Tepache Recipe (Pineapple Beer) (2024)

FAQs

How long does it take for pineapple beer to ferment? ›

Ferment for 2 to 5 days at room temperature. Shake the jar daily or stir with a wooden spoon. When bubbles appear and you like the taste, filter the tepache to remove the pineapple and spices. Don't let it ferment too long, as this can alter the taste.

Tepache is a lightly fermented pineapple wine that has very little alcohol, usually about 2% ABV. Because it ferments for so short a time, it's an easy one to make at home. In Mexico, where the drink originates, it is often sold chilled by street vendors, sometimes with a splash of beer in it to up the alcohol content.

Although tepache naturally has a bit of alcohol, you might want to intentionally make yours more alcoholic. To do this you can allow your tepache to ferment for slightly longer, which will raise the alcohol content as the bacteria converts more of the sugar into alcohol.

To determine when the tepache is ready, just taste it! It should have a pleasant, sweet, lightly fermented flavor but you can ferment it longer if you like a more pronounced, boozy flavor.

It is preferable to bottle as soon as the gravity has stabilised, but leaving it in a fridge for a week can help clear and condition your beer if required. If you leave the beer too long you have a higher chance of the yeast cells starting to break down in your beer (autolysis).

Fermentation should activate into two to three days, and the tepache is usually optimal by day five. By then, small bubbles should cover the surface of the ferment. Store tepache in the refrigerator in a covered glass jar for up to a week. You may need to burp the jar, occasionally, to release gas.

A ripe pineapple will make a more flavorful drink—you'll enjoy eating it more too!

Shelf LifeDoes Tepache Sazón have a shelf life? Tepache Sazón is best enjoyed within six months from purchase. However, our tepache has a three year shelf-life unopened.

As with most fermentations, tepache does contain a very small amount of alcohol (similar to kombucha). If you want more alcohol (of course you do), add in yeast (baker's yeast will do in a pinch but preferably brewer's or champagne yeast).

Though tepache is fermented for several days, the resulting drink does not contain much alcohol. In Mexican culinary practice, the alcoholic content of tepache may be increased with a small amount of beer.

Can you second ferment tepache? ›

After 1-2 days it should taste a little sour a little sweet and fermented (you might also see some bubbling in the jar or even some foam to the top, all of those things are ok and means that it's fermenting!), at this point you can bottle it and put into the fridge OR go under a second fermentation.

Any drinkable water will do just fine for Tepache so long as it's clean and tastes good! 1 gallon glass jars with an airlock are our preferred fermentation vessel as we find them easiest to clean and sanitize, however you may use PET/BPA-free plastic containers for a more affordable fermenter.

As a fermented beverage, tepache contains some probiotics, which help keep the good bacteria in your gut healthy, help with digestion and support your immune system. The fermentation process also boosts the vitamin content of tepache, so it offers more nutritional benefits than just eating a ripe pineapple.

Wedge the core and strips of rind into the jar so they'll stay submerged – arranging them in horizontal stripes around the sides of the jar works well. (Keep the pineapple for another use.) Add the spices, then pour over the sugar water, making sure all the fruit is fully covered in liquid, and seal the jar.

I like to check the PH of the tepache. Botulism spores cannot reproduce in acidic environments. Lacto fermentation produces acid, but I like to check anyways so I don't kill myself or my family. Anything below PH 4.6 is safe.

The typical fermentation takes two weeks when making ale and four to eight weeks when making lager. For more on the distinction between the two, see our post going over the difference between ale and lager.

If you really want to quaff your beer quickly, you need to forget about true lagers, high gravity beers and sour beers. All of these take extended periods of time to ferment or condition. This leaves low to moderate gravity ales as your best choice. A typical ale fermentation finishes in two to five days.

For most beer the major part of the fermentation is done within 3 days of the first signs of vigorous fermentation. The rest is just conditioning. For a big beer it'll take longer.

However, some people prefer to ferment the fruit for up to 2 to 3 weeks. The time it takes for fruit to ferment into alcohol depends on various factors, including the type of fruit, yeast used, temperature, and sugar content. Typically, the fermentation process can take anywhere from a few days to several weeks.