fruit puree

Ingredients
1

I have been asked to make a rasberry blonde ale for a food pairing event.  I picked up a 3 lb can of rasberry puree to add to my secondary.

Has anyone done this and can advise me on how much to add?  I was originally thinking the whole can but I don’t want to overpower the flavor.

Thanks :-\

2

That’s a tough thing to give advice on.  I’ve added 2 cans to wheat beers before and got the level of raspberry my wife wanted,ie., assertive flavor.  But adding fruit is about personal preference, so adding a strong flavored fruit like raspberry to a mild style like a blonde ale can be a tough one, if as you say you don’t want to overpower. I say add the whole can this time, take good notes, and you can adjust on the next one.

3

I recently finished a Cherry Amber, using six pounds of cherry puree.  Flavor was good but not overwhelming.  Raspberry tends to add more flavor than cherry, though.

One other thing to note well - puree left in suspension can become nucleation points for the CO2 (think Mentos and Coke).  I would strongly encourage filtration to avoid this effect.

4

What are they going to pair it with?

5

I’ve made 2 or 3 fruit beers/year for alot of years , never filtered, and never had that happen. Not saying it’s impossible.

6

This will be paired with the salad course.

7

I wonder about reserving the puree to be served with the beer instead? I envision champagne flutes with a teaspoon or so of raspberry puree at the bottom and a bright golden ale on top, maybe with a Belgian yeast?

8

I like this idea! Keep in mind that if you add puree at serving, its best when made fresh.

Served at/near the beginning of dinner, you’ll want to keep the beer light and crisp. If you don’t want to mess with adding it in the glass, you could:

start with a traditional Belgian blond recipe,
ferment lower in the temp range (65F or so),
add the puree at the end of primary to ferment out any residual sugar,
carbonate on the high side, around 2.8 volumes (enhances aroma, scrubs palate).

9

Thanks all,  the beer is ready to go into the secondary, it is a blonde ale I make quite regularly.  To late for changes in the way it will be served, it is somewhat large production and will be our clubs second annual food pairing event teamed with a local restaurant.  A five course meal with a different beer with each course so adding at pouring could be cumbersome but I do like the idea.

Thanks again for your opinions.  Cheers!