24 July 2020

Pineapple Beer Home Brew

By In Travel

As part of our What we’ve learned in Lockdown series this recipe for pineapple beer has been tried and tested.

While most of us have only recently made peace with the fact that pineapple is actually acceptable on pizza, don’t go off on a tangent if you don’t agree. You’re going to want to hold on to your hats because now pineapples have infiltrated our beer too.

Jokes aside, South Africa is one of the only countries who’s response to fighting Covid-19 includes an alcohol sale ban. In a country where drinking is a national sport and people are natural problem solvers, the solution was very quickly shared far and wide.

You probably didn’t know this but honourary Louwkuls member, aka our dad, actually brews real proper beer so this came very natural.

In the words of President Ramaphosa: “with immediate effect” here is what you’ll need to get brewing;

Ingredients

  • 1x large pineapple (chopped skin and all)
  • 2 litre of boiling water
  • 3 cups of sugar (white sugar if you like lagers, brown sugar if you prefer rich ales)
  • 5 raisins
  • 1/2 teaspoon yeast
  • Tea cloth and elastic

The second batch we added cinnamon sticks, ginger and one star anise. Go wild if you feel adventurous.

 

Method

Dissolve the sugar in the boiling water. Wash the pineapple, chop off the leaves but use the skin and chunks in the brew. You can add any other admixtures now BUT hold the yeast back until the brew has cooled to room temperature. The yeast can die if added to hot water. After adding the yeast give it a good stir and cover with the breathable cloth. Store in warm place out of direct sunlight. (to fight the cold we actually stored our jars in a cooler box with a warm water bag to keep them cozy). If you panic bought a thermometer you can now finally use it, try and keep the temperature around 25 Degrees.

After 5 days give it a taste, if it’s very sweet it can go some more, if it’s bitter but not vinegarish it’s time to bottle. If it’s pure vinegar you went too far. Chuck that and start from step 1, no worries, you’ve got time.

 

Bottling

Your brew is flat at this point and the only way for it to build up gas is to ferment a little bit more inn the bottles. We recommend adding 2 raisins to a 2 litre bottle as this gives it a little bit of sugar to help create the bubbles you want. We prefer plastic bottles as you can feel the pressure build. – remember to recycle afterward though. To make the most of added mixtures we bottle the brew with some of the spices and fruit pieces and only filter when pouring. If you like a crisp clean drink, filter it before you bottle.

Store it in the same warm spot and check it every 6 hours. You should feel the pressure in the bottle building. It helps to roll the bottle for the Co2 to be absorbed. DO NOT OPEN IT.

When you feel the bottle is rock hard pop it into the fridge. Once again the Co2 is better absorbed with chilled fluid and once cold now it’s time to sample your product.

Disclaimer:

We can also confirm that if you don’t add foreign objects to your brew it’s highly unlikely to kill you like SAB and the mass media is trying to convince you. Oh and yes, people add weird stuff to their family recipes from torch batteries to pool acid, THIS WILL RESULT IN INJURY OR DEATH.

Do send us pictures and feedback.

Written by The Louwkuls

a guy, a girl & an old land rover

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