Fruit Beers are in Season

BY DAVID NUTTALL

There is no more polarizing category of beer than fruit beers. Love ‘em or hate ’em, since fruit can be added to any beer style, the variety is almost endless. However they are viewed, they are more prevalent now than any time since commercial brewing began.

Fruit beers are not a new creation, they were probably among the first beers ever brewed. If you go back 10,000 years or so, it is almost certain fruit was one of the ingredients. Grains, water, and yeast by themselves do not make a very tasty beverage, so gruit (a form of herb and spice mixture) was added, sometimes with other ingredients, including fruit. As beer production moved north out of warmer climates, fresh fruit was harder to come by, and gruit took over until hops became the dominant bittering agent, about one thousand years ago.

Fruit beers were still brewed, just more as a specialty item.

The Reinheitsgebot (German Purity Act) banned adjuncts such as fruit in much of central Europe for almost 500 years beginning in 1516. Other brewing countries not named Belgium stuck with the standard four ingredients for beer since fruit can be hard to secure and a pain to work with. As breweries grew in size during the Industrial Revolution, fruit was almost completely abandoned as an unnecessary ingredient for their mainstream beers. Worldwide, very few beers contained fruit until the arrival of the craft beer movement in the 1980s, where the mandate was to produce beers different from those brewed by the larger breweries. In addition to reviving long forgotten or underproduced beer styles, fruit beers returned.

What format of fruit is used, and when in the brewing process it is added, is different for each beer. From the mash through fermentation, it is also sometimes blended in with the finished beer. Fresh fruit, juice, puree, concentrate, and artificial flavouring or extracts, are all used depending on what kind of beer the brewmaster is trying to create, ranging from those with just a hint all the way to intense fruit-bombs.

Using whole fresh fruit is the ideal, but it has many drawbacks. Even in season, it is not consistent and could have rotten or unripe elements. Fruit has variable sugar levels that affect fermentation and may introduce unwanted wild yeasts and microbes into the beer. It sometimes requires special equipment and is time-consuming to use if it needs to be processed. Furthermore, it can also be messy, sticky, and possibly clog the mechanics.

Juice is a better option without all the solid waste concerns; however, it is often acidic with preservatives and/ or sweeteners. After fermentation, its stability and flavour profile fall into question. Likewise, concentrates might also be acidic and sweetened to the point where the brewer must be careful to watch the alcohol level produced during fermentation. Natural and artificial fruit extracts have stability but do not always produce the quality desired. However, used in small quantities, they help enhance beer post-fermentation.

Purees are preferred as the closest to whole fruit but sometimes contain undesirable elements like pulp, pectin, or higher unwanted sugar levels. They may also be unstable and have a short shelf life. Despite this, they are typically easy to work with and are cheaper than fresh fruit, with greater availability throughout the year.

The best fruit beers have a good expression of the fruit with some semblance of beer flavour that makes the consumer know they are not drinking a vodka cooler. Brewers find which beer styles work well with the fruit they manage to procure and what will sell. There are hundreds of examples available in Alberta, and almost every local brewery has at least one (and usually many more) fruit beers in their portfolio. Here are a few common styles with some local examples.

Wheat Ales

This is one of the first styles to be fruited by craft breweries. Calgary’s Wild Rose Wraspberry and Edmonton’s Alley Kat Aprikat have been around since both breweries opened in the mid-1990s, and each are core beers and best sellers. The spiciness of wheat in a lightly hopped ale harmonizes with most fruitmost Belgian style beers such as Trappist/abbey beers, saisons, wits, and sours all begin with a wheat ale base.

Brewster’s Brewfoot Blueberry Ale 816255, $18 6 pk. cans

Alley Kat Aprikat 883683, $18 4 pk. cans

Wild Rose Wraspberry 811385, $15 4 pk. cans

Sours

If there is one category of beer where fruit is commonly present, it is the sours. Because so many of them have a tart and funky taste due to wild yeast or bacteria, fruit is often used as a sweetener to make them more palatable. Sours were formerly produced only in small European breweries; they have since graduated to become the darling of the craft beer industry. Multiple varieties of sours abound, and their flavour profiles are all over the board, but if you want to try fruit beers, here is a good place to start.

Blindman Dwarf Sour Cherry Fruit Saison 848686, $16 500 mL bottle

Sawback Brewing Blueberry and Pomegranate Sour Ale 105336, $20 4 pk. cans

Gose

Goses are technically sours that originated in Goslar, Germany, and are known for containing salt and coriander. While original German versions rarely appear in the Alberta market, craft breweries have taken up the slack. Since the classic style is somewhat an acquired taste, by dropping the coriander and adding fruit, brewers create a beer that is tasty and refreshing. Think of how well salt marries with watermelon or limes, and you get the idea.

Vaycay Brew Co. Kona Krush Charred Pineapple Gose 112496, $18 4 pk. cans

Field and Forge Lime Gose, 820389 $15 4 pk. cans

Lambic has run Brew Ed monthly beer education classes in Calgary. Follow @abfbrewed.

Coming from the Senne Valley of Belgium, lambics are wheat ales fermented with local wild yeasts that produce an almost cider-like beer. They are aged in barrels and blended with up to 30 percent juice from apples, peaches, raspberries, and blackcurrants, although other fruits are also used.

Boon and Lindemans are the two main breweries that appear in the Alberta market, and both have several varieties worth seeking out.