Medlar Beer

[thebrewingman]

I have a medlar tree in my garden (which I have grown from a sapling) and this year it produced a lot of fruit.

After not being able to find any hint of a recipe for Medlar Beer on the inter web net thingy I decided to have a go at concocting my own recipe. The first problem I had was how to use the medlars in the beer, should I use them whole, bletted or unbletted, and when should I add them to the brew. After much deliberation, and making some medlar jelly (jammy sort of stuff), I decided to use bletted medlars, scooped the flesh out and passed it through a sieve to make a puree. This I added to the wort after boiling before I pitched the yeast.

For the brew itself, I used one of my standard bitter recipes but scaled down, and used the oldest, blandest hops I had so they would not overpower the fruit.

Having had the beer in a polypin for a week now, I tried it today and was pleasantly surprised. Five hundred grams of puree in a five gallon brew adds a fruity (and slightly medlary) taste that does not overpower the beer. I think I got the hops right as it is slightly bitter but not overpoweringly so. It makes a pleasant beer that is that bit different.

If anyone would like the recipe I used, PM me and I will let you have it.

Whilst this beer is not the "Dogs Bollocks", I think I will call it the "Cul de Chien".