Fruitcake Holiday Ale - The Conclusion

Fruitcake Holiday Ale Part 1 and Part 2 covered the tincture recipe development and production. And now, the stirring conclusion!

Over the weekend I sampled the second iteration. It tasted a lot like the first iteration: fruit forward and sweet. I'm not sure the clementine added much. There still wasn't enough spice to round it out, so I added an additional clove and 3 allspice berries. I let it rest overnight then tried it again. Better, but still not enough spice.

I'm averse to overdoing clove since it may taste like a flaw, so I looked for something else. I found some whole grains of paradise in the jumble I call a spice cabinet. Grains of paradise look like tiny peppercorns but the flavor is milder. When crushed, it gives off what I'd describe as an piney, evergreen aroma. Seems like something that would make a tasty gin. I threw in ¼ tsp of crushed grains of paradise, then gave it another overnight rest.

I emptied the jar to strain out the tincture. (I use a silicone funnel with a removable screen plug.) After much pressing and stirring, I only got 8oz. I was aiming for 12oz. Uh oh. I scaled up the fruit and liquor 200% from the initial recipe (thus tripling the batch) but the output was only up 100%. I'm guessing liquid absorption isn't exactly linear.

Straining the tincture

I really didn't want to dump everything into the keg, but I couldn't press out any more liquid. The best solution I could come up with was to rinse the fruit with liquor until I hot my target volume. I scooped about ¼ of the fruit into the funnel then doused with roughly 1oz of liquor (I used Malibu pineapple rum and Dogfish Head vanilla vodka). The tincture flavor didn't change much, so I figure I got some more fruit and spice out if it.

I slowly depressurized the keg and added the 12oz of tincture to roughly 4.5 gallons of old ale. I gave it a quick shake, then pressurized to 8 psi. The leftover fruit went into the fridge for later use. Definitely good on vanilla ice cream. Maybe a fruitcake cookie? 

I pulled a pint the next day. The beer is a bit cloudier than the base, with some fruit skin in it. The mouthfeel is smooth and thick, almost syrupy. The flavor is fruity but not cloying. Cherry and raisin are noticeable up front, with ginger and spice bringing up the rear. The finish is raisiny with minimal aftertaste.

Parting thoughts

All in all, this turned out pretty well. I expect the fruit to fade some over time, and I'm crossing my fingers for a better fruit/spice balance. Next time I'll include some other fruits like fig and blueberry. The macadamia liqueur basically disappeared in this recipe. Short of adding toasted nuts, I'd look for a liqueur made with a stronger flavored nut. Frangelico (hazelnut) or Rivulet (pecan) would be good to try.