Robs Black Cherry wheat

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Wheatmeister

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I wanted a wheat that has a fresh cherry nose and finish, something good for the humid days on the horizon.

#5 White wheat
#5 Pils
#.5 Flaked wheat
#.5 rice

Mashed at 152 for 60, strike with 3.5gals at 169. Batch sparged with 4 gals at 170 for 15 mins.

I had terrible efficiency and ended with an OG of 1.044. I think it's because i had a bad crush on the wheat, i did another batch using the white wheat and the same thing happened.

Using harvested Bells yeast fresh from a new sixer of Oberon that was in a starter for a week. This yeast gives a really clean flavor and should be perfect.

After primary ferment, i'll be racking to a secondary on top of 1 or 2 (depending) bottles of 100% black cherry juice.
http://www.rwknudsenfamily.com/products/just-juice/just-black-cherry/
I'll use 1 bottle to start and add more if need be before kegging.
Right now im about 7 days into primary fermentation, will update.
 
Just wondering how this is coming along? I'm thinking about doing a Cherry Wheat sometime fairly soon, and your post caught my attention.
 
Ya about to update soon, with pics. It's sitting in the secondary still right now. I'll keg it next week when i keg/bottle my other 2 batches. I wasn't planning on letting it secondary for long, but decided to since 1 bottle of that Black Cherry juice went a LONG ways man, it fermented for the better part of a week after i put it in, lots of sugar in there. Smells great, I'll update soon..
 
Sounds like 1-bottle is likely sufficient then? I'll be on the lookout for you updated post, with pictures, and how it all turns out.

Are you concerned at all about only doing a 60-minute boil, since you used almost 50% pilsner malt in your grain bill, and not boiling off the DMS (Dimethyl Sulfide)? I haven't used pilsner malt yet, but it seems to be a common practice to boil for 90-minutes when using a larger percentage of it in the grain bill.
 
Sounds like 1-bottle is likely sufficient then? I'll be on the lookout for you updated post, with pictures, and how it all turns out.

Are you concerned at all about only doing a 60-minute boil, since you used almost 50% pilsner malt in your grain bill, and not boiling off the DMS (Dimethyl Sulfide)? I haven't used pilsner malt yet, but it seems to be a common practice to boil for 90-minutes when using a larger percentage of it in the grain bill.

1 bottle is def enough, though i haven't tasted it since i put it in the secondary, but judging by color alone it is a deep red in the carboy.

Not worried about the DMS, never had a problem in the past and have had better results with this grain bill than using 2row in place of the pils. Early next week I'll have some pics up for you..Probly wont be able to talk alot about taste (aside from FG sample) until the beginning of June. Im kegging on Tue or Wed and going to Jamaica for the remainder of May. Will be carbed and ready when I get back..
 
It didnt work out. It's been in the keg for over 2 weeks and is fully carbed up and cleared, it has an off flavor to finish. It looks great, but their is either a slight infection or the cherry juice gave an off flavor. Also the body is quite thin. It's drinkable and will get put to good use, but I'm dissapointed with the results and will not be doing this recipe again..sucks I had high hopes
 
That's too bad. At least it is "passable" and I guess you can chalk it up as a learning experience.

How do you think you could improve this recipe, assuming it isn't infected, but just "off/thin"?
 
Honestly I'm not sure. I'd add some falked wheat/oat for some better body for certain. But I think the off flavor itself is from the cherry juice or an infection, not knowing makes it tough. If the cherry juice is what caused the lingering off flavor another method would need to be used, and if you've read as many threads as i have you know there's a 100 different ways you can do it it seems..
 
It should improve with time? Unless there is an infection, even though I'm a relative newbie, from all the posts I've read the fact that there is a fruit inside the beer, it will take some time for the beer to become at its peak?

Next time, I would try adding real cherries, that might make a difference, as there would be no added preservatives and anythingelse the manufacturer of the cherry juice left off the packet so that it seems like "real" Juice. I'm doing a cider, and the special juice I am using says Freshly squeezed Feijoa (Pineapple Guava), and in t he ingredients theres only 30% of that juice the rest is Apple juice, water and sugar.....

Maybe that might help?
 
It should improve with time? Unless there is an infection, even though I'm a relative newbie, from all the posts I've read the fact that there is a fruit inside the beer, it will take some time for the beer to become at its peak?

Next time, I would try adding real cherries, that might make a difference, as there would be no added preservatives and anythingelse the manufacturer of the cherry juice left off the packet so that it seems like "real" Juice. I'm doing a cider, and the special juice I am using says Freshly squeezed Feijoa (Pineapple Guava), and in t he ingredients theres only 30% of that juice the rest is Apple juice, water and sugar.....

Maybe that might help?

Ya it's possible, it's already sat what I consider awhile, the better part of 2 months since brew day. The Cherry juice was pure, literally no additives or preservatives. I'll drink one every now and again and we'll see how it ages out..
 
keep it updated, I'm looking at sdomething similar in the near future. and it woudlbe good to see what happens.
 
keep it updated, I'm looking at sdomething similar in the near future. and it woudlbe good to see what happens.

I drank several pints last night, they weren't bad at all actually. They just weren't great. After the first few gulps the subtle off flavor that lingers goes away..
 
This really suprised me, but this beer has turned out to be fantastic. Crazy how that happens sometimes. over a month ago I thought it was a lost cause. great Cherry flavor now with no earthy aftertast...very happy with it. Given the tiem it took to mature, I don't think I'll do the recipe again though..
 
Thats Awesome! ell Done for Sticking with it too!
I guess its amazing whattime can do, Ibet another month and it'll be even better :)
 
Glad to hear that it's come around for you! Hopefully you have enough left to enjoy for a bit while it's drinking well. Thanks for the update on this.
 
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