Cheapest site for decent puree?

[toddo97]

I'm looking to start making some fruit beer and would like to use puree in my secondaries, but ~$20/3lb of fruit seem a little high when some recipes call for us much as 10lb. Any good sites that have good prices on puree? I've seen advice to take canned fruit, wash off the syrup, and blend, but I'd rather just open and dump if possible!

 

[microbusbrewery]

I definitely wouldn't use regular canned fruit; it's usually packed in heavy syrup and has a cooked character to me. The Vintner's Choice ones are supposed to be the homebrew brand for Oregon Fruit's Aseptic Purees, http://www.oregonfruit.com/fruit-brewing/category/aseptic-advantage/advantages-of-aseptic-purees

I used canned raspberry puree a long time ago when it was still sold under the Oregon Fruit brand, one can in a five gallon American wheat. The flavor was way too subtle in my opinion, but I like most of my fruit beers to be fairly fruit-forward. If I were to do that one again, I'd use two cans minimum. I've had good experience with frozen fruit from the grocery store, but sometimes it's not from local growers, if that concerns you (I think the last ones I got were from Croatia). You also have to sanitize it yourself, but it usually is quite a bit cheaper...but still not cheap. You can also try using flavoring to supplement natural fruit, but I'd recommend doing it sparingly.

 

[toddo97]

Maybe I'll try to split a batch, half with puree and half with frozen fruit and see if i can tell a difference. I would like to stay away from extracts as I've heard they can give an off flavor.

 

[LLBeanJ]

You can puree your own from fresh or frozen fruit. I've pureed frozen strawberries, mango, and blueberries from Sam's Club and had great results. I've also pureed apples that I've cored and sliced, as well as bananas. A Vita-Mix or food processor works well for this.

 

[madscientist451]

Just use frozen fruit, look for it on sale, at your local supermarket or check Costco or Sam's Club, Trader Joe's or similar outlets. Let it thaw and smash it up with a potato masher or run it through a blender, or don't do anything and use it whole.
If you're worried about contamination, heat it up in a pot to above 165F, (don't boil it) let it cool, then dump it in, but I've used frozen fruit without heating it and haven't had any problems.

 

[microbusbrewery]

Or use some potassium metabisulfite to sanitize fruit. I prefer it over pasteurizing because IME it retains the bright fresh fruit character much better.

 

[toddo97]

Awesome--fresh/frozen through the blender it is. I had really good luck blending up a pineapple in my Ninja so I'll try that. I may end up looking at apricot in canned pureed form since I don't recall even seeing it in fresh or frozen form. Thanks for the replies

 

[radwizard]

I definitely wouldn't use regular canned fruit; it's usually packed in heavy syrup and has a cooked character to me. The Vintner's Choice ones are supposed to be the homebrew brand for Oregon Fruit's Aseptic Purees, http://www.oregonfruit.com/fruit-brewing/category/aseptic-advantage/advantages-of-aseptic-purees

I used canned raspberry puree a long time ago when it was still sold under the Oregon Fruit brand, one can in a five gallon American wheat. The flavor was way too subtle in my opinion, but I like most of my fruit beers to be fairly fruit-forward. If I were to do that one again, I'd use two cans minimum. I've had good experience with frozen fruit from the grocery store, but sometimes it's not from local growers, if that concerns you (I think the last ones I got were from Croatia). You also have to sanitize it yourself, but it usually is quite a bit cheaper...but still not cheap. You can also try using flavoring to supplement natural fruit, but I'd recommend doing it sparingly.

This is what I use. Super easy to use, natural fruit, lots of choices, great customer service. Yeah, Vinters Harvest is the homebrew scale packaging of Oregon Fruit Products .

 

[dcbw]

Ritebrew typically has good prices on vintners harvest purée, plus ultra cheap shipping if you’re anywhere near Wisconsin.