Cherries?

I'm planning to brew a Cherry Blonde/Amber ale and wanting to use fresh cherries. Any suggestions on when to add them? Should I put them in the mash, boil or post-fermentation? The one question I would have about post-fermentation is how to sanitize them. Any advice would be appreciated since this is new territory for me.

I have read that many have used fruit successfully in the primary/secondary fermenters. I actually used peppers this way with great results. 7-10 days should be good.

Also, processed fruit seems to get better flavor than whole fruit (I mean processed in a blender). Haven't heard of what form to get best results, ie frozen/fresh, etc.

catdaddy66 said:

I have read that many have used fruit successfully in the primary/secondary fermenters. I actually used peppers this way with great results. 7-10 days should be good.

Also, processed fruit seems to get better flavor than whole fruit (I mean processed in a blender). Haven't heard of what form to get best results, ie frozen/fresh, etc.

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What about sanitization? I'm in China and don't have access to any fancy homebrew sanitization supplies.

Yep, best to puree them and use them in secondary. It takes around 5-6 pounds to get a solid cherry flavor in 5 gallons of beer. Also, don't forget to sanatize the cherries. If you buy them in the can already pureed, they are also already pastuerized, so no need to sanataize. If you pureee them yourself, soak them in some vodka for a little while before dumping them in.

Lactobacillus is naturally occuring in fruit skin/rinds, so you have to neutralize it!

Good luck!