r/Homebrewing • u/RumpleFordSkin • Aug 07 '26

Fig Beer?

Has anyone made one using fresh figs? I've got a fig tree with a TON of figs on it. Was thinking of making a Brown Ale and using puree made of my figs to add at flameout.

17 Upvotes

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7

u/OneSeat9594 Advanced Aug 07 '26

I did. Tried to add some to a dubbel-ish beer few years back. You need an actual ton of it for it to taste in my opinion. Also I remember us caramelizing them first in a pan. Read somewhere that it increase to flavor in the beer.

10

u/envious_souvenir_che Aug 07 '26

Caramelizing them is the way. My buddy did a raw fig addition once and the beer ended up tasting like wet seeds and vague regret.

How many pounds per gallon did you end up using? I’m sitting on a tree that’s basically threatening me at this point so volume isn’t an issue.

4

u/RumpleFordSkin Aug 07 '26

6 gallon batch. Plan is to puree 2 lbs, Pasteurize it/ cook it down, and add it to flame-out when it hits around 160 degrees and hold it there for 10 minutes.

1

u/OneSeat9594 Advanced Aug 08 '26

That's the worst kind of regret.

2

u/Lil_Shanties Aug 07 '26

I’d second the caramelizing step, did one years ago with raw figs, very ripe but the flavor was awkward fig skin not good delicious fig flavor, I feel like caramelizing them would add a lot of flavor…I’ve also had yogurt that had toasted fig leaves soaked in the milk and the flavor was like the most amazing toasted marshmallow you’ve ever tasted and it was only the toasted leaves.

1

u/RumpleFordSkin Aug 07 '26

Plan is to puree 2 lbs, Pasteurize it and add it to flame-out when it hits around 160 degrees and hold it there for 10 minutes.

1

u/MorBrews Intermediate Aug 07 '26

I did a fig-dubbel too! Cheers bro!

4

u/the_69r Aug 07 '26

My friend made an imperial stout using this fig jam his grandma makes. It’s got some German name I don’t remember, but basically it’s like 50 pounds of figs baked and reduced for like 48 hours and then mashed up to make a a few liters of jam. He put that into the fermenter and transferred a 2/3 fermented beer on top of that. The reduction in fermentation kept some of the fig flavor in there, even though with all the sugar the fermentation kicked up again. It came out absolutely delicious. I think boiling and putting the figs or the jam all the way through fermentation would lose some of the flavor.

2

u/AJ_in_SF_Bay Aug 08 '26

Old recipes like that are disappearing in the world today. At one point in my life, I moved to rural Pennsylvania where there is a large Mennonite community, some Amish, and many Pennsylvania Dutch, who follow the old-world German traditions that came over however many generations ago.

The German-style baked jam technique you’re thinking of is almost certainly Pflaumenmus, originally an oven‑baked plum jam where the fruit is slowly roasted to caramelize the natural sugars, intensify flavor, and evaporate moisture. This produces a thick, spoonable fruit butter with no added pectin and far deeper flavor than stovetop jam.

It doesn't surprise me that they branched out and used figs or anything else. In that community nothing went to waste.

Everything that could be was preserved, pickled, canned, or otherwise "put up" as they would say (e.g., "I am going to go put up these fresh green beans for the winter.").

I captured as many of those recipes as I could get when I lived there. Some of the wives thought I was silly, the big, tall, bearded guy who wanted to learn how to make preserves or pickle something. But that information isn't on the 'Gram or YouTube, not that stuff.

My strong recommendation to your friend: get all of those German grandmother recipes asap. Generational knowledge is rapidly being lost.

If you've read this far...I'd love to try that fig beer combo 😋

1

u/the_69r Aug 08 '26

It was amazing! It got drank real fast lol but it’s about that time of year she might be making some more

2

u/spoonman59 Aug 07 '26

My fine made a fig cider that was awesome

2

u/Metaldwarf Aug 07 '26

Yes, it ALL fermented out. Couldn't taste a hint of fig. Maybe try adding after fermentation?

2

u/Technical_East6812 Aug 07 '26

I’ve made a fig/honey/wheat beer for a while, very nicely enjoyed. Beware fouling kegs w/ fig seeds.

1

u/turby14 Aug 07 '26

I made a Berliner weisse and a fig syrup, turned out great.

1

u/linkhandford Aug 07 '26

I've seen recipes for fruitcake beer that call for figs. Maybe make a Christmas beer and age it?

1

u/Hemileia_foxtrot Aug 07 '26

I did this 15 years ago, used ALOT of figs, ended up with a clear, dry ale. Very good but not figgy

1

u/likes2milk Intermediate Aug 07 '26

How about a figgy braggot?

1

u/Sister_Agnes_ Aug 07 '26

I literally today added fig puree to my Xmas beer. I make a piggy pudding sour with Omega C2C farmhouse yeast each year. Be aware that the beer won't end up clear unless you add pectic enzyme. Even then, it'll be tough. My beer is dark, so I don't care.

1

u/Speakertoseafood Aug 08 '26

My wife wants to know where you live ... Surely you need help with those yummy figs. We're in San Diego :-)

1

u/nodekku Aug 08 '26

In the only beer I had(not brewed) with figs involved they cut them up and added them in the later half of the boil. The beer is sweet and you can taste the figs.

The backstory is that a few years ago archeologists it Paphos, Cyprus, found evidence of beer brewing and malt kilning from almost 4000 years ago. The evidence also suggests that brewers added figs to the beer, although there was no hint on where in the process.

The local microbrewery "Octopus" developed a recipe using mountain herbs and figs in the boil. I've had the beer several times on draft and in bottle. It is very "figgy" but also pretty sweet, probably because they keep it authentic and don't use any hops.

1

u/Bumble_B33r Aug 12 '26

I made a white stout with fig paste. I did 1 with fig and one without the fig version was about 2% abv stronger I think. Both were excellent!

1

u/bierovergold Aug 12 '26

Don’t overlook the leaves! It takes a lot but toast them and make a syrup that has an amazing coconut flavor that, if you’re making the highly recommended dubbel, can be used in place of Belgian Candi syrup along with all the fruit

1

u/Halichoeres_bivittat Aug 07 '26

Enjoy your tiny wasp protein!