“Chick beers,” the beer geeks call them. You know the brews. Pink, fluffy little numbers, a bland wheat beer base dolled up with a drop or two of raspberry essence. Not a bad quencher on a blistering summer day, but not what you’d call profound, or even interesting. We’re talking about something altogether more substantial here.
A proper fruit beer should offer an explosion of complex fruit mingled with the rich, round flavors of malt, balanced into a compelling and memorable package.
(Kinsley Dey)
I’m not knocking brewpubs. They have to work under certain physical and economic realities that keep their treatment on the light and easy side, for the most part. As a homebrewer, you have no such limitations. Time, space, cost, and technical issues like filtration aren’t likely to be significant roadblocks to making seriously monstrous fruit beers in the home brewery.
A handful of commercial breweries seem to be able to manage this as well. Most of the Belgian lambic breweries do, although with varying degrees of authentic funkiness. The same goes for the sour red and brown beers of Flanders. Wisconsin’s New Glarus Brewery has put Door County cherries to good use in a big fruit bomb described as a “Belgian Style Red.” They brew a raspberry offering as well. Not coincidentally, these two beers won gold and silver medals in the fruit beer category at last year’s Great American Beer Festival. Elsewhere, Kalamazoo Brewing has long made a cherry stout that delivers the goods, and Delaware’s Dogfish Head offers beers made from currants, apricots and peaches.
A proper fruit beer should offer an explosion of complex fruit mingled with the rich, round flavors of malt, balanced into a compelling and memorable package.
So what does it take to get there?
Balance Is Key
Intensely fruity beers are really half wine, so some winemaking principles apply. As with any beverage, balance is a key element. Brewers think mostly of hops versus malt when considering a beer’s balance, although it’s often more complex than this.
In fruit beers, acidity plays a huge role, as it sharpens fruit flavor considerably. In wine, a lack of acidity is a grave flaw—a condition described as “flabby.” In fruit, acidity is inversely related to ripeness, and wine makers often go to considerable lengths to snag the grapes at exactly the right moment. Unless you’re growing your own fruit, you won’t have this luxury. Fortunately, it’s easy enough to add acidity, either in the form of lactic, malic or other acids, or by introducing a souring microbe as in the traditional Belgian fruit beer styles. Tannins also play a counterbalancing role, providing a texture that wine makers describe as “structure.”
Large quantities of ripe, flavorful fruit are essential. We’re talking a minimum of a pound per gallon of raspberries, or twice that for cherries—and this is just a starting point. I have used double that amount without really hitting the ceiling.
At least when you order a fruit beer, you know what you are getting. It is fruit IN my beer that drives me nuts. When did bartenders decide that sticking an orange slice on my beer was a good thing?