Soured Fruit Beer
The acidity and fruity characteristics in many mixed-fermentation beers make them good candidates for fruit additions. It is not recommended to put fruit into a beer to cover up some major flaw or off character. Fruit can complement a good beer but it will likely not fix problems. Quality fruit is expensive and you'll want to start from a good base if you are going to invest the time and money in good fruit for a beer.
2nd steepings - ref Jester King, Upright, Rare Barrel...
Contents
Fruit Varieties
- Cherries
- Raspberries
- Plums - Tilquin keeps ages lambic on plums for 4 months for their Quetsche Tilquin Facebook Post 22-Sept-15
- Apricots
- Peaches
- Grapes -
- Rhubarb - I know, it's not a fruit. Too bad. We're going to give you some suggestions here anyway.
Aging Vessels
In wood or steel (or glass or plastic)?
Forms of Fruit
(in progress)
Fruit is available to the brewer in multiple different forms.
- Whole or sliced fresh - Use a CO2-purged keg or minimize headspace in a carboy. Mold and acetic acid bacteria can grow on the skins of floating fruit [1]. It is a good idea to swirl the fermenter every few days or to keep the alcohol in contact with the fruit. If using a barrel or larger fermenter, use a punch-down technique.
- Whole or sliced frozen - Freezing fruit has a few main potential benefits. First, freezing fruit helps to break down cell walls, which may make the fruit easier to access for yeast and bacteria in the beer. Freezing fruit can also knock back the microbes present on the fruit. Note however that freezing does not kill all the microbes on the fruit. Finally, freezing fruit allows the brewer (especially the homebrewer) to take advantage of local and seasonal fruits when they may not have a use ready for those fruits in season. IQF - Individually quick frozen ref Jester King
- Pureed fresh
- Aseptic puree
- Concentrates and extracts - Concentrates can lose aromatics due to the process, and are generally not as recommended. Some manufacturers such as Kings Orchards uses a process that reintroduces the aroma back into the concentrate [1].
- Juice - Make sure there is no sugar or preservatives added [1].
Methods of Adding
(in progress)
Amount Suggestions
- Click here and comment on the MTF thread to add your recommendations to this wiki!
- Click here to convert pounds per gallon to grams per liter.
| Fruit | Juice | Concentrate | Purée | Dried | Whole | Contact Time* | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tart Cherry | 12-24 fl oz/gal | 0.5 lb/gal [2] | 1-2 lbs/gal | 3 weeks juice/6-8 weeks whole [2] | Optional: leave pits in for some or all fruit. | ||
| Raspberry | 1-2 lbs/gal | 6-8 weeks | Advice: use a fine-mesh bag for whole friot or a fine-mesh strainer for puree since seeds/skins may not settle even with extended aging. Frozen products tend to be more consistent than fresh [2]. | ||||
| Apricot | 1-2 lbs/gal | 6-8 weeks | |||||
| Nectarine | 1-2 lbs/gal | 6-8 weeks | |||||
| Strawberry | 0.5-1 lbs/gal [2] | 2-3 lbs/gal | 6-8 weeks | ||||
| Blueberry | 2-3 lbs/gal | 6-8 weeks | |||||
| Blackberry | 0.7-3 lbs/gal [2] | 6-8 weeks | Adds citric acidity; milder flavor compared to raspberries. Works well mixed with cherries. | ||||
| Elderberry | 0.5 lbs/gal [2] | 6-8 weeks | |||||
| Plum | 2-3 lbs/gal | 6-8 weeks | |||||
| Peach | 0.5-2 lb/gal [2] | 1-2 lbs/gal | 6-8 weeks | ||||
| Rhubarb | 0.5 lb/gal [2] | 6-8 weeks | |||||
| Pear | 6-8 weeks | ||||||
| Guava | 1-2 lbs/gal [2] | 6-8 weeks | |||||
| Grape (Table) | |||||||
| Grape (Wine) | |||||||
| Zante Currant | 5-10 fl oz/gal | 0.2-0.4 lbs/gal | 4-8 months [3] | ||||
| Black Currant | 24-36 fl oz/gal [2] | 3 weeks juice/6-8 weeks whole | Finding black currant juice without added sugar can be difficult because of the juice’s high acidity. Keep this in mind when tasting the juice, as the amount of added acidity after refermentation can make the beer unpalatable [2]. | ||||
| Passion Fruit | 1-1.5 lbs/gal [4] | 6-8 weeks | When using whole fruit, use pulp only. | ||||
| Autumn Olive (Autumn Fruit) | 1-1.5 lbs/gal [2] | 2 lbs/gal [2] | 6-8 weeks | found in eastern US | |||
| Pomegranate | 8 fl oz/gal [2] | 6-8 weeks | |||||
| Pineapple | 1 pineapple/gal [2] | 6-8 weeks | Chopped; leave skin out | ||||
| Cantaloupe | 0.5 lb/gal [2] | 6-8 weeks | |||||
| Prickly Pear | 0.5 lb/gal [2] | 6-8 weeks | |||||
| Apple | 0.5 lb/gal [2] | 6-8 weeks | |||||
| Watermelon | 64 fl oz/gal [2] | 6-8 weeks | |||||
| Loquat | 2 lbs/gal | 6-8 weeks | Leave out pits. | ||||
| Mango | 2 lbs/gal | 6-8 weeks | |||||
| Fuyu Persimmons | 2.5 lbs/gal [2] | 12 weeks [2] | Works well with fruity Brett character. |
- * Contact time is for mixed fermentations with Brettanomyces. Kettle sours or beers that do not contain live Brett can have a much shorter fruit contact time (generally 1-2 weeks). All contact times are assumed to be applied in secondary, and at the end of aging. The base beer's characteristics such as abv, flavor profile, acidity levels, etc. should be taken into consideration when considering how much fruit to add.
See Also
Additional Articles on MTF Wiki
External Resources
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Conversation with Kyle Kohlmorgen on MTF regarding fruit. 10/23/2015.
- ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 2.14 2.15 2.16 2.17 2.18 2.19 2.20 Conversation on MTF about adding fruit to sour beer. 10/23/2015.
- ↑ Russian River Consecration Description. Retrieved 10/21/2015.
- ↑ Conversation with Manny Jannes and Kristopher Johnson (Green Bench brewer) on passion fruit additions on MTF. 10/22/2015.