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I've been toying with the idea of adding roughly a gallon of white grape juice to a beer (possibly a Belgian Blonde?) but was previously told that the juice will just be completely fermented out by the yeast, leaving me with a lighter bodied beer but with no flavor from the juice.

However, after researching cider more it seems that many people do ferment store-bought juice without issue. I've even found some references to people successfully adding juice to beer. So overall I'm a bit confused at this point.

I'm not necessarily looking for a huge fruity flavor in such a beer but I definitely want it to be noticeable. Have other people had success using store-bought juice in beer (or even cider)? Even if all the sugars get fermented out, wouldn't there still be esters and the like that would contribute flavor?

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Check the label ingredients. If it mentions Metabisulfide as a preservative it will kill fermentation. Otherwise you should be all right. Add the thawed concentrate to save volume.

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  • Might not be a big problem if you don't add a large amount into an already active fermentation. The amount of preservatives in a liter/quart of juice into 5-6 gallons of vigorously fermenting wort is not nearly enough to stop fermentation. Getting the fancy untreated/pasturized only juice is of course better for several reasons...
    – Mumble
    Oct 24, 2016 at 8:49
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I made a concoction using welches white grape juice and sugar for a 12%abv.

To defeat the preservative I had to add a massive amount of yeast and several hits of oxygen. I forget the preservative name but it inhibits yeast growth by absorbing oxygen.

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