Adding dark fruit flavors

[Mike37]

I have a dubbel that seems to be lacking the dark fruit flavors I was hoping for. The beer is now kegged and I'm trying to figure out a way to add some of that dark fruit character, but I might need some input.

I was thinking of separately fermenting a small batch of a blend of grape juice and prune juice with the same (washed) dubbel yeast, then adding that to the keg. I also have some fruity red wine that seems like it would go well too.

Has anyone tried "fortifying" anything with a blend like this or should I just forget it and drink the beer as is? It's a fine beer full of "brighter" rummy and toffee flavors, just no dark fruits.

Any other ideas would be welcomed as well.

 

[TNGabe]

I wouldn't mess with it personally. What sort of candi syrup did you use?

 

[cheezydemon3]

Do NOT try to change a finished beer. Learn from your mistakes.

If you are lacking "raisin" then add more 120 or special B next time.

If you really want it fruity like a Dunkelweisen, ferment it hotter next time.

 

[Revvy]

So it's kegged, adding something wouldn't be a problem. It's not like it's in the bottles and locked it.

I did a dark rye saison last year that I felt was lacking in something much like yours and I felt that figs would compliment it well. What I did was take a few pounds of dry figs, reconstitute them in boiling water, hit it with a cambden tablet, mascerated them in a fruit processor and added it late in primary to ferment out. A year later I have a pretty amazing beer for a hot summer's afternoon.

In your case it's too late to ferment out. But you might somehow make a tincture or a concenrate and add that Maybe do what I did above, then pass it through a sieve or cheese cloth, to get rid of the solids, then take all that liquid and boil it down reducing by half and intensify the flavor (and make it less fermentable, but since the keg is cold it should matter anyway.) And then add that to the keg. Resealing it purging it and swirling it to mix it up.

 

[Mike37]

TNGabe: I made my own dark syrup, which was mistake #1 and I'll only buy the real deal from now on.

Cheezy: That's the weird thing, there's plenty of Special B in there. Some may say too much. Makes me wonder if the crush was bad because SB is potent stuff.

Rev: I like those ideas. What I might do is make a boiled down extract of plums/figs/dates/etc, take a pint of beer, and add the extract until it tastes right. Then I could scale it up and add it to the rest of the keg. Slightly more work than adding juices and wine, but seems more "right".

 

[TNGabe]

TNGabe: I made my own dark syrup, which was mistake #1 and I'll only buy the real deal from now on.

Cheezy: That's the weird thing, there's plenty of Special B in there. Some may say too much. Makes me wonder if the crush was bad because SB is potent stuff.

You only get so much raisin from special B. Most dark fruit character in trappist style beers is from the sugar. I tried making my own syrup a few times and it's a PITA and was never as good as the pouch stuff.

 

[Revvy]

T

Rev: I like those ideas. What I might do is make a boiled down extract of plums/figs/dates/etc, take a pint of beer, and add the extract until it tastes right. Then I could scale it up and add it to the rest of the keg. Slightly more work than adding juices and wine, but seems more "right".

Great way of doing it.

Maybe work in something like cranberry or pomegranite in for a "top note," a little bit of tartness to it as well (not as much as the others) just to add a little complexity and come acid to it.

I've been doing a lot of reductions in cooking lately, and on Saturday I brewed a pomegranite with where I took two of the large bottles of POM juice, and boiled it down to half. This was added to the boil, I can't wait to taste it. The boiled syrup was really intense.