How to Make Apricot Beer

Apricot beer is a fairly popular choice for a fruit beer. This recipe should produce a light ale with a strong hop bite. Apricots have a mild flavor and an interesting variation on this recipe would be to keep the apricot mash during the primary fermentation stage for a full-bodied apricot flavor.

Things You'll Need

• 4 1/2 lbs light dry malt extract
• 2 1/2 lbs apricots
• 1 lb German pilsner malt
• 3/4 cup corn sugar
• 1 oz Chinook hops
• 1/2 oz Mt. Hood hops
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp Irish moss
• 1 packet ale yeast

Instructions

1. Place the pilsner malt in a grain bag and pour 2.5 gallons of cold water into a pot. Raise the water temperature to 150 degrees and steep the malt for one hour. Strain and sparge the grain.

2. Add the malt extract and boil for 30 minutes. Add the Chinook hops, salt and Irish Moss, and boil for another 28 minutes. Add the Mt. Hood hops and continue boiling for two more minutes. Pit and halve the apricots while the wort is boiling. Add the apricots at the end of the boil and allow the wort to cool for 10 minutes.

3. Sparge the wort into the primary fermentation vessel and top off to 5 gallons. Allow it to cool for 12 hours and add the yeast.

4. Ferment for one week and rack the beer to the secondary fermentation vessel. Allow the beer to ferment for at least another week.

5. Top off the beer to 5 gallons, add the sugar and bottle. Wait at least one week before drinking.

Resources

• Read what beer drinkers think about apricot beer.