Author: Steve Thanos
I make a good portion of what I drink these days, but I still end up purchasing a quite a bit of commercial beer as well. When my wife has jokingly called me out on this, I’m sure to let her know “it’s for research!” This is exactly what happened when I cam upon some commercial beers that were made with yuzu, a citrus fruit said to possess a pungent blend of lemon and mandarin characteristics with notes lime and grapefruit.
Originally from central China and Tibet, yuzu is believed to have been introduced to Japan and Korea during the Tang Dynasty sometime in the 1st century, and more recently, it’s being grown in Europe and Oceania. While the United States restricts the import of yuzu fruit due to concerns over agricultural diseases, processed yuzu fruit is allowed into the country, and it’s even being grown in some parts of California.
Fortunately for me, several local breweries have brewed beers with yuzu juice, and I found each to possess a unique citrus tartness that made them extremely refreshing. Inspired by these delicious examples, I picked up some yuzu juice that I found online and designed a recipe I felt would allow it to shine!
| Making Existentialism In A Short Pour Yuzu Blonde Ale |
I went with a single-hop Blonde Ale recipe as my goal was for the bready and toasty malt flavors to serve as a nice backdrop for the yuzu.
Existentialism In A Short Pour Yuzu Blonde Ale
After collecting the full volume of filtered water and adjusting it to my desired profile, I lit the flame under the kettle then proceeded to weigh out and mill the grain.
Once the water was adequately heated, I incorporated the grains then checked to make sure it was at my target mash temperature.
While the mash was resting, I prepared the kettle hop additions.
Once the 60 minute mash was complete, I removed the grains then boiled the wort for 60 minutes before rapidly chilling it with my JaDeD Brewing Hydra IC. A hydrometer measurement showed the wort was at my target 1.051 OG.
After transferring the chilled wort to a fermenter, I placed it in my chamber for a couple hours to finish chilling to my desired fermentation temperature of 66°F/19°C, at which point I pitched a pouch of Imperial Yeast A07 Flagship.
With signs of fermentation activity absent after a week of fermentation, I took a hydrometer measurement confirming FG had been reached.
At this point, I poured the entire 3.5 oz/104 mL of yuzu juice into a sanitized keg before transferring the beer on top of the juice.
Once the keg was filled, I immediately placed it on gas in my kegerator with the expectation that the cool environment would halt any refermentation. After a week of conditioning, the beer was carbonated and ready to drink!
| IMPRESSIONS |
I’m not typically a big fan of fruit beers, as I often perceive them as being overly sweet, which diminishes the other “beery” characteristics I enjoy. They also tend to come off as tasting a bit artificial to me, sometimes to the point of having a medicinal quality. My inspiration to brew a beer using yuzu juice is due solely to the fact I didn’t perceive such undesirable flavors in the commercial examples I tried.
I’m happy to report that Existentialism In A Short Pour was a resounding success, in fact I’ve no qualms calling this the best beer I brewed in all of 2023. Despite the relatively small amount of juice used in this beer, it has a pungent citrus note on the nose with a favorable blend of lemon on the palate that was beautifully complimented by the bready malt. The Cashmere hop character I expect was there, but it was almost like the yuzu juice amplified the fruitiness in a truly remarkable way.
I loved this beer.
So often, I brew up an experimental batch and it ends up sitting around for a month of two, but this keg was empty in no time because I couldn’t keep my hands off it. I will absolutely be brewing with yuzu juice more and can see it working beautifully in a number of styles, though I’m most excited to try it out in a quick sour ale. I was a little worried that adding it directly to the keg without first stabilizing or pasteurizing it might be problematic, but that didn’t seem to be the case at all. Yeah, I really loved this damn beer!
As an aside, I entered Existentialism In A Short Pour in the 2023 Brew At The Bridge competition where it took 3rd place in the fruited beer category.
If you have thoughts about this recipe or experience making something similar, please feel free to share in the comments section below!
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11 thoughts on “Brü It Yourself | Existentialism In A Short Pour Yuzu Blonde Ale”
I’m especially intrigued by this recipe for two reasons. First I learned of yuzu was in a dipping sauce used at a Japanese restaurant; spectacular. I’m extremely open to acidified brews and why not? I love cocktails with citrus such margaritas and mojitos, but I steer away from bitter cocktails such as those with Campari. No surprise that I never jumped on the uber bitter beers bandwagon. I literally trotted out this old, thread-bare expression the first time I had a sour beer: where have you been all my life?! Mind you, I am not talking about sour beers you serve with a sugar bowl, those that can dissolve dental enamel.
You inspire me to delve further into this category!
So good to hear about your inspiration to jump into this realm of brewing. Let me know how it turns out. Cheers!
I’ve had a few yuzu beers but never felt like I could really taste the yuzu. I’ll have to give this one a try!
Also it looks like there might be a typo. The linked Brewfather recipe is completely different from the recipe you have posted here – every malt and hops are different, ABV is different – maybe a copy/paste glitch?
This looks like a really interesting recipe, thank you for sharing it! While I don’t usually like fruited beer, yuzu drinks have been a happy discovery in the last year, and I could see this beer in a small batch being a refreshing change of pace. Especially since you emphasized a hop complementing citrus flavor, rather than something that stands out on its own (i.e. blueberry blonde) against the hops and malt.
I’m curious about the sugars in yuzu juice, you mentioned leaning on the low temp in the keg to prevent further refermentation. When I was looking around online, some yuzu juices report 0g sugar per serving though. Being someone who still bottle conditions (I know, I know…), I’m wondering if I’d want to back off my sugar for carbonation.
Do you have any advice on the best was to go about determining fermentable sugars in yuzu juice, or any other added juice that might not have well known fermentable sugar content?
I’m very excited to try this recipe, thanks for sharing. Cheers!
Shamus, I think if you are worried about the re-fermentation, I would just add that camden tablet for added insurance. It can’t hurt. Cheers!
Clearly this worked very well. I’m interested to understand your reasoning for adding the juice post fermentation rather than into the FV at the start of fermentation?
Simply put, I wanted to taste the yuzu juice. I was also afraid that the juice would just ferment out and none of the yuzu greatness would be left.
I’ve never had yuzu in beer, but I fondly remember a cucumber & yuzu sorbet that I had at a restaurant years ago.
I thought about using it in beer, but shied away from it due to the price – but if 100ml is all you need for an entire batch, then I have to give this a shot!
Thanks for the inspiration!
Brew it! Get back to me after you tried it. Cheers!
I brewed this recipe a few weeks ago and tapped the keg last night for the NFC Championship game with about 30 friends (go Lions!)… I’m guessing we polished half of it off in one night. It was a hit, tasted great, and I will definitely be brewing it again. Thanks for the great recipe!
That’s awesome! I wish the second half of the Lions game was as good as your delicious beer. Thanks for the kind words. Keep brewing! Cheers!