Here is a very peculiar kind of beer. And many people mistakenly think that fruit beer is one. With slight flavor variations: cherry or raspberry. Most often - cherry. Most often it is Belgian.

Meanwhile, fruit beer is divided into lambic, gueuze, faro, and so on. So not everything is simple with this beer.

Lambic is a self-fermented Belgian beer. If we talk about fruit lambic, then the technology of its production is rather complicated, especially in hot weather - beer can behave unpredictably.

The fruit is added to lambic during fermentation.

Göze Lambic is a blend of young and old lambics (there is no way to get away from them yet). They are usually mixed in a ratio of 60% young and 40% old lambics. The old one allows you to get a more balanced drink, while being bright and fresh.

Well, fruitiness appears, again, during the fermentation of one of them, but, ideally, both.

The most famous fruit lambic is the scream. It's cherry lambic, to be precise. Scream is a Flemish word that is translated as “cherry”.

To prepare the cry, the berries are cut (in no case crumpled), added to the barrels of beer, where the beer matures. If we talk about the ratio, then about 20 kg of berries are needed per 100 liters of beer. The seeds, by the way, are also not removed, they end up giving the beer an almond tint.

By the way, with age, the real scream changes its taste. If at once a young cry is pink, with a berry aroma and taste, then after a year of ripening it acquires a sour tint and a long, dry aftertaste. And even later, after 1.5 years, the cry takes on a wine character, becomes very aromatic, and it can even be described as wine, since there are a lot of shades.

If we are not talking about the most common fruit lambic - shout, then it should be noted that there are many other fruit lambics. They usually use fresh and frozen fruits, syrups and juices.

Raspberry lambic is similar in production technology to cherry lambic. Of course, the only difference is in the form of berries. Of the well-known fruit lambics, one can also distinguish - peach, blackcurrant. And the Muscat variety stands apart - it is obtained by mixing grape juice and young lambic.

Well, and what absolutely cannot be avoided is that the best fruit lambics, nevertheless, are produced in Belgium. In other countries, you can also find good fruit beer, but the Belgian one will be the best.

You can always buy fruit beer at WineStreet store.

Fruit beer- beer with a fruity taste and aroma, in the production of which natural fruits or natural fruit juices and extracts are used. Fruit beers can be made from any variety, but ales and wheat are most commonly used. Fruit is added at the very end - this is important.

Fruit beer uses a culinary rather than a botanical definition of fruit: fruits are, for example, pome fruits (apple, pear, quince), stone fruits (cherries, plums, peaches, apricots, mangoes and others), berries, currants, citrus fruits, dried fruits (dates, prunes, raisins), tropical fruits (banana, pineapple, guava, papaya and others), figs, pomegranate, pitaya and so on. For a well-made fruit beer, overall balance is most important. The fruit should complement the base style, not overwhelm it. Beer is judged by the balance and pleasantness of the resulting combination.

When it comes to fruit beers, it’s mostly about aroma, not taste. Since a person distinguishes between sweet and sour, but "fruity" - it all depends on the aroma. Therefore, the main task of the brewer when brewing fruit beer is to preserve as much of the fruit aroma as possible. This is why you only need to add fruits and juices at a certain stage. The balance of fruit and base beer is most important, and the character of the fruit should not be artificial or overwhelming as in fruit juice drinks. Hop bitterness, hop and malt flavors, alcohol content, and the presence of fermentation by-products such as esters should be consistent with the base beer style and be in harmony with, and in balance with, the fruit flavors and aromas present. It should be remembered that fruits generally give the fruit beer flavor, not sweetness. Sugar in fruit is usually fully fermented and results in lighter flavors and a drier finish than the base style claimed. However, residual sweetness is not necessarily a negative characteristic unless it has a raw, unfermented character.

For some recipes, add fruit at the end of the first boil, but be very careful not to boil the fruit, otherwise the beer will taste like compote or jam. It is safer to add fruit during the fermentation stage. However, there are also some nuances here. Since carbon dioxide is released during fermentation, along with it, fruity aromas will go away from the beer, which must be preserved as much as possible. Fermentation is the safest and most effective stage. In the process of fermentation, the aroma of the fruit is revealed most fully. When fermenting your own sugars contained in fruits, gas will also be released, but the harm from it will not be great.

What is Lambic?

What is cider?

Is an old apple alcoholic drink with a strength of 6-7 degrees. Such a drink is created only from special varieties of apples, each of which has its own individual taste. The most popular classic ciders are Kingston Black, Tremlett's Bitter, Dabinett, Yarlington Mill and Fox Whelp. Real cider is produced by naturally fermenting apples without adding any yeast. Based on the apple variety, the cider can be sweet, semi-sweet, dry, semi-dry and traditional. Buy cider today will not be difficult. The most attractive and reputable are producers from Brittany or Normandy.

In addition to a special kind of apples, pears are very often used to create a drink. Pear cider is often referred to as. The preparation process is practically the same as classic cider, but instead apple juice pear is used. In terms of taste, cider differs significantly from lambic. Classic cider can be described as a fresh, sour drink with a high degree of carbonation and a bright apple or pear flavor. While lambics are more sophisticated drinks, where there is a fairly extensive ensemble of flavors.

And if the best lambics are produced in Belgium, the ciders of Brittany and Normandy are considered the most expensive and high-quality. In these regions of France, ideal conditions have been created for the growth of special varieties of apples. Drinks from these regions, as well as some regions of England, can rightfully be called the best, so if you want buy cider in Moscow of the highest quality, then you should give preference to producers from Brittany, Normandy or Great Britain. Good cider does not cloud the head and does not burden the body; it is drunk well chilled and in a glass made of thin glass.

Cider and lambic are so different, but still similar

Cider is an excellent thirst quencher. While lambic is a delightful aperitif and digestif to many gourmet dishes and desserts of haute cuisine. Cider can be drunk in large enough quantities, so if you want to escape the summer heat, then the best drink than cool cider you simply cannot find. Lambic is a noble beer that is drunk in small quantities, savoring every shade of the drink.

A good cider makes an excellent aperitif, and also goes well with pork, chicken, summer salads, fruits and desserts. In turn, lambic will be a wonderful addition to various sweet desserts, chocolate, fruit salads and some meat dishes.

Cider and fruit beer have a lot in common, but they differ radically in taste, characteristics and preparation method. If you want to surprise your companion in a restaurant, then order her a good fruit beer. You can be sure that most of the representatives of the weak half of humanity will not be able to resist the light notes of berries, fruits and herbs, harmoniously combined with malt motifs. If you want to refresh yourself on a hot summer day with an excellent, tasty alcoholic drink, then cider will help you perfectly with this. Each of these drinks has its own benefits and will be a delightful addition to any party or occasion.

So you've decided to brew a fruity beer and have chosen a suitable base beer style and fruit combination. Now you need to purchase fruit.

Fruit selection

Of course, you can buy fruit at your local store. However, the beer will taste as good as the ingredients from which it is made. Therefore, the key point here is to find the best quality fruit.

Ideally, the fruit is best grown in your own garden. Only in this case you will know the degree of ripeness and the conditions in which they were grown. However, even if you have your own garden with the right fruits, it is possible that the harvest will not be soon, and you need to brew beer now.

Visit the local market before going to the store. Fruits are slightly more expensive here, but their quality is likely to be higher. These costs are absolutely worth it if you want a fruity taste in your beer.

For lack of other options, you can buy fruit at the store. Try to choose the most ripe fruit: in mass production, fruits are harvested before ripeness to extend their shelf life. This loses the fruity aroma.

Fruits are usually treated with chemicals when grown - rinse thoroughly before adding to the wort.

If it is not possible to purchase fresh fruit, then frozen fruit or fruit purees are also an option. It's also a great way to get quality fruit ingredients at a more affordable price, especially if your recipe calls for a lot. It also takes less time to prepare these ingredients. Carefully read the composition of such blanks and do not buy a product containing preservatives.

Juices are also a great option that can be successfully used to brew fruit beers. As with frozen fruits and purees, buy only natural products that do not contain preservatives.

Some brewers use fruit extracts and essences, however, when using them, there is a high probability of obtaining an undesirable artificial taste of fruit in beer from our point of view.

Fruit amount

Now you need to determine the amount of fruit you need to buy. In this case, there are no formulas or clear instructions: beer is created from many ingredients and from different basic styles of beer. Aim for balanced strength and character in your fruity beer.

For example, one kilogram of raspberries can be enough to make 20 liters of strong stout, but too much for a light wheat beer. Also, pay attention to the acidity of the fruit. Using acidic fruits requires the utmost care to balance the fruit flavor with the base beer.

Be sure to write down the weight of the ingredients and the batch size of the beer so that you can make more informed decisions in the future based on the acquired experience. The table below can be used as a starting point in determining the amount of fruit in a recipe:

Preparing and adding fruit

The methods for preparing fruits depend a lot on the type of fruit (fresh, puree, juice, etc.) and the time when they are added to the beer. However, it is the timing of the addition of the fruit ingredients that greatly influences the fruity character of the beer. There are several options for action.

1) Puree or fruit juice is often added in the last minutes of the wort boil. This way the puree / juice is pasteurized, thereby minimizing the risk of contamination of the beer. If you add fruit in this way, they will be present in the beer during active fermentation. During fermentation, most of the fruit flavor is lost and the beer takes on a wine character. However, in some beers, the wine taste can be interesting, for example, when adding grapes.
Pay attention to the fact that fruits increase the sugar content in the wort, this sugar must be taken into account when making a recipe.

2) Purees and juices can be added to the brew kettle while boiling. Fresh fruit can be added at this time, but before that, it can be ground to release more juice. If the fruit contains a lot of seeds or pulp and you do not want them to end up in the fermenter, you can put them in a boil in a nylon bag, but this is not necessary at all.

3) To get the fresh fruit flavor in your beer, add fruit when fermentation is almost complete. However, since the fruit was not heat treated in this case, special care must be taken to avoid contamination of the wort. Often juices, pureed and frozen fruits have already been pasteurized, so the risk of beer contamination is very low. Fresh fruit, however, is a different story ...

Fresh fruit needs to be crushed to increase the area it interacts with the beer. Then there are three options:

• low temperature pasteurization. It can be done in a double boiler or directly on the fire. Soaking the fruit puree at 65-75 ° C for about 15 minutes should rid it of most of the unwanted bacteria.
• freeze the fruit puree before adding it to the fermenter. Freezing and thawing the fruit several times helps to release more flavors by breaking down the cell walls.
• tritium option - do nothing and hopes for the best

After pasteurizing the fruit, simply add it to the fermenter as if you were adding hops for dry hopping. If pasteurization was carried out in a bag, then they can be added to the fermenter in the same bag. If fruit is added without a bag, the beer may become cloudier and additional steps will be required to remove sediment.