Real cherries or pie filling for cherry wheat?

I'm going to be brewing a cherry wheat next week. I picked up a can of Comstock Cherry Pie filling at the food store. I was planning on adding this at the end of the mash. After reading a bit, I'm wondering if I should puree fresh cherries to the secondary and rack on top of them? Would either way work fine or is one better than the other.

Also is it OK to use a plastic bucket for a secondary? I've heard mixed reviews. I've never done a secondary. Thanks.

Skip the pie filling. It's loaded with sugar and will thin the body of the beer too much.

I did a cherry wheat and found canned cherries with no added sugar. It came out quite nice. If you use fresh, you need to steep them at ~ 160F to kill any wild yeast. If you can find the canned, then you can add them straight out of the can--they've already been pastuerized.

Plastic buckets are fine for short-term storage. That's what I did my cherry wheat in.

So did you add the cherries during the mash or secondary?

* I meant to say in the boil not mash

italynstallyn44 said:

So did you add the cherries during the mash or secondary?

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I added to secondary. I used 4 cans in a 2.5 gallon batch and it had a nice cherry/wine type flavor. I don't think one can in a 5gal will be noticeable.

I would recc. at least 5-6 cans, or 1-2 of the big Oregon puree cans that you can find at most homebrew shops. Like here--> http://www.homebrewery.com/wine/wine-fruits-puree.shtml