Beer and Fruitiness

I wanted to write a post about craft beer, but I realized that putting everything I wanted to say about craft beer into one post would make it a very long post. I am starting with a post about fruity beers, craft beers or otherwise.

A woman drinking a beer
Photo by Engin Akyurt on Pexels.com

First a word about Lager beer. Lager beer is a relatively recent invention that originated in Bavaria. Lager beers use a special kind of yeast for the fermentation process, it is typically bottom fermented, and fermented and conditioned in cool temperatures, unlike other beer styles. Lager beers can be of many colors, pale, amber, dark, even black such as Schwarzbier. The Pale Lager originated in Pilsen in Bohemia (Western Czech Republic) in the mid-19th century. The pale lager has become the world’s most common beer style and bland tasting mass-produced pale lager beers dominate the market. In countries that are not traditional beer countries such as France, Italy, China, Japan and South America, the bland pale lager is very dominant. I’ve come across many people who think that the more tasteless the pale lager is, the better beer it is (Corona).

A photo of a bottle of corona with a lime
Photo by Arthur Swiffen on Pexels.com

Many people believe that beer is the same thing as pale lagers. However, the beer advocate counted 120 beer styles (so far). I can add that some mass-produced American pale lagers, such as Budweiser, contain adjuncts, such as rice and maize, which is prohibited by the German Reinheitsgebot tradition. The Reinheitsgebot tradition states that the only ingredients allowed in beer are water, malt, hops, and yeast and for bottom fermented beer (lager) the malt must be malted barley only. Therefore, what many people think of as beer, well, it’s complicated.

A photo of a bottle of Samuel Adams Remastered Lager.
Samuel Adams Remastered Lager is a pretty good lager beer.

Beers with fruity flavors

Pale lager beers aren’t associated with fruity flavors, which can lead to the incorrect impression that beer with fruity flavors isn’t real beer. However, beers with fruity flavors have a very long history, and many fruity beers, perhaps surprisingly to some, follow the German Reinheitsgebot tradition. In addition, many beers with fruity flavors are among the most celebrated beers in the world. There are many fruit Lambics (Belgium) that are sold for several hundred dollars per bottle. There are a number of ways to add fruit flavors to beer.

  • Hops is a flower that is used as a flavoring and stability agent in beer. It has been used since at least the 9th century and is allowed/part of the Reinheitsgebot tradition. There are at least 147 hop varieties in the world, many of them having fruity flavors. 
  • The fermentation process frequently generates esters (in addition to alcohol), a compound responsible for the fruity aromas and flavors in fruit. The amount of fruitiness that you get depends on the yeast and the grain used. For example, German and Belgian wheat beers often have more or less prominent notes of banana or pear due to an ester called Isoamyl acetate, also known as isopentyl acetate. Belgian lambics (not fruit lambics), gueuze, red flanders, and oud bruin beer styles has tart and very fruity flavors without any fruit or fruit juice being added. 
  • The German Berliner Weisse, a wheat beer, gets its fruity and tart flavor from a bacterium. Traditionally no fruit is added. However, now a day it is very common to add fruit or fruit syrup to enhance the fruit flavor. 
  • Sometimes fruity flavors can to some degree be added by aging the beer in, for example, wine barrels, adding notes of wine or grapes. 
  • Naturally you can also add fruit, or fruit juice, to the fermentation process. This is not in accordance with the German Reinheitsgebot tradition but perfectly acceptable among beer connoisseurs. Many of the highest rated beers in the world are so called fruit lambics that have added fruit. 
  • There are other ways to add fruit flavors in beer but above are four very common ones.

Below are some photos of beers with fruit flavors

Photo of a bottle of 3 Fonteinen Framboos standing on a table. There is a glass filled with Lambic.
The day I launched my book I drank 3 Fonteinen Framboos a so-called fruit Lambic. Raspberries were added to the fermentation process, so it does not follow the German Reinheitsgebot tradition. On the other hand, Reinheitsgebot has little meaning outside Germany and that includes Belgium. This beer is rated 100 out 100 on beer advocate and is listed as one of the best beers in the world.
A can of Yellow Rose an IPA from Lone Pint Brewery, Texas. There is an IPA glass filled with Yellow Rose.
Yellow Rose, Lone Pint, Texas, is my favorite SMASH IPA. SMASH stands for Single Malt And Single Hop. IPA stands for India Pale Ale, and flavorful and bitter beer. The Hop in question is Mosaic Hops, which add notes of mango, other tropical fruits, blueberry, and grapefruit.
A tall glass filled with Hefeweizen beer. The glass has unfortunately a slice of lemon on top.
This is a Hefeweizen that I drank at a brewery in Wisconsin. It had strong notes of banana, in other words Isoamyl acetate, an ester generated during the fermentation process. The lemon slice is technically added fruit, but it happened after brewing and after pouring against my wishes.
A bottle of Oude Geuze from 3 Fonteinen is standing on table in my backyard. Our Pug Daisy is visible in the background.
Oude Geuze from 3 Fonteinen, Belgium, is blend of three Lambics. I think the flavor is tart green apple, lemon, grapefruit, white wine, some oak barrel woodiness. It is very fruity, but all the fruit flavor comes from esters generated during the fermentation process. There is no fruit added.
A bottle of Atrial Rubicite a so called Wild Ale from Jester King, Texas, is standing on a table in my backyard. There is a glass filled with Atrial Rubicite and boot shaped opener.
This is a so-called Wild Ale from Jester King, Texas. It is more specifically a raspberry Wild Ale. It is fermented using wild yeast (giving it a fruity and tart foundation), and raspberries have been added to the fermentation process. The result is a beer that taste like raspberry jam. It’s tart, sweet, thick body, lots of raspberry flavor. Most people that I’ve seen tasting it have a positive reaction to it. They think it is delicious even though it is not what they expect from a beer.
A can of Blue Dream, a Fruited Kettle Sour is standing on my brick wall. Next to it is my snörkel glass filled with Blue Dream.
Blue Dream is a so-called Fruited Kettle Sour from Martin Brewhouse, Fort Worth, Texas. Fruited Kettle Sours are a little different from the five examples I gave above. Bacteria is added to the wort to generate acid/tartness, then the bacteria are killed (boiling). Then it is fermented normally and the fruit, in this case blue raspberry, is added after primary fermentation. It was pretty sour, and it tasted like liquid jolly ranchers. The reactions to it were mixed. I liked it though. This type of beer is an American invention.
Standing on my table in my backyard, a box of Silent Blue (two cans) on the left, a glass of The Silent Blue (purple) in the middle and a can of The Silent Blue on the right.
The Silent Blue is another Fruited Kettle Sour from Martin Brewhouse, Fort Worth, Texas. The fruit/berry used in this case was blueberry, but it was also aged in whiskey barrels giving a whiskey aroma and flavor. So, it tasted like blueberry and whiskey, which I think turned out quite good.
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Author: thomasstigwikman

My name is Thomas Wikman. I am a software/robotics engineer with a background in physics. I am currently retired. I took early retirement. I am a dog lover, and especially a Leonberger lover, a home brewer, craft beer enthusiast, I’m learning French, and I am an avid reader. I live in Dallas, Texas, but I am originally from Sweden. I am married to Claudia, and we have three children. I have two blogs. The first feature the crazy adventures of our Leonberger Le Bronco von der Löwenhöhle as well as information on Leonbergers. The second blog, superfactful, feature information and facts I think are very interesting. With this blog I would like to create a list of facts that are accepted as true among the experts of the field and yet disputed amongst the public or highly surprising. These facts are special and in lieu of a better word I call them super-facts.

26 thoughts on “Beer and Fruitiness”

    1. Yes, beer makes me sleepy too. It didn’t use to but now it does. I am taking medication for high blood pressure, maybe that’s it. What I said about bland pale lagers was to point out that there is so much more to beer than that kind, so you should pick what you like. There are many styles that have low alcohol versions. In addition to light or alcohol free lagers, many lambics and geuze have low alcohol (fruity beers from Belgium), Berliner Weisse, Fruit and Field Beers are often low alcohol, low alcohol IPAs if you like the more bitter/fruity flavor, and there are Sessionable beers of many styles. Sessionable means low enough alcohol that you can drink it between work sessions / lunch without it effecting your work. It says Sessionable on the bottle/can. Having it at work and claiming that it is sessionable may not work in the US though, but I’ve seen the label here and bought sessionable beers many times. Avoid beers that say Double, Tripel, Quadruple, Imperial, Eisbock, whiskey barrel aged, that’s typically strong stuff.

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  3. A friend of mine from the Czech Republic (it was Czechoslovakia when she was left) was quite proud to say she came from the land that originated pilsner. I don’t drink often, but I find myself liking dark beer more these days. I couldn’t stand them when I was a kid.

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    1. Yes it changed the world of beer. I should say I like Pilsner, it is typically good beer, but the invention of pilsner / pale lagers led to massproduced bland lagers, which aren’t pilsner, and that has become the most common beer.

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  5. Hi Thomas, admittedly, I do not drink beer. I don’t like the taste. This fruity beer actually sounds a bit better to me (grin). I enjoyed the details you shared. I included some information about the African beer making process in my micro read book, The Christmas Bird. It is because of that I recognise the term wort that you used in one of your comments.

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    1. I remember “Christmas Bird” and the description of making Umqonbothi, a low alcohol maize and sorghum beer. Umqonbothi is not (yet) listed as a beer style on beer advocate, but it should. As I checked I also noticed that the list of beer styles is now 120, so I have to update this post. The list keeps growing despite the fact that they have merged several styles the Farmhouse Ale styles and Saison have been merged into Saison, and they are not differentiating between Cold IPA and Brut IPA and white stouts from stouts (brown and black).

      If you like fruitiness and don’t mind a little bit of tart a lambic might be for you. Lindemann’s lambics are easy to find and not very tart.

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  6. Wow, what an informative post about beer, Thomas! I mentioned to you that I’m allergic to alcohol. I like the bitter taste of beer but I could only drink 1/8 of a glass before my eyes get puffy. Two friends (both guys are retired engineers) have entensive setup in their garages to make beer. I liked to take a sip of different kinds. My son-in-law grew hops and tried to make beer but the hops didn’t grow too well so he gave up.

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    1. Thank you so much Miriam. Yes I remember you telling me about your allergy. So you have to be careful. It is healthier anyway to skip alcohol. Growing hops is not easy. I have never tried. I think they would grow badly in Texas. However, you can buy hops online and brew at home.

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    1. The raspberry beer, Atrial Rubicite, surprises a lot of people. They think it will taste funny being raspberry beer, and they are really surprised how much they like it. It tastes more like raspberry juice but with a beer, slightly malty characteristic that makes it not juice but something more interesting. My wife and daughter are not beer drinkers, but they loved it, but so does beer connoisseurs. Definitely unique.

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  9. Thanks for the beer education! I’ll admit, it not my usual beverage, but in Germany, I was fond of Dortmunder Union Export Malt Liquor. Stronger than normal beer. I think it was a Pilsener, but they don’t make it any more. I’ve never tried fruity beer. Banana sounds interesting.

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