Figs in Brew

[Daniel Parshley]

As if I did not learn my lesson with pineapple, I'm going to try figs. It is a banner year for Turkey Figs, plump and sweet, and I have a pile of them. To keep it sterile, I plan on putting them in the boil. Anyone tried this? I'm thinking something like a brown ale might do well. Some Victory, Special B, Dark #350, and a bit of Crystal #20. Pale Ale DME will be the base.

 

[Minbari]

Honestly, i world just chunk them up and put them in the fermenter after active fermentation started. Maybe run them through a food processor to get the most out of them.

If you cook them, they won't taste right, just my opinion.

 

[Sunfire96]

I feel like figs are easily replicated in ale with specialty malts, special b and whatnot. I would do a cider or mead it if were me. Maybe a sour

Honestly if I had tons of figs on hand I would eat buratta with crustinis and balsamic glaze and fresh basil with a pile of cut figs or reduce them down with some honey or brown sugar and do a roasted pork tenderloin with fig sauce glaze

 

[Megary]

If I were to make a beer that was trying to showcase the flavor of figs, my recipe would not include too many specialty malts that might bury the flavor of the figs. I would also try and add the figs at different steps in the process…boil, fermentation and maybe even the keg. I’m not against a Brown Ale, but I’d skip the Special B and 350. Just my opinion.

As a fig lover, I’m super intrigued by this experiment. Please keep us posted..

Also, save some figs and do exactly as @Sunfire96 suggests!

 

[Semper Sitientum]

There’s a local brewery that add dates to a coconut porter after initial fermentation. I think figs could be handled in the same fashion. I feel adding them to the boil would just extract sugar but not do much for flavor. As far as sanitation goes, I’d chop them up and soak them in a little vodka then drain before adding to your fermenter.

 

[J A]

I threw a bunch of fresh figs into a beer with a slightly off fermentation to do a wild "farmhouse" ale. It wasn't particularly good - just a mild sour. If you enjoy sour beers, it was a good example, I suppose.
In the end, they'll just add more fermentable sugar than flavor, assuming you throw them into the boil late. If you use them fresh, you could get some interesting wild yeast if that's your thing. If it was me, I'd make a bunch of preserves and skip the beer addition.

 

[Donoroto]

As mentioned, fig flavor might get lost in a boil.
There are ways to sanitize ir sterilize without boiling.

 

[Bigbre04]

i would crush them or blend them. Then freeze them in a container. you can then add them to a blender with some vodka to make them into a slurry to dump into the fermenter.

freezing should help make the flavors more available due to breaking open the cells. same with blending them.

 

[Mont Y. Märzen]

My usual procedure with any fruit is a freeze-thaw-smash-freeze-thaw cycle. Sometimes I'll repeat that two or three times depending on the fruit. (weaker flavors like watermelon tend to benefit from more than one cycle, and generally have to sit in the beer longer)

I have ready access to copious amounts of figs so I might try using them one day.

A fellow club member has made several batches of Fig Brown over the years. His brother makes Fig Preserves and he just adds a quart or so of this about 5 minutes left in the boil. There is no negative impact on flavor and it turns out as expected. I don't know the precise ratio of sugar:figs (probably 1:1) used in his preserves, but having made them myself, I can say they are safely cooked down and even 5 minutes would be sufficient to sanitize them. That preserve process concentrates sugars as well. (not really sure why it is so common to add *more* unless you are trying to become diabetic)

If I were to attempt this in a beer, I might do a split boil and add cooked 'preserves' (no added sugar) to one batch and just my usual freeze-thaw to another. (generally post-fermentation like a dry hop, for about 2+ days, tasting along the way until I like the flavor and aroma) I'm going to hazard a guess that the boil-preserve batch would make a better Brown due to the richer flavor being added and the fermenter-only batch would be better in a Amber or Coffee Blonde. Either method might work for a fruited Dunkleweizen. I would not expect Figs to pair well with Saison yeast.

 

[Mont Y. Märzen]

I feel like figs are easily replicated in ale with specialty malts, special b and whatnot. I would do a cider or mead it if were me. Maybe a sour

Honestly if I had tons of figs on hand I would eat buratta with crustinis and balsamic glaze and fresh basil with a pile of cut figs or reduce them down with some honey or brown sugar and do a roasted pork tenderloin with fig sauce glaze

My Uncle once suggested coating a near-finished Brisket with Fig Preserves and letting it ride another half-hour or so after unwrapping. Best Brisket - Ever!