scrumpy





Fourstar said:


> Im getting excited too! I'll take a sample from the fermenter tomorrow (can't tonight as im off to the int'l rules match) to check SG and take a picture for ya. I'm assuming it should be quite brite as they have been puree'd. If not, it will get a big hit of gelatine in the keg to clear her out!
> 
> Before racking onto the raspberries, the base itself was great! A nice quaffer for a hot day. So if you wanted todo a split batch by all means go for it! I'd just make sure youre mash tun can handle the 60% wheat without hulls or else you might need some. I had a really slow sparge.
> 
> cheers and beers! :icon_cheers:


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## barls (10/1/11)

ive got my soured dark wheat sitting on cherries atm, its been there since just after christmas and most likely will still be there till easter. but then again its a sour. i normally go for 2-3 weeks on fruit


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## HoppingMad (10/1/11)

My first new year's resolution - making no fruit beer! 

2010 Experiment Summary:

*Made a Watermelon Wheat *- yes quite an experiment, and I don't advise you do it, or do it but don't expect amazing things. Watermelon is well, watery and doesn't have huge flavours - beer went phenolic after two months which actually improved it.

*Made a Berry Wheat* - used a combo of tinned blackberry and raspberry extract in a straight 50-50% pils & wheat recipe - wound up tasting like alco pops. Struggled to finish drinking that beer. Bleurch! Too sweet it was.

My advice on those embarking on making any fruit beers would be to show restraint on the fruit and let it still taste like a beer. Otherwise you may as well make a sweet shandy. The best example of a fruit beer I've found that balances out nicely in a commercial sense would be St Ambroise's Apricot Wheat Ale. Just the right amount of fruit for sweetness without being cloying and still tastes like a great beer. I think to nail this balance you need to either find the right recipe, or be prepared to experiment a bit over a few batches.

Hopper.


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## scrumpy (10/1/11)

right here is my recipe,

O.G: 1.050

Wey Pils 50%
Wey Wheat 40%
Wey Munich Light 10%

WLP 320 American Wheat 

Im not sure on hop variety yet any ideas I have amarillo, cascade, centenial and hallertau on hand, I assume the hallertau would be the obvious choice, will it be o.k with the whole american style thing? the hop variety will also have to suite the flavour of the cherries. 

I see Fourstar went wiyh the Amarillo in his recipe, mate what was the idea behind that?

also any idea on how many ibu's i should aim for, was thinking around 15??

Im gonna let the beer ferment for a few days then rack half (12Lish) onto the cherries and let the rest finish without, then only half will be lost to the beer gods if it turns out shit.

any advice guys?


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## Fourstar (11/1/11)

scrumpy said:


> I see Fourstar went wiyh the Amarillo in his recipe, mate what was the idea behind that?



I used amarillo as citrus goes well with berries as well as the whole stone fruit thing it worked well in this beer. Its a win/win combo. :icon_cheers: 

Also i only hopped to just over 20IBU. The balance was almost perfect from memory. Infact, its one beer that those who tasted it always want me to brew another when they come around and have a beer. A beer from two years ago and people still ask me about it? It must have made a good impression.


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## winkle (19/4/11)

Kicking this old thread back to life
I received a couple of kilo of ripe (tending toward over-ripe) guavas during the week. I think I'll dump them into a basic Wit at about day three. Should be pretty aromatic since the car still smells of them <_< 

Che Guava Wit

2 kg BB Pale Pilsner Malt 
2 kg JWM Wheat Malt 
500 gm Flaked Wheat
200 gm Flaked Oats
18gm Aurora 60 minutes
Wyeast Belgian Wit
1.5kg Guava pulp in fermentor day 3.

I'll see your banana saison StillScottish, and raise you a guava wit.  
(Just wait for the improved Bluewit through a dodgy hamemade randall full of blueberries)


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## felten (19/4/11)

che guava, nice one :lol: 

I had about 10kg of guavas off 1 tree this year but unfortunately my mum turned them all into jelly, I don't think she was keen on my idea of using them in a beer.


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## InCider (19/4/11)

felten said:


> che guava, nice one :lol:



Good recipe... might have to fidel with you hops addition though.


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## winkle (12/11/11)

Its hot, we're bound to get some big storms and the possiums are playing rugby on the roof at night.
Time for a few fruit beers methinks.
First up will be a couple of Acerola ales, grain based on the 'standard' lambic recipe and fermented with the good old Wyeast Farmhouse strain.
I'll drop the fruit in 2 lots this time, 500gm at primary and 5oo gm at secondary with a lot longer contact time with the fruit in secondary (2 weeks +)
Jungle wit is now a standard beer (calamansi/pandan/ginger) that matches well with BBQed oily fish, and next after that is an Oud Bruin soured with fruit rather than the usual mash/aging/yeast combo. Good fun playing with traditional styles and asian flavours - style guidelines can get f*cked :icon_cheers:


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## barls (12/11/11)

any chance of getting those recipes well for the base beers anyway.


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## winkle (12/11/11)

barls said:


> any chance of getting those recipes well for the base beers anyway.


No problems mate, I'll PM you the updated recipes once I've finished with the update :icon_cheers: .
(you should enjoy the Bisayan Maputi if you can get hold of calamansi's)


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## thedragon (4/2/12)

Just kicking this old thread back to life....

Has anyone used any of the recipes mentioned above? What did the beer taste like like?

I have time tomorrow and was thinking of the following:

9 litre BIAB, 5.5% ABV, 17.8 IBU
1.700 kg Pale Ale Malt 
0.200 kg Caramalt
10.0 g Amarillo Pellet (8.6% Alpha) @ 30 Minutes (Boil)
Ferment at 19C with Safale US-05

Rack to secondary after 7 days, again at 19C. Add 1 kg McCains frozen mixed berries. The bag says it contains 91g sugars which I presume will ferment out. 

It'd be great to get some advice from the experienced guys out there:
1. Is 1 week in the primary enough, or should I leave it until FG is reached (1012)
2. When racking to secondary, do I leave the yeast cake behind, or should I gently stir it up and transfer all to secondary vessel? Probably a dumb question, I know, but I've never used a secondary vessel before.
3. Should I add the berries to the secondary fermenter before or after racking? Or doesn't matter?
4. Should I run the frozen berries through the blender before adding to the fermenter?
5. Am I wasting my time? Any other advice (e.g. IBU too low, 10% caramalt too much)

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks
Daniel


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## _HOME_BREW_WALLACE_ (4/2/12)

thedragon said:


> Just kicking this old thread back to life....
> 
> Has anyone used any of the recipes mentioned above? What did the beer taste like like?
> 
> ...



Hey Daniel.

From what i have read, Rack the finished beer onto the whole berries. I'm not sure you would want 1kg of berries on 9L of beer, it will be too tart. When racking to secondary, leave the yeast cake behind. this will also aid to clear the beer.


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## bconnery (4/2/12)

thedragon said:


> Just kicking this old thread back to life....
> 
> Has anyone used any of the recipes mentioned above? What did the beer taste like like?
> 
> ...


If you are using the frozen mixed berries I'd highly recommend using a wheat base. 
I tend to do this for a lot of fruit beers. Just 50/50 wheat pils, noble hopped to about 10-15 IBU. 
Wb06 dried wheat, or other wheat yeast that leads more to the spice than the banana etc. because you don't want too much banana etc. going in there with your berries, at least in my book. Or you could go the plain old US05 too. 
Your beer there could work quite well, I just think a wheat base goes nicely with a lot of different fruits. 

As for the questions. 
1,2 &3. I leave it for around a week, then dump the fruit into primary and leave it for another week or so. That way if you end up with quite a bit of small loose fruit you can secondary and crash chill to really get the last small bits out. 
I then rack to secondary and chill that down for a few days or even a week to really drop out as much of the fruit pulp as you can. 
4. Never really thought of that to be honest. I just generally defrost them with some boiling water and mash them a little with a potato masher to break them up but I don't think it is essential. You could just as easily dump them in frozen, especially with these mixed berries. I have before...
5. No! A well made fruit beer can be a great beer, another ingredient adding another dimension.


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## thedragon (4/2/12)

_WALLACE_ said:


> Hey Daniel.
> 
> From what i have read, Rack the finished beer onto the whole berries. I'm not sure you would want 1kg of berries on 9L of beer, it will be too tart. When racking to secondary, leave the yeast cake behind. this will also aid to clear the beer.



Brilliant, thanks Wallace, you've saved me from stuffing up the brew. You are right - now I look at other recipes people have used 1kg for a 23 litre batch, so I'll drop it down to 400g.


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## thedragon (4/2/12)

bconnery said:


> If you are using the frozen mixed berries I'd highly recommend using a wheat base.
> I tend to do this for a lot of fruit beers. Just 50/50 wheat pils, noble hopped to about 10-15 IBU.
> Wb06 dried wheat, or other wheat yeast that leads more to the spice than the banana etc. because you don't want too much banana etc. going in there with your berries, at least in my book. Or you could go the plain old US05 too.
> Your beer there could work quite well, I just think a wheat base goes nicely with a lot of different fruits.
> ...



Thanks Bconnery. I have some pilsner, but not wheat. Actually I've never brewed with wheat. Would _Bestmalz (German) Wheat Pale - Weizen_ from grain and grape do the trick? Would I still use the 10% caramalt? Thanks also for the racking advice - sounds much simpler the way you've described it. Thank you!


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## bconnery (4/2/12)

thedragon said:


> Thanks Bconnery. I have some pilsner, but not wheat. Actually I've never brewed with wheat. Would _Bestmalz (German) Wheat Pale - Weizen_ from grain and grape do the trick? Would I still use the 10% caramalt? Thanks also for the racking advice - sounds much simpler the way you've described it. Thank you!


I didn't really pay attention to the 9L bit... Probably could drop the berries back then, or go for the tartness anyway 
I'd say that pale wheat would work, but Grain and Grape should have just plain wheat from Weyermann or even Joe White or an Aussie maltster. 
I wouldn't use the caramalt in that scenario, but you could also just use your recipe. I'd drop it back a little from 10% personally, maybe 5...


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## thedragon (4/2/12)

bconnery said:


> I didn't really pay attention to the 9L bit... Probably could drop the berries back then, or go for the tartness anyway
> I'd say that pale wheat would work, but Grain and Grape should have just plain wheat from Weyermann or even Joe White or an Aussie maltster.
> I wouldn't use the caramalt in that scenario, but you could also just use your recipe. I'd drop it back a little from 10% personally, maybe 5...



I thought that i'd keep it to 9 litres for two reasons: 1) convenience - I'll use Nick_JD's stove top method and 2) if I mess it up, I'll only waste a small batch. I didn't make it to G&G today so I'll put it down tomorrow using 95% pils and 5% caramalt. In 2 weeks when racking to secondary, I'll put down another 9L using 50% wheat. 

I will let you know how it goes.

Thanks for the advice - it's is much appreciated.


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## Dazza88 (4/2/12)

If I racked onto fruit I would mash high to counter the sugar thinning out the brew too much. I believe freezing then blending helps break down cell walls bettet


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## thedragon (4/2/12)

DazDog said:


> If I racked onto fruit I would mash high to counter the sugar thinning out the brew too much. I believe freezing then blending helps break down cell walls bettet



Daz, when you say mash high, do you mean that I should mash in at a higher temp? As I BIAB, I normally mash in at 70. Are you suggesting that I mash in higher? Maybe 75? Still for 60 mins? What does the higher temp do?


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## Dazza88 (4/2/12)

What, the mash is 70 after the grain is added or before? I would do it so you are on 68 ish after grain is in so yeah, maybe get water to 73.
My last attempt at a beer with fruit was too dry and thin. Guess I mashed the grain around 64 iirc.


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## RobSee (2/4/12)

Hi Guys,

I tried making a Passionfruit wheat beer, since I have a great passionfruit vine at vine at my place.

It went:

Morgans Golden Sheaf 1.7kg
Light Dry Malt 0.5kg
Dextrose 0.3kg
Fermentis WB06

I let it finish fermenting for at least a week in the primary, and then added the pulp of about 8 passionfruit. I think it was 8, because I cut half my left thumb off while slicing up the passionfruit.  

This started fermenting strongly again, but not for long.

Bulk primed to a secondary, bottled and gave it a chance to condition (3 weeks)

Result - not good - passionfruit overpowers the experience and sickly sweet cidery aftertaste. I'm currently attempting to find people to give it to, otherwise it is down the sink, so I can reuse the bottles. It is a shame too - since I made some sweet labels for the bottle caps...

Needless to say, I won't be attempting to add anything bar Malt, Hops, Yeast and H2O from here on in...


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## machalel (3/4/12)

RobSee - I would recommend storing it away and come back to it in a month.

I have an Amber Ale that I added blood-plums to in a secondary for 2 weeks. After another 2 weeks bottle conditioning, it was sour and fruity and weird (not in a good way). I then left it for about a month and now it's actually quite nice! The sourness and sweetness have both mellowed, and it's very drinkable now.


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## breakbeer (3/4/12)

RobSee said:


> Hi Guys,
> 
> I tried making a Passionfruit wheat beer, since I have a great passionfruit vine at vine at my place.
> 
> ...



Did a Passionfruit Blonde a couple of years ago and it turned out great, took it to a bbq and everyone loved it.

I only used the fruit from two passionfruits, added to the wort at flame out & only let it steep for 5 minutes before straining it into the fermenter. I read somewhere that the pips can give the beer a bad taste, even if steeped for too long. also remember using Amarillo hops, which complemented it really well.


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