From a brewer’s perspective, fruit beers are somewhat of an anomaly. Few of us drink them with any regularity yet they’re generally one of the top sellers within a given portfolio, so brew them we do – and with much variety. There are a few schools of thought concerning the production of fruit beers. Most begin their lives as base beers (American wheat, stout, cream ale) and are finished with a single fruit character. Let me take a moment to briefly review the brewing process, so we can better understand where fruit is traditionally added.
Mash – Lauter – Boil – Ferment
The mash is the coming together of the crushed grain bill (predominantly malted barley) with water. This mixture is run through a series of temperatures from the low- to mid-100ºs so that naturally occurring enzymes can convert complex starches into smaller sugars, which yeast will later metabolize into beer.
Lautering is the separation of the sugary liquid we call “wort” from the grains. This run-off is collected in the boil kettle until a predetermined volume and sugar content is reached.
The boil serves multiple purposes including the sterilization of the wort, concentration of sugar content, activation of hops, and the blow off of unwanted volatile compounds. Hops are added at varying times during the boil (which is typically 60 to 90 minutes) depending on the style of beer being brewed.
The boiled wort is then chilled to room temperature, oxygenated (for yeast vitality) and yeast is “pitched” (added to the chilled wort). From there, yeast converts the sugary liquid into beer.
The majority of fruit beers focus on single fruits, such as cherry, raspberry, blueberry or peach. The aromatic compounds of these fruits are extremely volatile and consequently can be rather challenging to produce. When in the process the fruit is added depends on the result the brewer is looking to achieve. Botanicals such as fruit are rarely added to the mash, though one notable exception is pumpkin beer. Roast a bunch of pumpkin, cut it up, throw it in the mash and watch it turn to stone. Imagine you make a bowl of oatmeal and get caught up watching a re-run of Family Matters for a half hour. Come back to the oatmeal and you can stand a spoon straight up in it. That’s kind of what making pumpkin beer is like, so enjoy its autumn time delight.
Adding fruit to a mash will contribute to the overall sugar content and some argue that it has the potential to change the mouthfeel of the finished beer. Adding fruit to the boil will achieve the same results, and many brewers take this path to keep their mash-lauter process running smoother. Either way you’re not going to get the aroma of any of these fruits unless you add them post boil. This is where the ‘choose your own destiny’ comes in. Fruit can be added fresh, though this is a slippery slope as who knows what kind of microbes inhabit your produce. Freezing fresh fruit can reduce the microbe content and many homebrewers take this path. Fruit can also be purchased in pasteurized purée form and added to finished beer. This will allow for a lot of fruit aroma as well as some color pickup. My favorite is what a friend of mine calls “a glug from the jug,” where the brewer dumps in fruit essence. Max flavor, max aroma. Not exactly the most natural way to do it, but it’s common practice and it works.
