Priming with grapefruit juice

[fury_tea]

I'm brewing a grapefruit IPA, had the idea to add grapefruit juice to the bottling bucket as my priming sugar. 1 litre of 100% grapefruit juice (no sulphites) contains about 75g of sugar, so 1.5 - 2 litres should get me to around the right sort of place carbonation wise. It'll change the volume of liquid and ABV bit but I'm not bothered about that. I'll be adding grapefruit zest to it when I dry hop but I think layering the flavours with some extra juice can't be a bad idea, can it?

Anybody tried this (or similar)?

 

[DavidDetroit]

I like the grapefruit zest idea.
Unfortunately, I haven't tried a juice for priming.

 

[chrisb8]

Yes I have done exactly what you are considering. I primed an ipa with grapefruit juice to make an elvis juice style beer and it worked well. Work out how much juice will give you the amount of priming sugar required from the information on the carton and I also filtered it through a mesh to remove any bits from the juice.

 

[Drunkula]

I dry hopped with orange peel for a chocolate orange stout that I wasn't happy with the orange level of and it absolutely 10000 percent ruined it. It went from being nice, just not orangey enough to tasting like bubble bath and months and months later it was still absolutely awful.

Maybe I did something wrong but just be careful. If you do it please let us know how it goes, either way.

 

[fury_tea]

I dry hopped with orange peel for a chocolate orange stout that I wasn't happy with the orange level of and it absolutely 10000 percent ruined it. It went from being nice, just not orangey enough to tasting like bubble bath and months and months later it was still absolutely awful.

Maybe I did something wrong but just be careful. If you do it please let us know how it goes, either way.

It's a Christmas brew, it shouldn't last more than a month with my family about, I don't think. I cut a lot more corners than I ever have before though just to get something made quickly (it's a Wilco's IPA tin, kilo of dextrose and 450g of light extract, made with a couple of kettles worth of water and then tap water treated with campden and finally us05). It's fermenting in my airing cupboard due to a lager being in my ferm fridge.

I plan on dry hopping with loads of Amarillo and manderina and whatever else I can find in my freezer, plus the grapefruit peel soaked in a bit of voddy then finally the grapefruit juice on bottling. Hoping that these things will cover up for my utter laziness in the original brew and make something mostly drinkable lol

 

[SteveH]

I did similar with a batch of turbo cider, primed with 300ml of apple juice per 5-litre batch and it worked fine

 

[Drunkula]

Actually I did boil up a load of cinnamon sticks and orange peel and other gunk and added the water from that to a beer kit and it worked. My mate really, really loved it.

 

[Rich27]

I'm brewing a grapefruit IPA, had the idea to add grapefruit juice to the bottling bucket as my priming sugar. 1 litre of 100% grapefruit juice (no sulphites) contains about 75g of sugar, so 1.5 - 2 litres should get me to around the right sort of place carbonation wise. It'll change the volume of liquid and ABV bit but I'm not bothered about that. I'll be adding grapefruit zest to it when I dry hop but I think layering the flavours with some extra juice can't be a bad idea, can it?

Anybody tried this (or similar)?

How did it turn out FT?

I added a litre of pink grapefruit juice to my keg for secondary fermentation and dry hopped with 50g of cascade.

It turned out quite bitter and won't clear properly.

I think I should have poured the juice through a piece of muslin first to clear it.

 

[fury_tea]

How did it turn out FT?

I added a litre of pink grapefruit juice to my keg for secondary fermentation and dry hopped with 50g of cascade.

It turned out quite bitter and won't clear properly.

I think I should have poured the juice through a piece of muslin first to clear it.

It came out pretty good I thought. Bottled it in November and I'd say the flavour peaked 2 weeks ago and since then each one I've had has been progressively a bit more bitter, maybe because the hop flavour has subsided a little. I reckon straining is a good idea, I didn't do that and some bottles had a good amount of grapefruit material in them.

It never really cleared fully but I don't mind that considering there was 150g of hops in it.

There's a pic n review in the secret Santa thread here:
Secret Santa 2019 Reviews

 

[Nicks90]

i also primed using grapefruit and it turned out ok, cloudy though.

 

[fury_tea]

Half the commercial IPAs and pale ales I have in the pub these days are cloudy. It's not necessarily a bad thing and in the case of neipa and such it's desirable. If it tastes good that's all that really matters to me, unless I'm brewing a lager that is.

That being said if a very clear beer is your aim I would advise against grapefruit juice as priming sugar based on this experience.

 

[Rich27]

i also primed using grapefruit and it turned out ok, cloudy though.

Yeah I also put my first hops in at the start of PF so it's quite bitter/sour.

With the cloudy appearance it's hard to distinguish whether it's not oxidized or off in any way.

 

[Hoppy]

Adding acidic products to beer will throw a protein haze, it is due to the reduction of pH. The beer should be stable though and prevent oxidation.

Drunkula-try fresh ground coriander seeds with orange peel, coriander has similar terpene oils to hops and goes really well.

 

[Drunkula]

Drunkula-try fresh ground coriander seeds with orange peel, coriander has similar terpene oils to hops and goes really well.

Even as a 'dry hop'? I've done them in the boil and made a tea: great. Peel in secondary: puke juice.

 

[Hoppy]

Sorry, Count! Should have been more specific, both in the boil 5-10 mins from end.
You want the yeast to bio-transform the oils, soften and develop depth of flavour.
Only a few grams mind, Iused to put in about 2kg of coriander and 5 of peel! (in 40bbrl, 6500litres).
Pro-rata this and it should be sufficient to notice (think subtle, but there), increase for more prominent intensity.
This was for a drinkable, rather than speciality beer.
BR
H

 

[BradleyW]

Hi guys, just a question regarding using juices or sugar etc. Does it make a big difference when using a juice, which will be pure fructose, as opposed to "normal" sugar which is glucose+fructose?
Cheers

 

[fury_tea]

As far as I can tell, sugar is sugar when priming. Any fermentable sugar will do. Anecdotally I've never noticed any difference between any sugars (table, dextrose, fructose).