Fig Beer Starts Here
Mission Fig Beer Recipe
Brewing small batches of beer or bigger batches, fig concentrate is your solution for adding fruit flavor. There are a few considerations to account for when adding fig concentrate to beer. Firstly, fig concentrate is roughly 60% fermentable sugars, which must be accounted for when developing the malt bill. The fig concentrate also darkens the color of the liquid and lending body to the beer. Another decision when adding concentrate is whether to add to the boil or during a secondary fermentation. Adding during the last 15 minutes of the boil incorporates the fig flavor into the beer and blends nicely, whereas adding during a secondary fermentation may result in a more fig-forward flavor in the final beer. Either way, the combination of brown ale and Blue Ribbon California Dried Figs is sure to please!
YIELD: 5.5 gallon batch size
INGREDIENTS:
- 10 lbs Pale 2-Row malt
- .75 lbs Chocolate malt
- .5 lbs Crystal 60L malt
- .5 lbs (170ml) Blue Ribbon Fig Concentrate
- .5 oz Cascade 60 minutes
- 1 oz Liberty 30 minutes
- 1 oz Willamette 15 minutes
- White Labs WLP002 English Ale Yeast
INSTRUCTIONS:
Begin your brew by mashing grains at 153°F for 60 minutes, then sparge to collect 6 gallons in the boil kettle. Boil for an hour adding hops as indicated. Add fig concentrate at 15 minutes remaining. It’s best to remove the kettle from the burner for this step to prevent the concentrate from settling to the bottom and scorching. After the boil, cool the wort, transfer to the fermenter, pitch yeast, and ferment at 66° for 12 days or until fermentation is complete. Transfer to a keg or bottle and carbonate. There may be fig particles in suspension, and adding gelatin before packaging may help clear them out of the beer.
Original Gravity: 1.066
Final Gravity: 1.014
ABV: 6.8%
IBU: 29 (calculated)
SRM: 30
Recipe, notes, and photo by Dustin Wenger
Blue Ribbon Fig Concentrate
Bring the taste of summer and autumn into your favorite fermented beverage: fig beer. Brewing small batches of beer with Blue Ribbon Fig Concentrate is a simple way to infuse the distinct honeyed, jammy flavor of California Mission Figs into the beer. California Mission Figs complement several styles of beer, and are often already present to a degree in darker beers such as stouts, porters, and Belgian-style Quads. While those examples are generally higher ABV and intensity, a brown ale is a slightly lighter style and also a natural contender for a fig addition, using Fig Concentrate. This fig beer recipe is for a deep brown ale with fig notes present on the nose and finish. This recipe balances the base caramel and subtle chocolate characteristics of a brown ale with the sweet fig flavor imparted by using Blue Ribbon Fig Concentrate, ideal for brewing small batches of beer
