The end of the summer season is upon us. Berries and fruit abound and here is a fun thought for your next brew! Adding fruit to beers will add a new and unique twist of complexity to the beverage. A raspberry wheat for example, would add a tart flavor as peach would add the smooth sweet taste that we all
associate with peaches in your brew.
If you plan to add fruit to your brew, it’s highly recommended that your fruit is fresh. The longer fruit is allowed to ripen from the time it has been picked, the greater the chance that airborne bacteria can infect your batch.
Although the fruit will most likely be boiled with the wort, the precaution above is still highly recommended. Alternately, you may decide to use
fruit puree, which will offer homebrewers the chance to brew with fruit without having the fear of contamination, however, brewing with fresh fruit has always been my preference. Regardless of your style of brew, you can normally add fruit to it.
The process of adding fruit is simple. Crush, chop, or break up the fruit that you are planning to use. Next, place the processed fruit into a sparging bag then let it steep in the hot wort for five to ten minutes after the boiling has
been finished.
When you are transferring your brew mixture to your primary fermenter, you may choose to sparge your fruit with some added water to extract every
last drop of essence from the fruit. Always keep in mind that when you add fruit, you are adding additional sugar to your wort. This added
sugar concentration will effect your original and final specific gravity when you measure it with a hydrometer.
Some fruits are actually easier to work with than others. Raspberries for example, may leave seeds in your primary fermenter if they aren’t properly filtered. The basic object to achieve a quality fruit beer is to capture the
essence from the fruit then remove all that remains before you start the primary fermentation.
Adding fruit to your microbrew will give your brew a unique taste. There are many brews out there that take full advantage of fruit (like the peach recipe listed right here!), many of which are extremely popular. Fruit can bring
a very refreshing taste, especially when it is brewed the right way.
For homebrewers all over the world, fruit is a nice addition to any microbrew. You can use virtually any type of fruit you can think of, which is one of the reasons why fruit brewing is so very popular. Just like wine, fruit can make any brew taste like a tropical paradise.
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