[geek_chaser]

i was looking into brewing an apricot beer, but i tried one from Pyramid and it was really perfumy.  is there a way to make it so its not so over powering and taste like perfume? i want the flavor, the sweetness, but i dont want it to kick me in the mouth with floral. any good recipes out there or am i reaching?

[morticaixavier]

i was looking into brewing an apricot beer, but i tried one from Pyramid and it was really perfumy.  is there a way to make it so its not so over powering and taste like perfume? i want the flavor, the sweetness, but i dont want it to kick me in the mouth with floral. any good recipes out there or am i reaching?

you won't get the sweetness from any real fruit. any sugar you add that tastes sweet will ferment out. there are artificial sweeteners you can use that don't ferment out but they tend to leave unpleasant flavours as well as sweetness. There are un-fermentable natural sugars you can add (sorbitol, lactose) but they tend to be a lot less sweet than fermentables.

Apricots are pretty perfumy. I think that's the nicest thing about them. I don't know if pyramid uses real fruit, extract, or a combination but if you use real fruit the aroma and flavor will be somewhat more subdued. You also have control over how much fruit/flavoring to add so you can experiment and find a balance you like.

[HoosierBrew]

I've made many fruit beers for my wife and I think you'll get what you want if you leave out the little bottle of "flavoring" that brew shops love to sell. My understanding is that quite a few breweries and brewpubs that make fruit beers use fruit or fruit puree (often in secondary), but then reinforce the fruit flavor and aroma by adding these similar flavoring products at bottling or to the serving vessel. And apricots have a wonderful aroma as is - I think the flavoring bottles add a strong but artificial (go figure) flavor and aroma.
 I would take a basic American Wheat base recipe, add a can or two of Oregon apricot puree to a secondary fermenter, and leave as is. I've done it and my wife has loved it - and no artificial fruit character !  Good luck !

[reverseapachemaster]

I agree; using actual fruit alone lessens that perfume quality. No essence/extract/whatever at bottling.

[Iliff Ave]

This beer has won gold at GABF. They might be able to provide some pointers...

http://drydockbrewing.com/our-beer/apricot-blonde-2

[thebigbaker]

Dry Dock is about 10 mins from my house and their Apricot Blonde is fantastic!  I'm not a big fruit beer fan, but this one won me over.  They add apricot purée 3-5 days after fermentation begins and adds apricot extract at canning/ kegging.  Northern Brewer has their recipe and kit on their website .

[geek_chaser]

thanks everyone. i think i will play with it, definitely. i love fruity 'girly' flavors, but that one was too much. hopefully i can tone it down. i cant wait to try it.

[reverseapachemaster]

Dry Dock is about 10 mins from my house and their Apricot Blonde is fantastic!  I'm not a big fruit beer fan, but this one won me over.  They add apricot purée 3-5 days after fermentation begins and adds apricot extract at canning/ kegging.  Northern Brewer has their recipe and kit on their website .

Interesting. I didn't get any of that fake/chemically extract flavor in their beer. I wonder what brand they use and how they are dosing it. I've seen the NB version but that doesn't mean the process in the NB recipe aligns perfectly with the brewhouse process.

[PAYCHECK]

i was looking into brewing an apricot beer, but i tried one from Pyramid and it was really perfumy.  is there a way to make it so its not so over powering and taste like perfume? i want the flavor, the sweetness, but i dont want it to kick me in the mouth with floral. any good recipes out there or am i reaching?

I am just about to go to secondary with my Apricot IPA.  I made a 10 Gal. Batch and prepared my apricots ahead of time this way.  Fresh apricots from the tree, 8 lns, seeded and washed in RO water.  Place on a sanitary sheet pan and baked at 275 deg. F. for 4 hours.  Now I have a totally sanitary Apricot mash, that is fruity, caramel and deep in color.  I added this puree after thawing to 1 cup of Titos Vodka and let stand for 1 hour.  I then added this to flame out and whirl pooled for about 15 minutes.  I went into Fermentor not stopping any of the puree or skin, or pulp which if I had to guess was about 30% of total added, beginning gravity was 1.065, into secondary gravity was 1.021, I am hoping after two weeks at 53 deg. F. I will end up at 1.010.  Either way the apricot smell is luscious, rich, not perfumy but natural and tart and it has colored the beer with a light orange tinge.  Loving it so far.