Preparing cherries for secondary

I am doing a cherry wheat recipe and the primary fermentation is almost done. What do I need to do to the cherries before adding them as I rack to the secondary? I am planning on using fresh cherries (not canned or frozen). I am not quite sure what the process should be (i.e. boiling, removing pits, leave 'em whole, etc.)

Thanks,
Jason

Pit & blanch them, freeze them, then mash them. The freezing breaks down the cell walls and you get more flavor.

Thanks for the info!

I would recommend either pasturizing them (155 degrees for 20 minutes) or using campfor tablets to kill any nasties that might be in there.

Agree with pit, blanch and freeze. A friend of mine did this with great success. The cherries turned whitish as the juices left he cherries and entered the beer.

Hi all, interesting stuff. Im interested , may i ask.:cross:

can i flavour my beer kits with this method ? How much fruit do i need ?i use a fermenting bin , then a pressure barrell when do i add the fruit exactly and how . i like the freezing method sounds tops .

thanks.

Inglebrew said:

Hi all, interesting stuff. Im interested , may i ask.:cross:

can i flavour my beer kits with this method ? How much fruit do i need ?i use a fermenting bin , then a pressure barrell when do i add the fruit exactly and how . i like the freezing method sounds tops .

thanks.

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Generally a pound a gallon, i used 4 pounds for 5 gallons of strawberries in my strawberry blond (recipe to the left) and it had great flavor that wasn't front and center (5 lbs would have made it more obvious but i like where it is).

have you ever used figs or pears ? I have figs and pears popping up in the garden. Should i freeze the figs and pears whole then ?

ps. thanks 4 ure help dead yeti- good luck with yer brews mate.

Inglebrew said:

have you ever used figs or pears ? I have figs and pears popping up in the garden. Should i freeze the figs and pears whole then ?

ps. thanks 4 ure help dead yeti- good luck with yer brews mate.

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The blond was the first and only fruit beer i've done. I used store bought.

I think a some fig in maybe a strong ale would be good, or some pear in a light weizen/weiss/wit would be nice.

If you plan on using them cut them up (wash them peel if needed) and then put maybe a cup of water in with them and then freeze them... then pasteurize them as detailed above... Ask Yooper, she deals a lot with fruit.

i just started a cherry ale this weekend what i did, though not truely applicable to you was ...

freeze cherries for a couple of days. then defrost cherries and remove stems. i then placed them in the 1st stage fermenting bucket and using a potato masher, crushed them. while i was making my wort, i boiled an additional 1 to 2 gallons of water, then immediately poured over the now crushed cherries in the bucket. i later added the wort over this once complete.

i realize you don't have the luxury of adding a gallon of boiling water in your secondary, but hopefully this helps.

even the short time as i was waiting for the wort to cool to pitch my yeast i could see some of the cherries had already turned white.

as of this morning the blow off tube is gurgling with avengance, though i have yet to have any blow off.

thanks deadyetibrew. i really appreciate that.....im awaiting each ripe fruit in turn and will do as you said ie mash with potato masher after being froazen with water .
However how do i remove the fruit bits ? Do i leave them in the primary till my bubbles have stopped then remove (syphon ) to plastic bottles ?? Just need to know this and i think i can crack on now.... (cheers people)


Hey brew #19 your brew sounds really nice. whens it ready 4 a taste ?

Inglebrew said:

thanks deadyetibrew. i really appreciate that.....im awaiting each ripe fruit in turn and will do as you said ie mash with potato masher after being froazen with water .
However how do i remove the fruit bits ? Do i leave them in the primary till my bubbles have stopped then remove (syphon ) to plastic bottles ?? Just need to know this and i think i can crack on now.... (cheers people)


Hey brew #19 your brew sounds really nice. whens it ready 4 a taste ?

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Hmm, you're doing a wheat, and you usually want wheats to be cloudy so probably no secondary for clarity... Leave the fruit in the carboy till fermentation is done of course... when you siphon off into another container/bottling bucket put a paint strainer over the hose end and that should catch a good bit... Or you could rack to 2ndry for 2 or so days to let some fall out... Any way that you can find to remove the chunks before you bottle is probably good, you just don't want nasty chunks in your glass when you pour.

i will go grab a paint strainer. Iv just tasted my woodfordes wherry . Very god indeed ...but...........i added far too much sugar in the secondary (1kg) in the keg !!! How much should i have put ?
Ps . thanx again dead yeti .

Inglebrew said:

i will go grab a paint strainer. Iv just tasted my woodfordes wherry . Very god indeed ...but...........i added far too much sugar in the secondary (1kg) in the keg !!! How much should i have put ?
Ps . thanx again dead yeti .

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I don't think i quite understand what you mean? You added sugar into secondary? why's that, the cherries should have had enough natural sugar in them.... The only thing that adding sugar to secondary would do is to kick up fermentation and to increase the alcohol... Or do you mean you're naturally carbing in a keg?... 5 oz is the normal amount of sugar to carb 5 gallons of beer...

on the woodfordes wherry kit there is no need to add sugar at the primary stage, it only tell you to add it at the secondary stage.

i havent used cherryies , ive only got pears and figs !!