person died from fruit beer?

[mr.jay]

There, now that I got your attention, I can ask you my real question. I have been asked to make a fruit beer this summer my boss. I am very apprehensive about doing this, and everytime I talk to people about fruit beers I get very cryptic answers. I need somebody with experience and willingness to share some information to answer the following questions. I am fully aware that it is very difficult to guage the amount of fermentable vs. non-fermentable sugars the fruit will contribute based on ripeness, type, etc.. That in mind, how much fruit does it take (roughly) per Bbl to make a nice well balanced fruit beer? Do you suggest using extracts in conjunction with the fruit? When do I add the fruit? If I add the fruit post primary fermentation, or during fermentation, how will I accurately measure my gravity? Can I add the fruit at the end of the boil, and use pectase to prevent excessive cloudiness? I am probably going to make a wheat beer with peaches or blueberries. I like my O.G. to be around 12.5 Plato, and my final to be around 3. Do you think I should back off on my malt to achieve this, and if so what percentage (I use 50/50 2-row and wheat)? I've heard that contrary to popular belief, fruit actualy thins the final product so it virtually has no body what so ever. What can I do to prevent that from happening besides mashing at a higher temp, and using dextrine malts? I know these will be very broad guidelines to follow, but as of now, I have nothing. I apperciate any help you can offer me. I will hold nothing against anyone if this beer does not work out. I am sorry if my message headline seemed deceptive, but if this beer turns out to be a complete disaster, who knows what will happen! Thank you.

[GlacierBrewing]

I used to work at a brewery in Colorado where we made a few fruit beers. We used sterile raspberry puree (very akward and expensive) in the secondary and we also use a flavor extract (liquid, very concentrated) poured into the bright tank. I always felt that both presented almost the same. The second was easier on everyone. The only difficulty was determining the proper concentration.

Luck to ya'
dave

[Diamond Knot]

Being an ex-winemaker, I used to make a lot of fruit country wines.

Absolutely do not boil the fruit unless you absolutely don't care what it looks like or if you're not going to filter it. Boiling fruit sets the pectins, and that will create a hazy beer and blind a filter. The pectin perticles are much larger than others in the solution. This is not a chill haze, this is permanent at all temperatures.

I have seen fruit added in the method Dave discusses in his message, and I would lean toward cold fruit processes if possible.

[ace1797]

We make a raspberry wheat and add 1 gal of extract in the brite tank to a 7bbl. batch. Nice flavor not to overpowering peolple love it. You can smell rasp. in that tank for a good month afterwards but we never pick up any flavors. Draft lines however have to be changed when the beer is gone.

have fun

[crassbrauer]

At the risk of stating the obvious: The later you add the fruit in the process, the more fruity it'll be, but the more you run the risk of infection unless the fruit is sterile. Fermenting with a yeast and at a temperature that contributes to and rounds out the fruitiness of the beer might help, since fruit sometimes doesn't make beer as fruity as one would imagine. Also dry-hopping a little or a whirlpool hop addition might help round out the fruit, if floral/fruity hops are used.

[brewman21]

Using real fruit can sometimes be frustrating. I prefer most of the time to use extracts post fermentation in cold tanks,its easier to control and get a more consistent product.Our blueberrywheat is one of are greatest sellers.My wheat is very much the same as yours 12.5P O.G - 2.5P F.G.grain bill is62% 2-row,30%whitewheat,8%carapils.I highly suggest trying blueberry nat. flavor by MANE california, formerly called california brand flavors.Thier number is 510-562-2371 and ask for a sample of blueberry nat. flavor, their a little difficult to deal with on the phone and have a 12 gallon minimum order at 53$ a gallon it can be a large expense.But this stuff is really great, its the only one i have found to be this good!! I brew on a 5BBL an use about 15 .oz/BBL or 7.5 .oz .per1/2BBL keg.They have other flavors you can ask for samples of also,make sure you get only natural ones not the ones that are natural&artifical flavor, they suck!!Hope i could help!!Cheers!!!!!!!!!!

[Todd]

Fruitation

Mr. Jay
Fruit beer is a double edged sword but it’s a beer which draws in a lot of newcomers to craft beer consumption and should always be considered a good thing.
The only downfall to using extracts is pleasing an educated and sensible palate. I find extracts have an unmistakable artificial flavor and are too sweet. Real fruit is risky and can throw a wicked pectin haze later in the process but it’s the real thing! If you’re packaging your beer for retail then I wouldn’t ever consider real fruit unless and I had a pasteurizer and a centrifuge. If you’re producing beers for on-premise consumption, one can produce a great product with real fruit as long as your customers aren’t intimidated by some haze. I’m no longer producing fruit beers but once upon a time at a smaller brewery I would add fruit to my fermentation. The fruit would be added after high kruesen to allow the domesticated yeast to inundate and grow successfully without the presence of wild yeasts coming from the fruit itself. Typically we would add our frozen pureed fruit after the beer had attenuated 50%. Needless to say the gravity would come up about a half a degree Plato and the temperature would drop several degrees below optimal from the frozen berries. After the flavor and color was leached out the berries, usually about the time we had reached final attenuation, we would pull the berries out of the product after they surfaced. Keep in mind this product was probably suffering from high D.O. coupled with some undetectable microbial or wild beasts and a bit of diacetyl from temperature fluctuations. It got consumed quickly though! (10bbl’s in two weeks) so we never worried about stability. We used just over one half pound of fruit per gallon of beer. Our brewing process included wheat and dextrin malts so the beer had some body. The fruit did give it a watery sensation when it was all said and done.

[tarmadilo]

I've made a couple beers using extracts (under protest, ordered to do so by my employer), and some were better than others. Some were quite convincing, others had a bit of a chemical taste.

I've also made fruit beers using frozen puree added to the fermenter at high krausen, and got quite pleasing results. If I was to make more fruit beers, this is the way I'd do it...

Cheers, Tim

[BigWilley]

I make fruit beers with both puree and extract. It is much easier to figure dosage and to add the extract but it definately has an artificial quality. The puree from Oregon Fruit is not too bad to work with, I usually add post primary fermentation. It will be cloudy and difficult to filter unless the enzymes are used, but if you do a wheat who cares. Fruit does thin the body out and with puree you should probably add more than less because I never seem to end up as fruity as I'd like. The best method for me seems to be puree as a primary flavor with extract on hand to make adjustments post filtration. Natural extracts are best but as stated above some companies want large minimum orders and this is not feasible if your using it only to adjust the flavor. Sometimes I think the puree is a waste of time when I consider that the customers (my customers, your's may differ) who drink the fruit beers really aren't the kind of beer drinkers that care one way or the other if I use puree or extract and they cant tell the difference or if they do they usually prefer the extract (ouch!) because it is more intense. Its one of those psycological tendencies to preserve my dignity as a brewer by using real fruit if i have to make a fruit beer. Silly but reality.

[RobZamites]

RE: the $500 minimum order from "The Natural Fruit Extract Company"

I found the product in one gallon cans from Steinbart Wholesale. Gonna get a sample first and see how it tastes in a generic wheat beer before committing to a gallon purchase.
BigWilley, what dosage did you use per bbl?