I have a robust porter that has been lagering in primary at 11C for two weeks now. I was going to bottle this weekend but was thinking of maybe adding some stuff to half of it: in my freezer I have a box with peeled fresh figs poached in honey that I would like to get rid of. Just to make really sure: if I add this to the lagered porter with the yeast cake, will there still be sufficient fermentation, in spite of the lagering? And more importantly, will the result be any good? And I mean really g o o d? I know the porter as such will be tasty, and I don’t want to ruin it…
Maybe try it on one gallon.
I bet it will taste good. Yes, fermentation will take off again even after lagering, and you’ll need to give it sufficient time to finish (like another 2-3 weeks). You’ll want to use at least a pound of fruit per gallon, and 2 pounds per gallon would be even better. So if you are limited in the amount of fruit that you have, then you are limited in how many gallons of this you can make.
Best of luck. I think this will taste very good.
Agreed, this sounds really tasty.
If you’re at 11C (around 52F), then you’re not really lagering very cold (that typically happens much closer to freezing temps). There should be plenty of yeast left. I would warm it up a bit to make sure the secondary fermentation isn’t too sluggish. What yeast strain did you use for this?
London Ale Yeast (Wyeast Labs #1028).
My favorite way to use figs is to caramelize them in a super hot wok, then deglaze with some beer. Put all that into a fermenter and rack the beer on top.
Hm, the figs have been poached shortly in honey, I guess it’s too late for that…
I have exactly one kg of the stuff, so one gallon of beer it is. Thanks!
Porter + honey = win.
Figs…I’m not sure how much of the delicate figgyness will remain in the final beer, but recalling your first iteration of this porter, I’d say go for it.
That too.
You’re basically rousing any live yeast by feeding it extra (easy) sugars. Expect the gravity to drop further too.
That’s not too bad, I’m not really a fig-person, but the damn fig tree in the garden will not go away.