Any exprience with powdered fruit?

Discussion in 'Homebrewing' started by butterygold, Oct 6, 2020.

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  1. butterygold

    butterygold Devotee (343) May 12, 2020 Spain

    Hello out there,

    I would like to make a cranberry saison for the holiday period and can't get my hands on fresh cranberries where I live (and if I could, 2 pounds for a 2.5 gallon batch would cost a fortune). I have seen online organic cranberry powder that is 100% natural. Could I add this to the fermenter as if it were fresh fruit? It seems like a good way to add the flavor and tartness without adding the extra liquid, which is what would happen by adding juice.

    I can't seem to find anything online about this. Any thoughts?
     
  2. butterygold

    butterygold Devotee (343) May 12, 2020 Spain

    I did find this in the Washington Times:

    Brewing with dried fruit powders

    Lonseth added the peach powder to the boiler kettle at the very beginning of the brew cycle, around the same time you would add in the hops, he said. When water is added, the peach powder makes peach juice. He added in fresh, diced jalapenos, including the seeds, at the very end of the brew cycle.

    Does that sound about right?
     
  3. GormBrewhouse

    GormBrewhouse Pooh-Bah (2,111) Jun 24, 2015 Vermont
    Pooh-Bah

    Could be?

    One time I had some dehydrated mangos that I ran thru my old spice grinder. The result was more small flakes than powder , but that is what I did and added it to the last 5 minutes of the boil. It never really settled out even when I left it in the secondary for a month. Tasted great but all those flakes that did not settle out were on top of the foam when I poured a glass.

    Perhaps powder would be better with a longer boil.

    Good luck and let us know.
     
  4. butterygold

    butterygold Devotee (343) May 12, 2020 Spain

    Thanks! Will do.
     
  5. butterygold

    butterygold Devotee (343) May 12, 2020 Spain

    [​IMG] [​IMG]

    Reporting back with the results of powdered fruit Cranberry Saison. I think I will opt for fresh cranberries next year - I have 2 pounds in the freezer for next time. The beer is not bad at all, but the very high level of sediment made some bottles turn into bottle bombs. There were so many little bits of rehydrated fruit and seeds that once things got stirred up a bit on bottling day, it produced about an inch (or more) of sediment in the later bottles. These bottles went off like Old Faithful when I popped them. However, the clearer ones pour just fine. The beer is dry, a little yeasty (Not sure why. Used Lallemand French Saison yeast), with a tart cranberry finish. I would like a little more fruit presence. Still, it was a nice compliment to Thanksgiving dinner.

    Next year I will strive for better pumpkin and cranberry beers!
     
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  6. PapaGoose03

    PapaGoose03 Grand High Pooh-Bah (6,057) May 30, 2005 Michigan
    BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah

    I don't know whether to say that you bottled too soon, or whether the powdered fruit juice may have had an extra critter in it, or whatever equipment that you used to handle it or bottle it wasn't properly sanitized. If you're getting a dryness to the taste with more bottles having very little flavor, a tartness (especially if it's harsh on the tongue), and over-carbonated bottles you might need to suspect an infection and watch the remaining bottles closely.

    I'd be near the sink with a glass ready to pour when you open any more bottles. Refrigerating all of the bottles will likely stop the re-fermentation that is occurring. If you also suspect an infection, handle the bottles carefully and consider dumping them if you can't enjoy them.
     
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  7. butterygold

    butterygold Devotee (343) May 12, 2020 Spain

    Thanks for the insight.

    The first one was opened on the kitchen counter; all subsequent ones over the sink. I don't suspect infection, as the dryness is very subtle and the tang due to the cranberry I think. Will try putting the rest in the fridge.
     
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  8. utahbeerdude

    utahbeerdude Maven (1,374) May 2, 2006 Utah

    I suspect the foaming may simply be due to the powered fruit providing nucleation sites for the CO2 to break out of solution. Time will tell. Cheers!
     
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  9. pweis909

    pweis909 Grand Pooh-Bah (3,250) Aug 13, 2005 Wisconsin
    Pooh-Bah

    The particulate nucleation sites is my first thought about the foaming. That is the simplest explanation, William of Ockham would be proud. Here are some increasingly more convoluted thoughts about what could be going on.

    • French Saison strains are known to be highly attenuative owing to the presence and expression of the STA1 gene. Dextrins present in the beer at bottling could be broken down into simpler sugars, fermented by the yeast, adding CO2.
    • Yeasts are capable of degrading fruit sugar, and could be producing CO2 from that.
    • One admittedly speculative way yeast could contribute to the breakdown of sugar is through pectin degradation. If any pectins present in the fruit are being converted to dextrins (I believe pectinase activity among brewers yeast is considered weak, but non-zero), than the diastase produced by the yeast can act on that, too, creating simpler sugars that the yeast can feed upon.
     
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  10. butterygold

    butterygold Devotee (343) May 12, 2020 Spain

    Wow, thanks!
     
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