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Using Dried Figs During Beer Fermentation

Has anyone had any experience using dried figs in the fermenter. I am fermenting a Belgian Dark and when fermentation slows, I will be adding some Dark Candi Sugar and Figs. I bought some dried turkish figs from the supermarket. Some brands seemed to add Potassium Sorbate to preserve. The ones I picked up have no preservatives. I plan on chopping them up and steeping them in a small amount of hot water to sanitize and rehydrate.

Has anyone done this? Are Turkish Figs any better or worse than Mission Figs?

Tags: belgian, candi, figs, sugar

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Permalink Reply by Mike Sodano on January 18, 2010 at 11:04pm: My Figgy Puddin' spiced winter warmer used fresh figs. I peeled them, dipped them in some vodka, then added to the secondary fermenter along with a dry yeast packet. Fermentation restarted, probably converting the sugars in the fresh figs. The figs remained on the surface. I left in secondary for about 30 days.
The fig flavor was very subtle. You got it mostly as a dry finish.
Fresh figs are tough to find. They spoil very quickly whether at room temp or refrigerated. I have a fig tree in my yard. I collected them daily, rinsed then froze them immediately. Upon use I thawed in the freezer bag, peeled then used immediately.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Jeff Louella on January 22, 2010 at 12:21pm: So I contacted Sean Paxton (http://www.homebrewchef.com/) about this. He uses dry mission figs in his Monk's Blood recipe. He agreed with my plan and added some comments, this is what I did.

I cut up the Black Mission Figs into 4's and put them into a small pot. I added just enough water to cover them. I brought the water up to 160-170 degrees and kept it there for 15 minutes to sanitize. The hot water also helps pull some of the sugars out of the figs. I also added a 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon and a sliced bourbon vanilla bean to the concoction. The aroma was amazing. I let the let the mixture cool a little and poured it into the fermentor.

I added the Candi sugar 2 nights before. I am doing this all in the primary. I waited until primary fermentation started to slow down. When I added the Candi Syrup, Fermentation went nuts. 2 days later that slowed, then added the figs. I will be adding Pectic Enzymes to help break and haze the fruit puts off. I will then cold crash and put into a keg. In the end I am expecting a nice Belgian dark that is about 7%. Nothing too big.; ▶ Reply to This