So... What is it?
A fruited beer is brewed with added fruits during the brewing process, giving it unique flavors, aromas, and sometimes colors. It can include various fruits like berries, citrus, or tropical fruits, resulting in a range of tastes from tart to sweet. Fruit beers come in different styles and are a refreshing alternative to traditional beers, especially in warm weather or as a dessert-like treat. The brewing process can vary, with some using fresh fruits and others relying on concentrates, purees, or extracts to achieve desired flavors.
What's our like?
Here is our Fruited beer! Coming in at 5.8% the Piña colada Sour is a tropical-inspired fruited beer with a hazy golden colour but unlike the pale ale version this one is ALL about the pineapple punch! Huge punchy aromas and flavours of ripe pineapples and gentle acidity punch through with a very suble coconut aftertaste. The acidity of the sour yeast leans pushes this beer to be much fresher & more zesty than its pale ale cousin, with the light coconut and creaminess playing a more subdued background role again balanced by subtle bitterness. So If you are looking for a refreshing and exotic beer that leans way more into full robust pineapple juiciness rather than coconut cream then allow this Piña colada sour to take you to a tropical paradise!
Batch Size & Stats
- 19L / 5 gal finished beer
- 24L (6.3 gal) wort
- Starting gravity – 1.054
- Final gravity 1.01
- ABV – 5.8%
What ingredients?
Water
With sparging
- 15L (3.9 gal) strike water approx. 66°C (15.8°F)
- 17.5L (4.6 gal) sparge water at 78°C (172°F)
Without sparging
- 30L (7.9 gal) strike water approx. 66°C (15.8°F)
Malts
Total Grain Bill 5kg (10.58 4lb)
- Pale ale malt – 4kg (8.38 lb)
- wheat – 1.05kg (2.3 lb)
- Rolled Oats - 1.05kg (2.3 lb)
- Medium Crystal – 400g (0.88 lb)
- Rice Hulls – 400g (1.1 lb)
Adjuncts
- 450g (15.87 oz) of pureed pineapple (end of fermentation)
- 1kg (1.1 lb) oven toasted coconut shavings (180°C (356°F) for 8 minutes) (half in whirlpool, half end of fermentation)
Hops & whirlfloc tablets
Northern Brewer
- 20g (0.53 oz) - 60 minutes left in the boil
Galaxy
- 40g (1.41 oz) - whirlpool/hop steep after boil for 20 mins at 75°C (167°F)
Azacca
- 40g (1.41 oz) - whirlpool/hop steep after boil for 20 mins at 75°C (167°F)
El Dorado
- 40g (1.41 oz) - whirlpool/hop steep after boil for 20 mins at 75°C (167°F)
Amarillio
- 40g (1.41 oz) - whirlpool/hop steep after boil for 20 mins at 75°C (167°F)
Whirlfloc
- 1.5g (0.052 oz) / 2 tablets – 15 minutes left in the boil
Yeast options & fermentation temperatures
- WildBrew Philly Sour – ferment at 25°C (77°F) 11g (0.39 oz) / (1 packets)
Step by step process
Step 1 – Milling
- Mill grains to medium crush (set mill rollers to a gap of approx. 1.00mm / 0.039 inches (credit card width)
- Just keep in mind roller gap settings are not universal so as you brew more batches you will find the ideal crush size for your setup
- Alternatively if you don’t have a grain mill you can order your grains crushed from most homebrew stores, both online and in person
Step 2 – Mashing
Mash for 60 minutes at 66°C (150.8°F) with 15L (3.9 gal) of strike water
- Set your strike water to a few degrees above the target mash temperature (you can use the calculator in our website for this)
- ensure you mix in the grains thoroughly with a mash paddle to prevent dough balls from forming (big spoons, spatulas or whisks will also work)
- its easier to mash the grains and prevent dough balls if you add a little grain at a time, mix, add more grain and repeat until all the grains are mixed
if you don’t have a mash tun with heating then ensure after you have finished mixing the grains in to insulate your mash tun (thick neoprene or heavy blankets both work well)
Step 3 (optional) – Sparging
- if your setup has the capability to sparge then do so with 17.5L (4.6 gal) sparge water at 78°C (172°F)
- if you are not sparging and using a BIAB (brew in a bag) method then remove grains from mash tun and twist and squeeze the bag to get as much liquid out of the grains as possible
- as you start sparging (or straining your BIAB bag) begin raising the temperature of your wort to a boil
Step 4 – Boiling
- once your wort begins to boil start a timer for a 60-minute boil and add your bittering hops, 20g (0.53 oz) of Northern Brewer
- at 15 minutes left in the boil add 1 whirlfloc tablet (OR granulated whirlfloc 0.7g (0.025 oz))
- at 10 minutes left in the boil add 15g (0.53 oz) each of amarillio and galaxy
Step 5 – Whirlpooling / cooling
- after 60 mins of boil turn off your heat source and cool wort down to 75°C (167°F) & add 40g (1.41 oz) each of El Dorado, Azacca, Amarillio & Galaxy AND 500g (1.1 lb) of oven toasted coconut shavings (180°C (356°F) for 8 minutes)
- after 20 minutes of hop steeping / whirlpooling cool wort down to yeast pitching temperature & take an original gravity reading of your wort
Step 6 – Yeast Pitching
- It is best to make a yeast starter before beginning your brew day (ideally 1 day before) to ensure your yeast are as active and healthy as possible before pitching, but not completely necessary – you could also just rehydrate yeast 30 minutes before pitching.
- Wort Aeration (Optional) if you have a paint mixer give your wort a quick blitz before pitching yeast to help add more dissolved oxygen into the wort to help the yeast have a healthier kick start into fermentation
- Now add your tincture of Vanilla extract! (or you can wait till end of fermentation if you prefer)
- Pitch yeast in wort a degree or two higher than the target fermentation temperature to help yeast take off more aggressively
- To make a yeast starter you can use either:
- DME (dry malt extract) at a ratio of approx. 100g per 1L water (3.5 oz per 33 fluid ounces) for gravity of approx. 1.040
- some unfermented wort kept cold and sanitary from a previous brew day
- 70g of table sugar per 1L water (2.5 oz per 33 fluid ounces) – however, it is best to use malt sugar (wort / DME) whenever possible to reduce the chance of shocking the yeast with a different food source from starter to wort pitching
- To rehydrate yeast
- Add yeast to approx. 10 times as much room temperature water as the weight of the yeast e.g. 10g yeast in 100 ml water (0.35 oz yeast in 3.5 fluid ounces water)
Step 7 – Fermentation & Fruit Additions!
- Allow yeast to ferment over the next two weeks (aprox)
- If you have a temperature-controlled system keep the fermenter temperature to the recommended fermentation temperature for each yeast strain (stated in the yeast ingredients section above)
- After 7-10 days of fermentation or around 1.012 gravity, its time to ADD FRUIT!
- Add 500g (1.1 lb) of oven toasted coconut shavings (180°C (356°F) for 8 minutes) and 450g (15.87 oz) of pureed pineapple (we used tinned crushed pineapple in syrup) into the fermenter and allow to ferment for another 5 days
- It's important to note that fermentation times will vary based on your circumstances like temperature, amount of yeast pitched, the healthiness of yeast, the gravity of the wort, pH, etc. so don’t stress be patient and know that these times are just a rough guide
- If you have temp control then when there are 2 days left of fermentation raise the temperature by 2 degrees for a diacetyl rest (once gravity reaches roughly 1.014) & gravity is the same 3 days in a row move onto cold crashing! (If you can’t / don’t want to cold crash go straight to kegging/bottling your beer!)
Step 8 (optional) – Cold crashing
- begin cold crashing your fermenter (bring the temperature of your fermenter down to as close to 0°C (32°F) as possible, for 2 days to a week depending on how patient you are
- If you don’t have a temp-controlled fermenter, you can cold crash by putting your fermenter in a fridge or temp-controlled chest freezer
- After you have finished cold crashing it's time to keg/bottle your beer! If you are bottling your beer from the fermenter uncarbonated, remember to add about 5-7 grams (0.17 - 0.24 oz) of priming sugar to your bottles to carbonate your beer.
