Using Cherry Blossoms

[WarblyTremolo]

I have a cherry tree in my back yard that is fixing to bloom in the next few weeks and i want to use those blossoms in a beer just before they open. The questions is - how? I felt that they'd fit well in a saison so I'm going to use a saison recipe that I've done before and I feel that it's mild enough flavor-wise to add another delicate flavor to.

Do I try steeping the blossoms in warm, sterile water and add it into primary? Or maybe putting the blossoms in at flameout to kill the bacteria that will come in on them? I'd like this not to be a spontaneous fermentation project! Perhaps soak them in grain alcohol?

All thoughts are appreciated, thanks!!

 

[day_trippr]

I would expect any flavor or aroma such a delicate thing as cherry blossoms might provide would be totally lost in a boil. If you're a kegger, I'd try hopping a keg with them; if you're not a kegger, I'd dry hop within days of bottling...

Cheers!

 

[bizarrojosh]

This sounds interesting and I would love to hear how it turns out. You could give it a Japanese name or something since the Japanese love their Sakura.

If I were doing it I would add the blossoms at flame out so that they are sanitized and they can step in the near boiling water. I've done this with rosehips before and it turned out well for me. I also used about 2 oz of rosehips in addition to 2 oz of green tea, ginseng and ginko leaves. How many blossoms were you thinking of using?

 

[WarblyTremolo]

I'm hoping for a lot of aromatics so I'm thinking of using a pretty huge amount of blossoms. Going to buy a muslin grain bag and pack them in tight.

I thinking I'm going to make a tea with the flowers - boil a gallon or so of water for 10 minutes, kill the heat and add the flowers, cover it and let it cool to room temp, then do a partial boil and use that water to top up the fermenter.

Will post again when it's done.

 

[WarblyTremolo]

I made the cherry blossom tea aaaaaand....it smells like herbaceous terribleness.

abandoning the idea entirely. please ignore this thread......