Some fruits fair much better in beer than others. Fruits like uncooked blueberry and peach tend to lost much of their flavor when used in beer. Others like apricot and raspberry hold up well, while cherries fare well but often require extensive aging.
Here are a few popular fruits to consider for fruit beer:
- Cherries – Traditionally used in many Belgian beers. Ripe, sour cherries are best as they blend well with the malt flavors. Generally a lot of cherry is needed, as much as 2-4 lbs per gallon of beer, which is why many cherry based Belgian beers are expensive. Also, cherry beers sometimes need extensive aging.
- Peaches – Peach is one fruit that fades when used in beer. Apricot is a good substitute that creates a flavor similar to peach in the finished beer. Peach flavoring is also a possibility if you are determined to have peach.
- Blueberry – Another fruit that does not hold up well in beer. Some brewers claim that cooked blueberry holds up better than uncooked.
- Raspberry – Raspberry is one of the best fruits to use with beer. The flavor and aroma hold up well to fermentation, and come through well in the finished beer. The flavor is strong even at a rate of 0.5-1 lb per gallon, making raspberry a favorite of commercial beer brewers.
- Blackberry – Blackberry, like raspberry, is another great fruit to use in beer. However, they do not come through as intensely as raspberry, requiring a larger usage rate of 1-3+ pounds per gallon. The color also carries over well to the finished beer.
- Strawberries – Strawberry is generally a poor choice. The flavor, aroma and color fade quickly. If you are going to use strawberry you need fully ripe berries, must use a lot of them (2-5 lb per gallon) and you must drink the beer as young as possible as the flavor and aroma will be gone before you know it.
- Apricots – Much better than peaches, but produce a peach like flavor in the finished beer. If you want peach flavor, use apricots at a rate of 1.5-4 pounds per gallon. Apricot extract also produces good results.
- Apples – Produce only a mild flavoring. Generally apples are best used with meads and hard cider as they tend to be acidic in flavor.
- Other Fruits – A variety of other fruits are less commonly used in beers and meads to include pears, dates, bananas, plums, mangos, pomegranate, etc… Most of these fruits produce only a mild flavor and aroma, though they add considerable fermentable sugars. I’ve had some success with passionfruit and mangos, which both have strong aroma and flavor.
Hopefully you now have some idea of which fruits are better to use in your fruit beer. I find that apricots and raspberries produce some of the finest results. In part two of this article next week we will cover the finer points of designing a fruit beer recipe and the physical process of brewing and aging your fruit beer. Thanks for joining us on the BeerSmith Home Brewing Blog and don’t hesitate to subscribe or tweet this article if you enjoyed it.
沒有留言:
張貼留言