TOPIC:

I was hoping to buy bottles to take away in the cafe. Shoot!

As for the pectin issue, heating fruit will usually result in a pectin haze so adding it to cold liquid will reduce this effect. What can also be beneficial is adding pectic enzyme to the batch before adding the fruit. Waiting is another option for clearing a batch. I recommend adding the fruit to cold liquid to reduce the pectic haze but also to retain as much of the delicate melon aroma and flavour that would surely be lost during the boil.

"Ichiban" wrote: As for the pectin issue, heating fruit will usually result in a pectin haze so adding it to cold liquid will reduce this effect.

What a great thing to know. I've heard other ICBers recommend using frozen fruit in the fermenter before but I just assumed that it was to help kill bad thing without having to boil the fruit (and REALLY causing pectin problems), I didn't know that this would also help with pectin haze.

-You CAN buy take away beers from the Westvlettern pub, but by the six pack, and you can only buy what they happen to have there at the time.
-You can buy the "12" one glass at a time in opened bottles only.

There's a couple of off-licenses in Brussels that will sell Westvlettern 12 upon request but they don't put it out front. (I found an "A" rated off license place from Beer Advocate's "beer fly" service and asked if they had any Westy12 and they were more than happy to oblige and chat about beer for a while.)


Adam

"Biertourist":3hwhan6r wrote: There's a couple of off-licenses in Brussels that will sell Westvlettern 12 upon request but they don't put it out front.[/quote:3hwhan6r]I've seen it out on display in Bier Tempel. €7 is the usual price.

"Biertourist":13d8ve8t wrote: I've heard other ICBers recommend using frozen fruit in the fermenter before but I just assumed that it was to help kill bad thing without having to boil the fruit (and REALLY causing pectin problems), I didn't know that this would also help with pectin haze.[/quote:13d8ve8t]

There are two techniques here 1) Usually people freeze the fruit first to break the cell walls and release more sugars aka 'flavours', and freezing can give more confidence in putting unsantizied fruit into an otherwise perfect batch; 2) Putting fruit into the secondary retains more flavour and aroma in the final product. So by freezing the fruit and putting it into the secondary both techniques are being put in effect, with reduced chance of pectin haze. Everyones a winner!