[ranchovillabrew]

Has anyone used prickly pears in a beer? They opuntia will be loaded with them soon.

Last year at the Firestone beer festival I tried a prickly pear Saison from New Belgium that I really liked. 

When I was in college we used to steep them in spiced cider and drink it warm with early times whiskey when camping on the Channel Islands.

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[euge]

I have a bunch forming on my cacti. If I can get to them before the critters do a Saison sounds like the ticket!

[snowtiger87]

That has been my plan for a while now. I just have to get the prickly pears when they are in season. It requires a lot of them to get much flavor.

[HoosierBrew]

Isn't prickly pear sort of tart and pinkish/red ?  I was thinking it was. If so, that'd be great in saison.

[ranchovillabrew]

It is. Not a ton of flavor. I was thinking about 2 lbs per gallon

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[HoosierBrew]

That sounds like a nice match with saison. And the added color would be a bonus.

[snowtiger87]

Yes, I was thinking 2 lbs per gallon as well. Maybe have it ready for Valentine's Day.

[ranchovillabrew]

Just harvested about 100 prickly pears yesterday.  Processed them today, flamed off the glochids,  peeled and pureed, strained the seeds out.  I got about 1 gallon of juice.  I will add some to the boil and some in secondary.  I tried a little in my agave wheat  tonight and love it. I decided to brew my agave wheat substituting local cactus honey for the agave nectar and adding the prickly pears.  I will brew next week.  Froze the juice tonight. 

[morticaixavier]

I would skip adding it to the boil. You will set the pectin and lose a lot of flavor and aroma

[ranchovillabrew]

Thanks for the tip.  I will not boil it

[HoosierBrew]

I would skip adding it to the boil. You will set the pectin and lose a lot of flavor and aroma

+1.  I'd add it to secondary and rack on top of the puree. The turbulence of primary fermentation can drive off more of the fruit character with the CO2 than in a gentler secondary fermentation. I look forward to hearing how it comes out. Sounds really interesting in a saison.

[58limited]

This sounds interesting. How is the taste when used in a beer? The one time I tried prickly pear fruits (tuna) I thought it tasted like cotton candy/bubble gum. Plus, it had a lot of gelatin consistency. I would like to attempt a mead with them.