OR/WA Brew Day v2.0??

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
I think what would be great is if everyone can bring with them some sour cherries. This one the cost is split amongst the group. Thoughts?

Not sure about the availability of sour cherries around here. I'll re-imburse you for my contribution if you pick them up down there.
 
Oh yeah, I do remember seeing something about that while I was looking for the base recipe to use. I'll probably just use a standard yeast like you but I'm open to using whatever if anyone has a preference.
 
Safeway around here has those exact cherries in stock. I like that it's stored in water instead of corn syrup like some other brands. For my cherry stout I added 5 lbs of dark cherries in the baggies from the frozen food section and they worked alright.

Myself, I'm fine with us each adding our own brand/style of cherries to the mix. Most kriek recipes call for 6 lbs of cherries per 5 gallon batch, so portion accordingly.

Safeway for the cherries. I'm going to check New Seasons at lunch. It's pretty much cherry season, so they should be widely available.
 
Oh yeah, I do remember seeing something about that while I was looking for the base recipe to use. I'll probably just use a standard yeast like you but I'm open to using whatever if anyone has a preference.

I used S-04 in mine. The character is going to come from the bugs in the barrel and the cherries, so use whatever you've got.
 
Oh yeah, as for sour cherries, I'm not sure where to find them either. I know a friend of mine brewed with some Montmorency cherries but they were $8 or $9 per pound and he needed ten pounds of them. I think they're out of season now anyway but I'd prefer to not spend as much on cherries as on beer ingredients. But if that's what everyone wants to do, I'm down for whatever is going to make this the best beer possible.
 
I'll definately take it down for you. You can PM me and we can figure out how to get it over here. I'm thinking rubber raiding craft on the beach somewhere over in Bremerton, late at night. That would make the whole experience of this beer even more cool. :drunk:

I'm sure you guys have coordinated by now but I'm planning on going to the Naked City release and could pick up Don's contribution if it saves you the trip McKBrew.
 
I'm sure you guys have coordinated by now but I'm planning on going to the Naked City release and could pick up Don's contribution if it saves you the trip McKBrew.

I'm not sure if Don got a chance to brew it or not. If he did and you are going opening night then that might be a better option, because I'm not sure I'm making it to opening night or not.
 
I'm not sure if Don got a chance to brew it or not. If he did and you are going opening night then that might be a better option, because I'm not sure I'm making it to opening night or not.

Definitely let me know if you do make it so we can say hello. If not, I'll get in touch with Don and see if he has anything to send down.
 
Ok all;

Here are the cherries they have at New Seasons:
IMG_0210.jpg


Only problem is they are 4.98 per 15 oz. can. If we are doing 6 lbs per 5 gallons of beer in the barrel:

$5 per can * 6 lbs cherries = $30 per person(per 5 gallons)
50 gallons in barrel = 10 five gallon batches * $30 = $300 in cherries
 
I am personally OK skipping them. I had a Flanders Red at Raccoon Lodge a few weeks ago and wasn't super stoked. But I'll do whatever everyone else settles on.
 
I just found the same Oregon Fruit Products Red Tast Cherries at a QFC up here for $4.19 per 14.5 oz can, which has 11 oz cherries net.

I'm up for doing whatever is going to make this the best beer possible. I don't have the experience with this style to say whether or not adding the tart cherries will be a significant benefit so I'll defer to those who know.
 
If it's going to cost 30 bones each for cherries, I'm willing to pass or cut way back. I cant really see it taking that much to impart some cherry flavor.
 
I picked up the ingredients tonight and will be brewing early tomorrow. I'll be using a White Labs California Ale yeast slurry from a previous batch so hopefully fermentation will take off and plow through the batch so it gets to a good point before the 25th. If not, I guess there will just be more sugars for the sour yeasts to feed on.

Anyway, let me know what you guys want to do with the cherries.
 
I've been lurking this thread.
man, I can't wait till I can move back home.


side note.
check the AG wholesale house ( aka cash and carry ) in Delta Park for better prices for cherries.
The home brewers best friend is the restaurant supply store :)

:2 cents
 
I'll go scope it out this weekend, taint. SWMBO lives up that way so it won't be that much of a drive.
 
all I ask is that when you crack that barrel open.. I get to cater the party :)
or at least get to bring 3 or 4 racks of applewood smoked ribs. :rockin:
 
side note.
check the AG wholesale house ( aka cash and carry ) in Delta Park for better prices for cherries.
The home brewers best friend is the restaurant supply store :)

:2 cents

Yeah Cash and Carry does have some ridiculous deals. I don't know if they'll have tart cherries but I'll stop by the one up here in the next day or two and see. Thanks for the suggestion.
 
Yeah, but he also did this:

About 9 months ago I racked 15 gallons of Stix Red Ale into a side bung Sanke keg and added Brettanomyces Lambicus. I bunged the hole with a #10 stopper and oak dowel

No air lock when he added the bugs, only when he blended two beers together
 
Alright, my batch is done. I scaled the recipe up for a 15-gallon batch, ended up with 14.5 after the boil (it was a very full keggle) and 12.5 after trub loss. The OG is 1.052. I decided against using the yeast cake from a previous batch and instead pitched rehydrated Nottingham.
 
Gentlemen. It looks like my plans are going to change. I'm in the process of coordinating with explosivebeer to bring my 5G down. If for some reason we can't meet up next week, I won't let you guys down and I'll make a speed run down.
 
Sorry guys, I didn't get a chance to brew this and probably won't. I want to apologize for my deglect of this thread. :eek:

KB, thanks for organizing this. Im sorry that I won't be able to participate.

I did add an airlock to the barrel. You'll get a secondary fermentation once you add the bugs. I learned that real quick when I first racked Grapes of Wrath into the barrel and sealed it with a solid silicone bung. A day later I heard a loud boom as the bung shot out of the barrel and bounced all around my living room.
 
No probelm Don, I know you've got a little side project going on...:mug:

So to recap, this is how I see things...

kiltedbrew - ready and willing
blacklab - dropping off this weekend
explosive - maybe dropping off this weekend, maybe next
McKBrew - trying to coordinate with explosive.
evil - well, looks like your choice. If you want to drop it off at any point feel free.

I've got the bugs coming next week.
Cherries...looks like it's a little cost prohibitive
Airlock...check

Another thought I had since it looks like we're going to come in at around 40 gallons for the 55 gallon barrel, I've read that some will blend in a fresh batch closer to the end of the aging cycle. I'd be willing to put up another batch and dump it in say a month or so before the end of the year aging, thoughts?
 
I'm planning on coming down Saturday the 25th and bringing both my and McKBrew's contributions.

As for cherries, I'll check Cash 'N Carry soon unless someone else makes it there first. I also found this site where we can get tart cherry concentrate, or tart cherries in water (scroll half way down the page) for about half the price as in the grocery stores: Montmorency Tart Cherry Juice from King Orchards

Regarding adding more base beer, I suppose we could do that any time, although it seems like the sooner the better in order to reduce head space and get more contact with the barrel. I'm not a barrel expert though so that's just my educated guess.
 
McKBrew - trying to coordinate with explosive.

The best way to coordinate anything :rockin: :rockin:

I'll be bringing my batches by this upcoming weekend. Since Brewtopia is a lazy git ;) I'll make up another batch in the undetermined future to pitch into it to fill up the barrel.
 
It definately looks like all of the planning still ended up with us all not being able to do this together. We need to put the draining date on the calendar now and sign a blood oath to be there at the same time.
 
My keg has been transferred to explosivebeer. Thanks Brandon for taking time out of your day to help a brotha out.
 
No problem Jess. I'm glad to help out.

Also, I stopped by Cash N' Carry today and the only cherries they had were maraschino cherries. I think our best bet for those would be to use the site I linked to in that previous post. We can get montemorency cherries for about $2 per 15 oz can, plus shipping. Two cases of 24 would give us 35-40 lbs of cherries for the barrel since there's 11-12 oz of cherries in each can. It'd cost $100 plus shipping. Say that's $110, that's about $2 per gallon of beer we're making. I'm definitely willing to chip in $20 for cherries for my portion of the barrel. What do you guys think?
 
At this point I'm leaning towards skipping the cherries. But if the group wants them, we'll figure it out.

I'm with Evil, and will get another small batch going in the nearish future to help get the barrel filled.

blacklab dropped off his batch today. Thank you sir!

Draining date...October 24, 2009. It's a Saturday. Put it on the calendar NOW.
 
Sorry, I'm busy that day :D *runs away gleefully*

I also stopped by Cash n Carry, but all they had were pie filling cherries in high fructose corn syrup. F that! I do want cherries though. This week I'm going to be roaming the country-side buying up various forms of cherry-like product for the barrel. It didn't help that we basically had no spring and the cherry crop suffered this year. GRRRrrrrrrrrrrrrrr...
 
Sorry, I'm busy that day :D *runs away gleefully*

I also stopped by Cash n Carry, but all they had were pie filling cherries in high fructose corn syrup. F that! I do want cherries though. This week I'm going to be roaming the country-side buying up various forms of cherry-like product for the barrel. It didn't help that we basically had no spring and the cherry crop suffered this year. GRRRrrrrrrrrrrrrrr...

Cool. Good luck with the cherry hunt. Let us know what you find.
 
Hey Brian,

I'm trying to figure out my plans for Saturday. What time do you want to get together to fill the barrel? And what are the plans afterward? I have some friends down there that will probably want to do a little pub crawl and find some interesting beers on tap. Anyway, just let me know what works for you. The earlier the better for me, after about noon.
 
Back
Top