kiwi pa

[exc503]

Saturday I plan to brew a kiwi beer, a touch different from what has been done before, I guess. I will be trying a pale ale, trying to go low on the bitterness/hops. My original recipe was going to use 4# of kiwis but upon further research this does not appear to be nearly enough to impart even subtle flavor on a pale ale, as is seems it is not enough for a wit or hef. I am going to modify this up to 8#. Any ideas on the best way to do this for the best result. I was leaning towards 4# at flameout, and another 4 in primary, which would allow me to adjust further in seconary if required.

 

[mewithstewpid]

hmm, if i were doing kiwis, I would purree them in a blender and add them 2-3 days after primary fermentation has begun. that is the way i do all fruited beers, and i usually add fruit extract at bottling time, as well. Im not sure there is kiwi extract, but again i am not 100% sure.

 

[TopherM]

I'm not sure you are going to get anything but the tartness of Kiwis to come through. When most people think of Kiwis, they kinda think of the sweet, almost candy flavor Kiwi, and that is definitely not going to be attainable with just fruit. You may want to look into getting a GOOD Kiwi extract to supplement the fruit you add. Go check out your local Whole Foods/organic store, they always have the best extracts. Just be careful, as a little extract often goes a longgggg way.

Good luck!

 

[signpost]

Oh, kiwi, as in the fruit. I thought the thread title meant you were going to use New Zealand hops.

Some of the New Zealand hop varieties might pair well with the kiwi fruit addition, though.

 

[exc503]

I was trying to avoid extracts for this one. I have the feeling that i am not going to get exactly what I had originally envisioned. however, that is half of the fun. Perhaps i will give a puree a shot a few days into the primary. I have a total of 8# to play with. I went with citrus noted hops for this also, but toned those back and went on the lighter side of the PA.

 

[Microphobik]

Oh, kiwi, as in the fruit. I thought the thread title meant you were going to use New Zealand hops.

Some of the New Zealand hop varieties might pair well with the kiwi fruit addition, though.

Thought the same thing

I wonder what would happen if you went for a high gravity Beer but used a yeast with a low alcohol tolerence, then just used the real fruit and secondaried. Perhaps the residual sugars would lift up some of that kiwi essence. Of course carbonation might be an issue if bottle condition. Maybe just a high mash temp would do it if you don't mind a chewy IPA. Or possibly lactose, though it certainly wouldn't be true to an IPA style.

How do they keep fruit lambics so sweet?

J

 

[TopherM]

How do they keep fruit lambics so sweet?

True lambics aren't particularly sweet. You are probably talking about some of the mass produced lambics, like Lindemans, which use artificial sweetener to backsweeten. The real lambic-heads consider Lindemans like the Busch Light of lambics

 

[Microphobik]

True lambics aren't particularly sweet. You are probably talking about some of the mass produced lambics, like Lindemans, which use artificial sweetener to backsweeten. The real lambic-heads consider Lindemans like the Busch Light of lambics

Sure, I know what you mean about a straight Lambic style, those can be some funky beers. Great if you like the funk. And I may very well be thinking of mass produced lambics. Not really sure. I definitely didn't know they were using artificial sweeteners though. I was in Brussels not long ago and tried a few cherry lambics that were quite sweet. I may have just assumed they were authentic.

I have gotten this one in the states a few times:
http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/190/5358

Very sweet, but quit nice. No idea how they keep them sweet. You recon these are artificially sweetened or do they stabilize as if it was a wine they were looking to back sweeten. Now you have me curious.

 

[signpost]

I'd bet they just do a normal back-sweetening technique, rather than actually using artificial sweeteners.