Specialty Fruit Beer Smoked Cherry Porter

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KoedBrew

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Location
Phoenixville
Smoked Cherry Porter

Batch Size: 10 gallons
Boil Size: 11.5 gal
OG: 1.072 SG
Estimated Color: 38 SRM
Estimated IBU: 30.2 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.00 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Malt:
------------
20.50 lb Pale Malt, Maris Otter (3.0 SRM) 79.8%
2.0 lb Smoked Cherrywood Malt (9.0 SRM) 7.8%
1.0 lb Chocolate Malt (475.0 SRM) 3.9%
1.0 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 120L (120.0 SRM) Grain 3.9 %
0.70 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM) Grain 2.7 %
0.50 lb Black Patent Malt (525.0 SRM) 1.9%


Hops:
-------------
1.00 oz Czech Saaz [4.00 %] (60 min) Hops 8.1 IBU
2.00 oz Goldings, East Kent [4.75 %] (45min) Hops 17.2 IBU
1.00 oz Goldings, East Kent [4.75 %] (30 min) Hops 4.9 IBU

Other:
-------------
1.00 tablet Whirlfloc (Boil 10.0 min) Misc
49 oz Can x2 Cherry Puree (Secondary 14.0 days) Misc

Yeast
------------
1 Vial English Ale Yeast (White Labs WLP002) 1L Starter
1 Vial London Ale Yeast (Wyeast 1028) 1L Starter


Mash temp: 153 degrees F 60 minutes
Sparge temp: 170 degrees F

Ferment at 65 degrees F

I split the wort between 2 carboys and use the 2 yeasts listed above.
I also put 1 - 49 oz can of Vinters Harvest Cherry Puree in each
carboy after 2 weeks, I do not use a secondary fermenter I just added it to
Primary after 10 day then let it sit for 14 days.

This beer turned out amazing! Placed 3rd in Category 23A at a local competition with an average score of 40. It is slightly smokey, slightly cherry tasting
Bottle or Keg...I prefer bottles because this age peaks at the 4-6 months of age.

Yeast Flavor notes- WLP002 tasted more Smokey
Wyeast 1028 tasted more fruity, cherry was more pronounced but still subtle
 
This sounds really tasty. Did you smoke the malt yourself? If so, can you provide a little insight on your method? I've got a bi Weber bullet and a bunch of different hardwoods around, so it would be cool to DIY some smoked malt.

Thanks for the recipe!
 
This is EXACTLY what I wanted to do for a Porter. I had this idea in my head for a few months so it's a bitter-sweet feeling finding it on here. I'm happy to find that this recipe has already been tried and has had success, but I'm sad that it's not something I came up with :( haha. Going to attempt to brew this next week.
 
Good luck with it.
It is a great beer I think we are going to make it every August to have as a nice winter drink.
 
I got inspiration to brew something like this yesterday when I was drinking French Roast Coffee and eating cherries for breakfast. Glad to see I'm not the only one thinking about it!

I'm thinking this combo may work well as a schwarzbier as well. :mug:
 
KoedBrew said:
Good luck with it.
It is a great beer I think we are going to make it every August to have as a nice winter drink.

What happens with the pure? Do you strain the beer before bottling?
 
Well we let it sit on the yeast for about 2 weeks or more, by then it settles to the bottom and we use the siphon, and just siphon off the beer and leave the puree at the bottom
 
Brewed this earlier today. Great recipe. Tasted awesome going into the fermentor. The only thing I changed was the bittering hops, I used twice as much saaz because they are one of my fav's. Was thinking that I might not even use the cherry's after taste testing it before fermentation. But I probably will. . . . .
 
Has anyone done this with frozen cherries? I've been itching to do a cherry porter or maybe a stout.

Charlie papazian has a few recipes in which he steeps the cherries at knockout and transfers them into the primary. After five days he scoops as many of the cherries as possible out.

I've been thinking of adding the frozen cherries into a secondary to steep for a while.

Any input would be greatly appreciated.
 
Brewed this earlier today. Great recipe. Tasted awesome going into the fermentor. The only thing I changed was the bittering hops, I used twice as much saaz because they are one of my fav's. Was thinking that I might not even use the cherry's after taste testing it before fermentation. But I probably will. . . . .


Hey HopSpunge,
Feel Free to not use the cherry, but it wasn't a very strong cherry flavor. It just added another dimension to the beer if you ask me.
I was actually thinking about using more cherry and more smoked cherrywood malt on the next batch. Let me know how the finished product turns out either way!

Rus2k
I have used frozen fruit in other beers, and it turned out good. Just make sure you sanitize some way. I usually use a bit of vodka or whiskey.
I did use a vanilla vodka to sanitize some blackberries for Mead and the Mead ended with a nice hint of vanilla. If not liquor then steam the fruit without letting it hit water.
 
KoedBrew said:
Hey HopSpunge,
Feel Free to not use the cherry, but it wasn't a very strong cherry flavor. It just added another dimension to the beer if you ask me.
I was actually thinking about using more cherry and more smoked cherrywood malt on the next batch. Let me know how the finished product turns out either way!

Rus2k
I have used frozen fruit in other beers, and it turned out good. Just make sure you sanitize some way. I usually use a bit of vodka or whiskey.
I did use a vanilla vodka to sanitize some blackberries for Mead and the Mead ended with a nice hint of vanilla. If not liquor then steam the fruit without letting it hit water.

Thanks for the reply. Something to think about.
 
This sounds delicious, however, does anyone have any recommendations for using an extract with it instead of all grain. I haven't made the jump yet.

Brewer Brent
 
You should have taken the gold medal home with this one Mr. Koed.

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Thank You Hop Sponge, I hope you enjoy.
Brewer Brent I will get you extract version later today!
 
Here is a Smoked Cherry Porter Extract recipe, for 5 gallons.

Recipe Specifics
----------------

Batch Size (Gal): 5.50 Wort Size (Gal): 5.50
Total Extract (Lbs): 10.38
Anticipated OG: 1.076 Plato: 18.41
Anticipated SRM: 38.5
Anticipated IBU: 30.5
Wort Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Grain/Extract/Sugar

% Amount Name Origin Potential SRM
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
72.3 7.50 lbs. Muntons DME - Light England 1.046 5
9.6 1.00 lbs. Smoked Cherrywood Malt 1.037 9
4.8 0.50 lbs. Chocolate Malt Great Britain 1.034 475
4.8 0.50 lbs. Crystal 120L Great Britain 1.033 120
3.6 0.38 lbs. Crystal 60L America 1.034 60
4.8 0.50 lbs. Black Patent Malt Great Britain 1.027 525


Hops

Amount Name Form Alpha IBU Boil Time
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
0.75 oz. Czech Saaz Whole 4.00 10.8 60 min.
1.00 oz. Goldings - E.K. Whole 4.75 15.3 45 min.
0.50 oz. Goldings - E.K. Whole 4.75 4.4 30 min.
 
KoedBrew said:
Here is a Smoked Cherry Porter Extract recipe, for 5 gallons.

Recipe Specifics
----------------

Batch Size (Gal): 5.50 Wort Size (Gal): 5.50
Total Extract (Lbs): 10.38
Anticipated OG: 1.076 Plato: 18.41
Anticipated SRM: 38.5
Anticipated IBU: 30.5
Wort Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Grain/Extract/Sugar

% Amount Name Origin Potential SRM
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
72.3 7.50 lbs. Muntons DME - Light England 1.046 5
9.6 1.00 lbs. Smoked Cherrywood Malt 1.037 9
4.8 0.50 lbs. Chocolate Malt Great Britain 1.034 475
4.8 0.50 lbs. Crystal 120L Great Britain 1.033 120
3.6 0.38 lbs. Crystal 60L America 1.034 60
4.8 0.50 lbs. Black Patent Malt Great Britain 1.027 525

Hops

Amount Name Form Alpha IBU Boil Time
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
0.75 oz. Czech Saaz Whole 4.00 10.8 60 min.
1.00 oz. Goldings - E.K. Whole 4.75 15.3 45 min.
0.50 oz. Goldings - E.K. Whole 4.75 4.4 30 min.

Koed, thank you! I can't wait to try it It's going to be my next batch

Brewer Brent
 
Forgive the ignorance, but I'm making the jump from extract to partial grain here. For the 5.5 gallon recipe, do we want/need the whirlfloc? And if so, the whole tablet or just a half?
 
BrewCityBaller,
If you just plan on drinking the homebrew yourself or with friends, then whirlfloc is not necessary.

If you plan to enter competitions then whirlfloc helps with clarity and will get you a couple extra points.

Doesn't effect flavor... Full tab is good for 5-10 gallons as far as I know.
 
BrewCityBaller,
If you just plan on drinking the homebrew yourself or with friends, then whirlfloc is not necessary.

If you plan to enter competitions then whirlfloc helps with clarity and will get you a couple extra points.

Doesn't effect flavor... Full tab is good for 5-10 gallons as far as I know.

Excellent. Thanks for the response!
 
I just put 1/2 of the original recipe amounts into Beersmith and added 10 pounds of sour cherries to be added to the secondary rather than the cherry puree. Thoughts on how this would turn out?
 
Sounds delicious!

What was the thought behind the two different yeasts...and when you bottled, did you blend the two carboys together or keep separate making basically (2) 5 gallon batches that I would suspect would be slightly different thanks to the yeasts?

Thanks
 
I did 2 separate bottlings of the carboys. This way I created 2 slightly different beers from the same batch of wort.

I do that a lot with my beers to find out how the different yeasts work, and one may turn out better.

In this case both were good. The 002 accentuated the smoky profile, and the 1028 was fruitier. I just had the last bottle of this about 3 weeks ago and it was fantastic!
 
I just put 1/2 of the original recipe amounts into Beersmith and added 10 pounds of sour cherries to be added to the secondary rather than the cherry puree. Thoughts on how this would turn out?

Hey toadfuller, sorry I didn't see this. If u want to use 10lbs of cherry feel free, just make sure you have a large enough fermenter. That takes up a lot of space. I think 1-2 cans of puree would be better in my opinion.
 
I will definitely be making this in the coming months - thanks for the recipe! One question thought, the differences in final flavor depending on the yeast, you say one is more fruity while the other is smokey. What remnants of smokey is left in the fruitier beer, and visa versa? Also, how pronounced is the chocolate flavor? Thanks!
 
What kind of FGs are you guys getting? I've had this in the primary for just under 2 weeks and am sitting at 1.022, which seems a little high.

(Hydrometer sample tasted good though -- nice smokey flavor coming through.)
 
What was your OG? I would let it sit longer. When did u put cherry in ? Mine was usually around 1.015
 
Thanks - I haven't put the cherry in yet. I was probably going to let it sit for another week and try to drop it down a few points.

Thanks for the great recipe!
 
Mmm...just what I was mulling over for my next brew! Has anyone added 2 cans of the puree though? I want a fairly pronounced cherry flavor, but I don't want the extra sugar content to throw off the malt profile and thin the body either.
 
I intend to use this recipe for my first time doing an all-grain brew, but I have a noob question first!

How much water should I mash in? All 11.5 gal? I've read in a few places it's a rule of thumb that you should use 1qt water for every 1lb grain, which would only be 6.5gal. Assuming I have a big enough kettle, would it be advisable to mash in the full boil volume?

Thanks! I'm looking forward to this :)

Ninja edit: I realized I probably need to save some room for the sparge water.. so probably not the full 11.5gal - still would appreciate advice on mash/sparge volume!
 
I intend to use this recipe for my first time doing an all-grain brew, but I have a noob question first!

How much water should I mash in? All 11.5 gal? I've read in a few places it's a rule of thumb that you should use 1qt water for every 1lb grain, which would only be 6.5gal. Assuming I have a big enough kettle, would it be advisable to mash in the full boil volume?

Thanks! I'm looking forward to this :)

Ninja edit: I realized I probably need to save some room for the sparge water.. so probably not the full 11.5gal - still would appreciate advice on mash/sparg e volume!

Mash around 1.25-2 quarts per pound of grain. 1 is a little to dry. Then after you drain that sparge the rest until you reach your 11.5 gal.
You can mash more and there are some people who like that. But it's a matter of preference.
You sparge after or simultaneously as drain the initial mash
 
I added the cherry puree a couple days ago. Gravity was at 1.015. Thought I would see some air-lock activity. I will let it sit a couple weeks. Anybody have similar lack of activity?
 
I added the cherry puree a couple days ago. Gravity was at 1.015. Thought I would see some air-lock activity. I will let it sit a couple weeks. Anybody have similar lack of activity?

It has been a year since I brewed this, but if I remember correctly I did not see much (if any) airlock activity in the secondary.
 
It has been a year since I brewed this, but if I remember correctly I did not see much (if any) airlock activity in the secondary.

I also had zero airlock activity after adding the puree, and I also moved the fermenter to a much warmer location in my house at that time.
 
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