Pairing beer style with specific tastes

[Pitbull-brewer]

I am new to brewing, just bottled my third batch. I love looking at recipes on here but am still a novice when it comes to pairing fruit flavors and with what style of beers they go best with. I am a huge fan of figs and apricots. so what beer styles would go best with the two lesser known flavors. also I love fresh figs but hate fig neutons.

 

[GodsStepBrother]

First, Congrats on your first 3 brews, how did they come out?

In regards to your question regarding pairing fruits with specific beer styles. It really is a matter of testing, but I would put figs in a bock or a light porter/brown ale. Apricot I would pair with a Pale Ale, drinkable IPA and even a wheat beer. You can get these flavors in your beer with hops and malts though. I know Citra and Simcoe offer a nice bouquet of apricot and ripe tropical fruit aromas. Munich malt, paired with a good British or bock yeast can give you something close to prunes and figs.

 

[Pitbull-brewer]

My first three turned out decent for the first go around. I made basic rookie mistakes that didn't ruin the beer with off tastes. My Irish Red turned out well but I need to be more patient with chilling the wort and my Mild ale I needed to more throughly steep the grains. So the mouth feel on my Mild Ale is a little off but not enough to make me not drink it. I am still waiting on my GF Witbier. While i do like prunes and dried figs, i was speaking more of fresh figs which are almost impossible to find in the states. So do porters and bocks go better with dried fruits in general or do you think it would also go well with fresh figs which have a more dynamic tastes when compared to their dried counter parts?

 

[GodsStepBrother]

I would put figs in a beer, after fermentation is done. Just make sure and run lots of cold water over them. You can also dip them in star san and cut them with a sanitized knife. I would definitely try and use fresh figs, but dried ones should get the flavor in there as well. Darker beers would pair better with figs.

 

[MisterTipsy]

figs and apricots are good for Belgian beers