Bit of a long shot considering this trees rarity these days, but does anyone have any knowledge of brewing with the fruit.
A friend of mine has one on her farm and asked if I would like some to make a brew with. No idea how, what quantity or whether to put in the boil or steep?
I found a post on here which is several years old and is not overly helpful.
Any ideas even if you haven't used the actual fruit but have used others in a brew would be most appreciated.
Cheers
Chequer Tree fruit
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scuppeteer
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Chequer Tree fruit
Dave Berry
Can't be arsed to keep changing this bit, so, drinking some beer and wanting to brew many more!
Sir, you are drunk! Yes madam, and you are ugly, but in the morning I shall be sober! - WSC
Can't be arsed to keep changing this bit, so, drinking some beer and wanting to brew many more!
Sir, you are drunk! Yes madam, and you are ugly, but in the morning I shall be sober! - WSC
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seymour
- It's definitely Lock In Time
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Re: Chequer Tree fruit
This appears to be a duplicate OP, but I'll paste my reply here as well:
SO JEALOUS!!! Needless to say, I've never had access to chequer fruit, but I've brewed many beers from other wild harvested fruits.
I made a good figgy porter: mashed a basic porter recipe, separately pureed several pounds of figs with water, stewed them a bit to counteract the wild yeasts, etc, then poured the clumpy fruit mix into the wort in the fermentor and pitched an English ale yeast as usual. I'll be honest: when the time came to rack this sticky chunky mess from primary to secondary, it was labor-intensive and messy, involving a few steps, pouring through loose colander, finer strainer, etc. A normal racking tube definitely won't work. Also, I unexpectedly ended up getting a big lambic pellicle. Not sure if it came from the fruit skins or airborne infection during my lengthy transfer process. My point is, be as careful as you can.
I've read that chequer fruit is horribly astringent until fully ripe, which makes me think of persimmons and paw-paws, both of which I've collected from the wild and brewed in beer. Bletting helps: simply forcing them to ripen after being picked, almost to the point of rotting. Try placing in a paper bag with an overripe apple, the natural methane speeds things up. Or, you can use your freezer to breakdown the astringency: freeze them for several days, thaw, freeze, thaw, etc, simulating what happens on the ground in nature (minus all the hungry critters.) Lastly--and I especially liked the results of this method--you can follow craft john's recommendation and make "fruitcake" or "bread" first. Puree the fruit with some water, blend with some barley or whole-wheat flour to make a gloopy dough, spread out on a cookie sheet and bake a long time in medium heat as you would crackers or flatbread. When it's cooked through and smells delicious, allow it to cool and dry. This is a delicous way to convert and caramelize natural sugars, and is an historically-accurate alternative to malting/mashing. Select a basic English ale recipe, then crumble your crackery "chequer cake" into the mash tun with the rest of the grainbill. It'll probably be a stickier mash and slower sparge than you're used to, but otherwise proceed as normal. Ferment and enjoy a rare glimpse into the past!
SO JEALOUS!!! Needless to say, I've never had access to chequer fruit, but I've brewed many beers from other wild harvested fruits.
I made a good figgy porter: mashed a basic porter recipe, separately pureed several pounds of figs with water, stewed them a bit to counteract the wild yeasts, etc, then poured the clumpy fruit mix into the wort in the fermentor and pitched an English ale yeast as usual. I'll be honest: when the time came to rack this sticky chunky mess from primary to secondary, it was labor-intensive and messy, involving a few steps, pouring through loose colander, finer strainer, etc. A normal racking tube definitely won't work. Also, I unexpectedly ended up getting a big lambic pellicle. Not sure if it came from the fruit skins or airborne infection during my lengthy transfer process. My point is, be as careful as you can.
I've read that chequer fruit is horribly astringent until fully ripe, which makes me think of persimmons and paw-paws, both of which I've collected from the wild and brewed in beer. Bletting helps: simply forcing them to ripen after being picked, almost to the point of rotting. Try placing in a paper bag with an overripe apple, the natural methane speeds things up. Or, you can use your freezer to breakdown the astringency: freeze them for several days, thaw, freeze, thaw, etc, simulating what happens on the ground in nature (minus all the hungry critters.) Lastly--and I especially liked the results of this method--you can follow craft john's recommendation and make "fruitcake" or "bread" first. Puree the fruit with some water, blend with some barley or whole-wheat flour to make a gloopy dough, spread out on a cookie sheet and bake a long time in medium heat as you would crackers or flatbread. When it's cooked through and smells delicious, allow it to cool and dry. This is a delicous way to convert and caramelize natural sugars, and is an historically-accurate alternative to malting/mashing. Select a basic English ale recipe, then crumble your crackery "chequer cake" into the mash tun with the rest of the grainbill. It'll probably be a stickier mash and slower sparge than you're used to, but otherwise proceed as normal. Ferment and enjoy a rare glimpse into the past!