Apricot ale (for bullfrog)

by **hyjak** » Friday Feb 24, 2012 9:46 pm

Rather than clutter up the 'what are you drinking' thread posting my apricot ale recipe thought i'd share it here.
Is a bit of a mongrel combo really,

2kg pilsner malt
1kg LDM
25g Cascade (unsure of %)
2kg net weight of fresh apricots, halved, pitted and also frozen to burst the 'juice' cells
SafAle S-04
500g dried apricots into secondary, blanched to kill any 'dodgies'

Mini mash pilsner malt on the stove in approx. 6lt pot, sparged into bigger pot to obtain about 8-9lt of wort.
Cascade in at 45min, thawed apricots in at 15min
60min boil

everything into the primary and topped up to 19lt
pitched yeast and left for 2wks
racked to secondary with addition of 500g of dried apricots
bottled 5 days later primed with half the usual amount as I didn't want much fizz

Told you it was a mongrel recipe, feel free to chip in with advice, modifications or whatever.
Next time I will up the fruit content and probaly change the hop for something a bit more fruit friendly.

by **bullfrog** » Friday Feb 24, 2012 10:05 pm

I'd think 20-25 IBU of an American hop would be good. Surprised you don't think cascade is a good option.

2kg Pils, 1kg Vienna, 500g Wheat and 500g Munich, if doing all grain.

3kg of the same apricots, treated the same way except for grating them when they're frozen (to increase the surface area) and adding a campden tablet to make sure all nasties are well dead before use.

Would think a nice saison yeast would make this all the better.

This is all off the top of my head, without running through software. Might be somewhere to go with, though.

by **hyjak** » Friday Feb 24, 2012 10:16 pm

Ah software, something I havn't got into yet but with the AG rig in the building stages I guess i'll get Beersmith at some point.
Surprisingly enough I have just ordered a few strains of liquid yeast so will be starting to build up some cultures shortly, no saison in the order but have some english bitters and porter brews in the pipeline.

Good idea on the grating of the fruit, never even thought of grating. Reason I halved was to increase surface area a bit and I needed to cut out some bits, wild yeast doesn't worry me and an active ale yeast will curtail most before things get too carried away.

by **bullfrog** » Friday Feb 24, 2012 10:36 pm

hyjak wrote:...wild yeast doesn't worry me and an active ale yeast will curtail most before things get too carried away.

The words of a man that has never had an infection, I'm guessing?

Also, brewmate is free and I find it a terrific piece of software for AG brewing. Just food for thought prior to you shelling out some hard earned for something that does the same job.

by **hyjak** » Friday Feb 24, 2012 10:48 pm

bullfrog wrote:
hyjak wrote:...wild yeast doesn't worry me and an active ale yeast will curtail most before things get too carried away.

The words of a man that has never had an infection, I'm guessing?

Also, brewmate is free and I find it a terrific piece of software for AG brewing. Just food for thought prior to you shelling out some hard earned for something that does the same job.

Ah yes brewmate forgot about that little gem, have used it in the past but nowhere near its full potential. Will have to check it out again once AG is under way.

Nope never had infection (yet) no doubt I will at some point but after doing some extensive reading lately on natural fermentation and the nature of wild yeasts, they don't 'scare' me anywhere near as much.

In fact it is on my 'to do' list to produce a sour mash as the weather cools and see what the 'locals' produce.

by **Bum** » Saturday Feb 25, 2012 6:58 am

hyjak wrote:Nope never had infection (yet) no doubt I will at some point but after doing some extensive reading lately on natural fermentation and the nature of wild yeasts, they don't 'scare' me anywhere near as much.

Not an Australian text then? As I understand it, there aren't really any local wild yeasts that will turn out a tasty beer if they do take hold of a brew.

[EDIT: fixed shabby quoting]

by **hyjak** » Saturday Feb 25, 2012 8:40 am

No not Aus texts
Local brewer has been doing it for the last three years, just released a sour ale on tap at their 'farm bar' and have 2 batches already 12months old that they have added cherries to and are letting age til release early next year.
Admittedly their first few attempts were undrinkable but they are starting to get good results now, not a fast process by any stretch of the imagination.