Montmorency vs Black/Sweet Cherries

[BigRob]

I see a lot of people talking about sweet cherries, extracts purees, etc. Wondering if it's a regional thing but I've always found that the eating varieties lacked the flavour punch of the sour cherry varieties. When I make pies or jams I tend to favour sour cherries because cooking sweet cherries seems to steal away all their subtle cherry flavour, I would assume secondary fermentation would accomplish a similar feat.

I've been intrigued of late by the idea of a cherry-wheat beer, and seeing that it's coming into cherry season in the Niagara region it's time to ask the question: is there a special reason folks focus on sweet cherry? Do sour cherries spoil the balance of a beer by bringing too much acidity? Lack of availability?

If there's a reason that they aren't used, I'm all for learning from the mis-steps of others, but if there's no reason not to, I think I might just give it a shot.

 

[stevea1210]

Just the fact that Montmorency was in the title made me click on this thread. I say go with it. Screw the sweet cherries and let the Mont's reign!

 

[jmhart]

Everything I've read has said ONLY use tart cherry's (i.e. montmorency). From whay I've read, sweet cherries impart an overly sweet syrupy flavor.

Therefore, I only use tart cherries, and my cherry beers have turned out great.

 

[BigRob]

Sounds like a sour cherry - wheat is a go for the summer.

 

[jmf143]

I did a Cherry Blonde this spring - BierMuncher's Centennial Blonde racked onto 5.63 lbs of canned tart cherries for 2 weeks (6 x 15 oz cans of Kroger brand). I froze the cherries in some ziplock bags then let them thaw for a few days. Came out a little too tart for my taste. Next time I would either use a combination of tart and sweet cherries or just use less cherries. The beer also seemed to dry out due to the cherries.