For those about to cherry...

I'm about to make 5 gals of double chocolate cherry stout. I'll boil it up this weekend, let it ferment, and will put it over cherries in the secondary. I see a lot or recommendations on using 3 lbs of Oregon cherry puree. Unfortunately, I don't see this available in the local grocery stores.

What I do see is Oregon canned cherries. There are tart cherries in water or sweet Bing cherries in heavy syrup. I'm wondering which of these would work better. Either way, I'll drain the water or juice before adding to secondary.

Whaddya think? Should I use the tart or sweet? I'm leaning sweet.

Sweet. When I used cherries they gave a tart tannin flavor to the beer. I'm not saying this will happen to you necessarily but just an fyi.

The Oregon purees are usually sold at homebrew stores. A mix of tart and sweet cherries would be a good way to go, although I would probably rise off the heavy syrup. 3 lbs is a good place to start, you can always add more if needed. Pure cherry juice is another good option that might be a bit easier to deal with.

Oldsock said:

Pure cherry juice is another good option that might be a bit easier to deal with.

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I like the cherry juice idea. That's probably a lot cheaper and easier to deal with. Any thoughts on how much to put in? Concentrate or straight juice?

thanks!

I've heard good things about concentrate, but I haven't tried it yet. For juice it will depend on how much character you want, but 1/2 gallon would be a good guess, but I'd start lower than that and add more if needed.

I'm sure you have already figured this out, but for others seeking info...

The tart vs sweet cherry discussion is more about flavor profile than will it add a sweet flavor to your beer. My very first brew (a cherry mead) I was very surprised at how dry my "sweet" cherries made the brew.

Fruits will ferment out very close to 100% so it will leace little residual sugar and dry out your beer a bit. If you haven't already accounted for that, I might adjust the recipe with a higher mash temp to get more unfermentables into the brew. Having said that, a double chocolate stout doesn't exactly sound like it will lack for malt backbone.