Dried fruit

[LEWGAN]

I'm looking too add sour cherries to a blonde sour. But the only ones local too me are dried but with added sugar and sunflower oil.

I believe the oil can be washed off with starsan as per American sour beers book instructions i think is where i seen it. I haven't bought them yet as I'm holding back to see what the general opinion would be on using with sugar.

Also looked online at Amazon and other health food sites in the UK and boy they are expensive.

Jamie

 

[Revvy]

I'd go with sour cherry concentrate instead. That's what a lot of us use in Michigan.

It's available in the UK on amazon

 

[LEWGAN]

Thanks for the reply. What is the benefit of using the concentrate is that it is consistent or the there is no faffing about washing fruit or finding a suit able cherries.

What would be the typical dosage per 15l or is is it all done to personal preference.

Having never had a kriek before I have no idea of the intensity of the flavour. Could be a hit or a miss

 

[Revvy]

Well, I can't really give you specific quantities since I've never made one, BUT I regularly make a Belgian Witbier where I concentrate Pomegrante juice and then add it in the last 15 minutes of the boil. What I do is take 3 Quarts (2.8l) of the juice and boil it down and reduce it by half. And to me the amount is perfect in a 5 gallon (19 Liter batch of beer) it's got enough flavor without dominating. And it has a nice tartness like a somewhat soured beer.

Since you're already using a concentrate you don't need to reduce it down. So I would use at the most 1 liter. If the stuff is really concentrated, maybe less. That I can't tell you, how intense the concentrate is... you might get an idea by how much it says to dillute in water to drink it.

You could do an experiment. Get a non soured commercial blonde (Or if you can find one, get a soured blonde)

Take a pint of it, and get a graduated medicine dropper and add one or 2 mls to the glass, stir and taste, keep adding til you get to something you like, then multiply that amount by 40 (there's what approximately 40 pints in a 19 liters batch/) And that will give you how much you'll need.

 

[Bassaholic]

I finished up a kreik a few months ago that I aged on a case of cans of Oregon fruit cherries as well as an 8 or 10 oz bottle of cherry concentrate. Both can be found on amazon. There was a very apparent cherry flavor after 4 months of aging. I wasn't too convinced that starsan would wash off the oil from the dried fruits, but I've never had it. Most of my sour beers never have a lasting head anyway so I guess the oils wouldn't make too much of a difference there. I suppose if you want to just stick with concentrate you can start with 16 oz and go from there.

 

[505-Brewer]

I finished up a kreik a few months ago that I aged on a case of cans of Oregon fruit cherries as well as an 8 or 10 oz bottle of cherry concentrate. Both can be found on amazon. There was a very apparent cherry flavor after 4 months of aging. I wasn't too convinced that starsan would wash off the oil from the dried fruits, but I've never had it. Most of my sour beers never have a lasting head anyway so I guess the oils wouldn't make too much of a difference there. I suppose if you want to just stick with concentrate you can start with 16 oz and go from there.

These amounts are for a 5 gal batch?

 

[beergolf]

Here are the dried cherries I use. They have no added oil or sugar. They work great.

 

[Revvy]

And of course they're from Michigan....

But I don't know if he can get them in the UK.

 

[beergolf]

And of course they're from Michigan....

But I don't know if he can get them in the UK.

Ooops, missed the UK part.

Having lived in Michigan for most of my life I know their cherries are very good.

 

[LEWGAN]

Got these but they have too much unnecessary junk in them.

So I also bought a bottle of 100% montmorency cherry juice. So I will have a play around with that.

Stupid question but do I add the juice as it's fruit and let a secondary fermentation happen or do I dose it into individual bottles.

Jamie

 

[Revvy]

Got these but they have too much unnecessary junk in them.

So I also bought a bottle of 100% montmorency cherry juice. So I will have a play around with that.

Stupid question but do I add the juice as it's fruit and let a secondary fermentation happen or do I dose it into individual bottles.

Jamie

You don't really want to add them to the bottles unless you sit down and do the math and use it as your priming solution... I cover that in my bottling tips sticky.

If you haven't brewed the beer already, then I would add it in the last 15 minutes of the boil...

If the beer's already in a fermenter, I would add it after primary fermentation has completed.

 

[LEWGAN]

Will just add the concentrate into the fermenter as the beer is fermented with melange around August 2016 and it's as clear as a pilsner so it's ready to go a tad sour but drinkable for my first go.

Will bottle a few bottles as is for a taste comparison at a later date.

The actual cherries that I bought didn't taste that good so I'll just eat them.