Has anyone tried "Punchy Concentrated Natural Flavours"?

[Brewmerang]

KegLand offers a range of concentrated natural flavours that they call "Punchy".

I'm interested in trying some of the fruit flavours as an alternative to real fruit but I can't find any reviews or testimony from anyone who has used them.
Has anyone used these or other products? What are your thoughts?

 

[Judanero]

I got given some of the blood orange one, very strong and it may have been an incorrect dosage rate but still had an artificial flavour to my palette.

I would take my experience with a grain of salt though because I only had half a dozen or so goes at spiking beer samples with it before I decided it wasn't for me.

 

[golfandbrew]

They look a lot like the things Mangrove Jacks was giving away at ANHC some 5-6 years ago. If anything like them I wouldn't recommend for brewing. Maybe they work better for cocktails, cider or liqueurs.

 

[sherwicf]

Yes I've tried a number of punchy flavours. Some in beer. Some in hard seltzers and sours.

For beers I've tried Grapefruit in a WC IPA and chocholate in a milk stout. Grapefruit was just a bit too bitter to my taste. I added .3ml in a schooner and the taste is just a little over-powering. I didn't want to dose the whole keg with it so I didn't bother trying to go with lower doasages. Chocolate in the stout was a winner though - I ended up on settling on .6ml/L and it was great. To my tastes its a bit like the Whittakers chocolate.

For seltzers I've tried Lime and passionfruit, both I really like. Cherry I haven't figured out yet because generally I love that flavour but.. Generally I have made a few 19L kegs of seltzer and then for parties etec, have a few syringes and the punch flavours and play choose your own adventure.

 

[yankinoz]

You're planning to try it on a pint first, correct?

 

[Brewmerang]

You're planning to try it on a pint first, correct?

No!! I'm not going to risk wasting that much If I give it a go I'll probably start by dosing 100ml at a time I have tiny syringes with 1/100th ml graduations so I should be able to gauge it closely.

 

[wide eyed and legless]

I brewed this using Uncle Roy's Natural Plum Essence, I used a lot less than what Harry used got second in a comp with a comment needed more fruit!


When I was in the UK had one with Prune Essence tasted much better.

 

[KegLand-com-au]

If you guys ever make your own Schnapps they are a very economical way to go. As they are natural flavors they are quite authentic. To make Schnapps you need about 0.5ml per liter so they are way more economical than other spirit essences.


This cream flavour is apparently quite good in cocktails according to some of our customers:
PUNCHY - Cream Flavour Natural - 100ml

 

[billygoat]

I brewed this using Uncle Roy's Natural Plum Essence, I used a lot less than what Harry used got second in a comp with a comment needed more fruit!


When I was in the UK had one with Prune Essence tasted much better.

Tony, was the Plum Porter you brewed based on something like Titanic Plum Porter?
Was in the UK late last year and had several pints of it, really enjoyed it.

 

[wide eyed and legless]

Tony, was the Plum Porter you brewed based on something like Titanic Plum Porter?
Was in the UK late last year and had several pints of it, really enjoyed it.

It was at a Witherspoons beer festival could have been Titanic, there are a couple of them over there, but the distinct flavour was of prunes. It is really hard to get a prune essence but I did track some down to South Melbourne to a major Prune Juice producing company. Haven't followed it up as yet but I will.

 

[billygoat]

The first time l had it was at Tonbridge Wetherspoons at £2.19 a pint. Sometimes the cask ale can be a bit iffy at a ‘Spoons but there was plenty drinking it and it was beautiful.
Had it at a few other pubs as well but not at that price.

 

[Hangover68]

How much would be required for 19L of seltzer, doesn't need to be a punch in the head flavour hit but enough to taste it ?

 

[golfandbrew]

You could always start with a pint or litre and scale up.

 

[sherwicf]

For Passionfruit.

How much would be required for 19L of seltzer, doesn't need to be a punch in the head flavour hit but enough to taste it ?

in a 19L keg, around 60mls did it for me. As above.

 

[KegLand-com-au]

I got given some of the blood orange one, very strong and it may have been an incorrect dosage rate but still had an artificial flavour to my palette.

I would take my experience with a grain of salt though because I only had half a dozen or so goes at spiking beer samples with it before I decided it wasn't for me.

The flavors are made from natural extracts from the real fruit. If you are finding it "artificial" it's not because the flavors are artificial but rather you will need to use the correct dosage and also add sugar.

Sugar enhances the flavor and I know a lot of people like the idea of low sugar but the reality is if you took all the sugar out of an orange it would also taste similarly weird. The Punchy flavours do not container sugar.

Also these are highly concentrated products and you only need to add about 0.5ml per liter. At this concentration you need a syringe to dose or something similar.

If you want to add this into beer then I would start with even lower concentration such as 0.2ml/litre and then gradually increment once you get to the desired level. I would also say give it about 5-10 minutes between each tasting session before incrementing the dosage so you have enough time for your pallet to recover from the previous taste.

 

[KegLand-com-au]

For Passionfruit.

in a 19L keg, around 60mls did it for me. As above.

60ml in a 19L keg is heaps. This is much more than what we would normally use or recommend.

As mentioned in the previous post you might be better off dropping the concentration and adding other flavor enhancers like a small amount of sugar and/or some acidity. For the passionfruit in particular the acidity will help accentuate the passionfruit flavour. The easiest way to add acidity is citric acid. The citric acid is also a good preservative giving you a secondary benefit.

If you balance the flavors like this you can greatly reduce the concentration, save cost, increase the shelf life and improve the overall beverage.

 

[sherwicf]

nice - thanks for the info. Would be good to get a user guide or 'go to recipes' on the kegland website for them.

60ml in a 19L keg is heaps. This is much more than what we would normally use or recommend.

As mentioned in the previous post you might be better off dropping the concentration and adding other flavor enhancers like a small amount of sugar and/or some acidity. For the passionfruit in particular the acidity will help accentuate the passionfruit flavour. The easiest way to add acidity is citric acid. The citric acid is also a good preservative giving you a secondary benefit.

If you balance the flavors like this you can greatly reduce the concentration, save cost, increase the shelf life and improve the overall beverage.

 

[wide eyed and legless]

The first time l had it was at Tonbridge Wetherspoons at £2.19 a pint. Sometimes the cask ale can be a bit iffy at a ‘Spoons but there was plenty drinking it and it was beautiful.
Had it at a few other pubs as well but not at that price.

The Uncle Roy's essence isn't that good, it does resemble plum, but Plum and Porter? It tasted a bit thin. I really liked the one I had in Wetherspoons it was a prune and porter taste, a rich prune taste in a porter went well.
Next time I am in South Melbourne I will try and get some prune concentrate from Sunraysia if your interested I will send you some. If I can get it.