Plum Saison

[Halycon]

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First of all Happy New Year to one and all
Ok Hive mind lets see what you come up with with this one!
We have a superb plum tree here in Mid Canterbury which last year gave just over 100kg of plums and I tried(and when I mean I tried!) to brew a plum saison
Grain bill was 4kg pilsner,450gm wheat,250gm golden promise,150 each of crystal rye and dark Munich ,yeast was Monastery Ale yeast
all went well and I crushed 4kg of plums which gave just under 2ltrs of juice, heated to 80degrees and held for 10 mins, cooled to 25 degrees and added pectolase which was then added to fermenter at 1012 OG
Left a week and then sampled and no discernable taste of plums so I added another 2kg of plum pulp which again I pasteurised
Left another week and then sampled which was really sour so added 50gm lactose which took the edge off it, its now been in bottles since early march last year and it still doesn't really taste of plums!
So where did I go wrong and what's the best way forward as the tree is nearing harvest and im not one to give up
Cheers people and remember every days a school day
Nga mihi Ashley

[IPA]

If the tree is nearing harvest at the beginning of January then it is not a plum tree

[Eric]

Might be in NZ.

[IPA]

Might be in NZ.

Well spotted Eric I didn't notice the "Mid" in front of Canterbury

[nallum]

I think the best bet is to concentrate the normally subtle plum flavour in the fresh fruit, which is mostly water by weight.. Gently simmer several kg mashed fresh plumbs to evaporate most of the water therefore concentrate the flavour. Take some samples along the way to assess how much the flavour increases. I'd aim to evaporate at least 50% of the initial weight.