5 replies to this topic

[Deerslyr]

So I have a buddy that has done a couple of brews with me on my system. He also has a pom tree that produces some good sized fruit. He mentioned last night that he wants to brew a beer for The Superbowl... a wheat beer using pomegranites. My thought is to do a low hopped American Wheat so that we can avoid the banana/clove issue so we can enhance the pom. Was thinking we could put some orange peel in at the end of the boil. Ferment with a neutral yeast strain (US-05) and after primary, add pom juice in the secondary. He has to pick his poms now and will juice them. I told him 2 quarts should be sufficient, and if its more than enough, we'll just drink the juice! (always good, and better to have more on hand) In terms of prepping the Pom, I told him he should bring the juice to a boil to pasteurize it and then put it in Mason Jars and seal them using a canning method (he has equipment to do this).Any thoughts on this process? I had a bad experience with fresh fruit a year and a half ago, so I'm always nervous about it and swore I wouldn't do it again.

[Mynameisluka]

"a pom tree " everytime i read that, my eyes see "porn tree"

[Calder]

I'm not an expert, but doesn't boiling set the pectin. I know it's a wheat, and haze is OK, but you probably don't want the pectin in there. Pasturizing can be achieved by heating to 160 F and keeping it there for about 5 minutes (I'm sure someone will chime in with the right length of time). Whenever I add fruit to a beer, I just pasturize at 160 F and toss straight into the secondary. Your buddy could just keep the juice in the freezer until needed, and heat/pasturize right before use.

[Deerslyr]

Thanks guys... this is the type of info I was looking for.

[EWW]

If it's only a 1/2 gallon couldn't you just hit it with some KMETA and stick it in a freezer?

[Genesee Ted]

If it's only a 1/2 gallon couldn't you just hit it with some KMETA and stick it in a freezer?

I agree 100%. Boiling will screw it all up. Just taste some pomegranite molasses watered back down. Not the same as fresh juice. I also would probably up the amount of juice to a full gallon added to 5 gallons of wort.