3 minute read
On Tap - Crafting the Perfect Pour
Crafting the Perfect Pour
By Mathew Powers
From grapefruit IPAs to citrus gins, the addition of fruits to beer, spirits, and of course, cider has grown immensely popular. Even sake fans are enjoying fruited variants these days. However, adding fresh fruit is a daunting process, so most masters of fermentation use concentrates or purées. That’s where companies like The Perfect Purée of Napa Valley come into play.
The Perfect Purée was founded by Tracy Hayward, who drew on her culinary experience to produce high-quality pureés. The Perfect Purée sources crops from growers committed to improving the health and vitality of the entire farm environment, which leads to better outputs.
The quality impresses even the fussiest of drink makers. “I’ll go all the way to Hawaii to find the appropriate ingredient,” says Chris Brownrigg of Brownrigg Hard Cider in Seattle. “That’s how I found The Perfect Purée, in my search for a high-quality tropical ingredient.” Before discovering The Perfect Purée, Brownrigg felt most purées tasted cooked and jammy, especially in peach and tropical flavors. “The stabilization process is hard on fruit and degrades the flavor.” In contrast, he explains that culinary-quality frozen purées retain the bright flavor of freshpicked fruit, noting The Perfect Purée White Peach possesses a mimosa-like quality, which works perfectly in the cidery’s White Peach Basil Cider.
The White Peach is one of more than thirty flavors offered by the brand. The Austin-based Meanwhile Brewing Company, director of brewing operations Nao Ohdera says, “The Perfect Purée’s products are great for us because the quality is definitely there, and the wide array of flavors allows us to be even more creative.”
Napa Smith Brewery features Cherry Purée in its Cherry Hill Porter. The Perfect Purée pasteurization process is appealing, too. “Our inspiration for Cherry Hill Porter was to produce a beer that, for many, is generally considered a cold weather-style but to tie it in with fresh-picked fruit,” says Stein Servick, brewmaster. “Pasteurized products project fresh fruit flavors, where aseptic purées lend a cooked-fruit flavor.”
Meanwhile, James Bay Distillers Ltd. of Everett, WA and Surrey, BC use Perfect Purée in its Lochside Summer Gin No. 5. The gin not only sold out within one week of its January 2020 release, but it also won a silver medal from the American Distilling Institute. The sipping gin results from a two-step process that begins with a traditional London Dry Gin base that undergoes a cold infusion to preserve the natural colors and flavors of mandarin/tangerine concentrate, orange zest and orange blossom extract. The result is “a delightful and transient orange nose, positive juniper upfront, then citrus complexity and a natural sweetness in the finish,” remarks Distiller Ernie Troth.
Indeed, The Perfect Purée helps impart fruit flavors into a wide variety of products. There’s no need to peel, dice, or juice. Breweries and distilleries can stock facilities with purées, concentrates, zests, and blends. And because consumers these days demand pure, quality ingredients, the Napa-based purée company is the perfect fit for today’s brewers and distillers.
Visit perfectpuree.com/brewing to learn more about brewing with purées. Head Brewer Patrick Shearer says the flavor impact of The Perfect Purée Mandarine/Tangerine Concentrate on the best-selling Yu Tang is immense. “The bright orange color and complex citrus aroma and flavor was an instant hit,” he says. The concentrate also saves on shipping costs since a little goes a long way.
