Tips on making Fruit Beers Using Oregon Real Fruit Puree

Always use the fruit puree in the primary or secondary fermenter.  Never use it in the boil.  Boiling will set the pectin, insure a chill haze and change the flavor.  You don’t have to worry about getting an infection because the puree has been commercially sterilized. 

When substituting your favorite fruit for the one a recipe calls for, keep in mind that a fruit like raspberry has a stronger flavor than apricot and make the necessary adjustments.  A yeast with low attenuation will help preserve the residual sweetness of the fruit.  Never dump your beer out because the fruit flavor is too strong.  It will mellow with age.  All recipes are for 5 gallons .

Steep crushed crystal malt in cold water while heating to boil. Remove grain before boil. Add malt extract and 1½ ounces Hallertau hops and boil for 45 minutes.  Add Irish moss for the last 20 minutes of boil. (hydrate the Irish moss in 1/4 cup water overnight). At 45 minutes, turn off heat and add aroma hops. Cool down with wort chiller and rack into primary fermenter.  Take and record the initial gravity reading.  At 70 degrees pitch the yeast.

After five days, rack into secondary fermenter and add the fruit puree.  Ferment for 7 to 14 days. When your hydrometer reading shows no change for two to three days, bottle using 3/4 cup of priming sugar.  Beer is drinkable in one month if you like “zippy” fruit beers.  Aging 6 to 8 months will let the raspberry mellow.

Options: Add 2 to 4 ounces lactose before bottling to mellow raspberries.

Boil extract and hops for 2 hours. This is the standard length of boil for Belgian style beer which removes the cheesy characteristics of the aged hops.  Belgians age their hops 3 years.

Original gravity should be 1048 to 1052.  Fill a primary fermenter with cooled wort and pitch yeast and ferment at 63 degrees.

After one week add raspberry puree and vanilla to a sterilized carboy and siphon wort on top.  This ferment would normally be done in oak but you may add 3 oz. of French Oak cubes for a few days to one week to achieve an oak flavor.  Check the oak flavor periodically to makes sure it’s where you want it.  Ferment at 69 degrees for 2 weeks then, 62 degrees for one week.  Rack and ferment 3 weeks at 62 degrees.

Bottle and age for at least 8 months.

Dissolve the light malt extract, wheat malt extract and malto dextrin in warm water. Bring to a boil and add hops. Boil for 45 minutes. Strain out hops. Add enough water to the fermenter to make 4.5 gallons and cool to 70 degrees. Pitch yeast, add fruit puree and ferment for 3 weeks Rack into secondary fermenter and condition for a week at 60-65 degrees. Bottle condition using corn sugar for priming.