Dry "Hop" with Grapefruit Flesh?

[petrolSpice]

I'm making a grapefruit pale ale for fun, it's a 8 gallon batch. I zested 4 grapefruits and added the zest at flame out, it gave it a subtle hint of flavor, but not enough.

So I was contemplating peeling several grapefruits, around 6 or so, mashing up the flesh, and adding the mashed up flesh and juice to the fermenter in a nylon bag along with the dry hops. I'd let this sit for around 7 days like a normal dry hop.

Any issues with this? My concern is the yeast will eat the sugar from the grapefruit juice and leave behind some bitterness/tartness.

I've read about making a "tea" using vodka and zest and adding it before bottling, but I don't think I have enough time for that. I'm hoping to bottle the batch in about 10 days.

 

[ong]

I wouldn't do this, personally. I am not a fan of the way citrus juice tastes after it's fermented. If you wanted to try making an extract from the zest, you could just shake grated zest with vodka for five minutes and strain it. Everclear works even better.

 

[IslandLizard]

The yeast will gobble up the sugars from the juice and pulp in a secondary fermentation, leaving a vile, sour tasting substance behind that doesn't taste like grapefruit/citrus at all.

As @ong said, make a tincture from grated zest in Vodka or Everclear. The higher the alcohol the quicker it will extract flavor from the zest. Let it sit for a few days, then strain into your bottling bucket.

What hops were/are you using? The ones with the stronger grapefruit aroma/flavor are typically all that's needed.

That said, I usually put the zest of one or 2 grapefruits (using a potato peeler) in the whirlpool at 170F for 30 minutes.

 

[RM-MN]

I'd suggest you dry hop with 2 ounces each of Citra and Cascade hops. They seem to compliment each other and produce a grapefruit aroma/taste that your grapefruit will not and there will be no off flavors from fermenting the fruit.

 

[Chrispy92]

If you can get your hand on a little bit of galaxy or mosaic hops (although they lend themselves to a bit of passion fruit as well) they would work well too