Cherry beer???????

I'm thinking of experimenting and using 2gal of cherry (or maybe cherry/apple) cider instead of water for my wort boil. I'm going to do this with a amber ale recipe. (extract and grain) Any thoughts? (good or bad) Thanks, Mike

Reply to
Michael Herrenbruck
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Intresting idea, my guess is that it'll either be really good or really bad... I say give it a shot!

Reply to
White Trash

I have tried making a cherry porter beer a couple of times. What I discovered was that by using an ounce of cherry extract, adding it to the wort boil achieved very little effect. 2 Gal of cider might make a noticeable difference, however. I found that adding an extract at bottling time produced the most dramatic cherry flavor.

Reply to
Ken Powers

Reply to
Michael Herrenbruck

Great, I would love to hear about how it turns out.

Reply to
Ken Powers

I think that the boiling is going to completely destroy the aroma and a lot of the flavor of the fruit. I've made cherry wheat beers by adding the cherries at the end of the boil and turning the heat off to pasteurize the fruit. Even this ruined a lot of the fruit essence. After reading this NG and taking the advise of such good folk as Denny, I tried putting the fruit right into the secondary, and man what a difference!

My advise? If you are trying to capture the essence of the fruit, keep it away from heat of any kind.

Reply to
Bill O'Meally

You'll likely set the pectins in the juice and make cherry jelly beer!

---------->Denny

Reply to
Denny Conn

Reply to
Michael Herrenbruck

Use pectolase to break down the pectins if you are worried about it. Can find in any good winemaking shop.

Also it takes like years usually to get jelly accidently.

Hmm for a third thought heat dosent actually destroy the flavors. They just vaporize at a low boiling point and you are letting them escape with the steam. There are many ways to get around this problem, the easiest i think is to just cover your wort pot with a top that is holding lots of ice.

Reply to
hughes

1/2 bottle of good cherry jam will do wonders in your boil for 1/2 # of grain or extract removed.

__Stephen

Reply to
Stephen Russell

I never thought about Jam. That is an interesting idea.

Reply to
Ken Powers

Interesting concept. But as much as I try to avoid it in my fruit beers, I can't see actually *introducing* pectin into my brews.

Reply to
Bill O'Meally

I hear ya Bill, that is a valid concern.

Reply to
Ken Powers

I don't like adding fruit or cider during the boil, for fear of setting the pectins. If I add fruit, I use a sterile puree or puree frozen berries myself. Then I put it into the bottom of the primary and pour boiled wort over it. Or sometimes I add juice into the secondary.

Jason

Reply to
Jason Torrick

Reply to
Michael Herrenbruck

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