Shiner Prickly Pear

[WhoDatDad78]

SWMBO loves Shiner Prickly Pear and it is no longer in production as of this Spring. So, I've been put to the task of brewing a batch for the upcoming sweltering Texas summer. I'm ordering this puree off amazon to add (Im thinking after primary fermentation) in lieu of actually having any prickly pear fruit. I believe Prickly Pear uses a kolsch yeast iirc. I just need some recipe suggestions. I came across one on HBT at some point, but idk where it is now. I have a bit of a starting point I think....

6 lbs pale malt 2 row (60%)
2 lbs German wheat malt (20%)
1 lb German Pilsner (10%)
8 oz crystal 10 (5%)
8 oz Munich malt (5%)

1 lb rice hulls

60 min mash
3.5 gallons @ 166°F

Sparge 10 mins
7.25 gallons @ 172.3

Hops : 20.6 ibu
.5 oz hallertau @ 60
.5 oz Citra @ 15

Wyeast 2565 Kolsch

2 liters prickly pear puree after initial fermentation subsides(3-4 days)

Primary 4 weeks @ 60°F
Secondary 4 weeks @ 56°F

OG: 1.047
FG: 1.012
ABV: 4.6

View attachment 1494172106089.jpg

 

[jtratcliff]

BYO has prickly pear ale extract recipe that might give a start... The rate beer entry for the Shiner version mentions Citra and US Goldings as the hops...

 

[Lefou]

I usually ain't interested in fruit-styled beers, but this particular Shiner oddity peeped my radar and made my ears pointy. The last fruit-styled seasonal I tried sorta revolted me as it was more like a sour peach ale. Had some raspberry sour from the local brew shop. I was being nice when I reluctantly accepted it and not very nice when the remainder got dumped on my driveway.

Gonna find out more about this ... Shiner bock sometimes finds its way into my glass, but not often.

Citra is a hop with a higher alpha acid level and Shiner shows this particular seasonal as being around 20IBU. I'm thinking they use a small bit of Citra for aroma and finishing - as a bittering hop, it would be a bit strong.

 

[Lefou]

Come to think of it, you may want to dial back the wheat some to maybe two pounds, and substitute a portion of it with Crystal 10. If this route is taken, a half Whirlfloc 5-15 minutes before flameout will give you a nice, clear look once the wort hits room temps.

The BYO article with the recipe recommends WLP051.
I was wondering why that particular ale yeast because it has a narrow temperature tolerance, then realized it was chosen for the lower attenuation rate and ester production WLP001 tends to lack.

 

[WhoDatDad78]

Seems like a solid brew, thanks Lefou and jtratcliff. I've updated the recipe after reading up on the style a bit more. Maybe I'll brew this next week so it will have time to fully condition and carbonate for the 4th of July ish.

 

[WhoDatDad78]

I picked up the Ingredients yesterday for this, now I have to go locate some prickly pear fruit.

 

[WhoDatDad78]

Stopped by Fiesta today and they have very ripe red and white(?) prickly pear fruit at 4 for $1. I picked up 6.75 lbs. They also have some at HEB.

 

[AkTom]

How did this turn out?

 

[WhoDatDad78]

How did this turn out?

@AkTom - I'm going to give this one a swing soon now that the tunas are in season. Any chance you have some you're willing to package up and ship? I would only need a couple of pounds of them, I have some that are either the wrong type or not yet ripe because they are more of a yellow/orange than the bright pink color. DM me.