Fruit Beer Oaked Belgian Quad w/Sweet Cherries

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Remmy

Drink First, Ask Questions Later
Joined
Mar 6, 2013
Messages
17,641
Reaction score
9,625
Recipe Type
All Grain
Yeast
Wyeast 3787 Trappist High Gravity
Yeast Starter
Yes
Additional Yeast or Yeast Starter
2-liter starter
Batch Size (Gallons)
6
Original Gravity
1.100
Final Gravity
1.024
Boiling Time (Minutes)
90
IBU
19.4
Color
28
Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp)
28 @ 68-80F
Secondary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp)
21 @ 65F
Tasting Notes
Complex, malty and smooth.
Ingredients (20.5 lb. grain bill)



18.00 lb Belgian Pils - 83.7%

0.75 lb American Crystal 40L - 3.5%

0.75 lb Special B - 3.5%

0.5 lb CaraVienne - 2.3%

0.5 lb CaraPils - 2.3%

1.00 lb Belgian Candi Sugar, Dark 4.7% (add-in last 15 minutes of boil)



Hops



1 oz. Challenger (90 min.)
1 oz. East Kent Goldings (10 min.)



Yeast



Wyeast 3787 (Two 1.5-liter starters).



Mash at 152F for 90 minutes.

Batch sparge with 185F water.



Comments



Once primary fermentation is complete, this will be racked onto tart cherries in secondary. Once fermentation here is complete, the Quad will hit my oak barrel until I get the desired flavor profile from the oak. Will bottle-condition.
 
OG came in at 1.104. 71% efficiency.
 
10502139_10152997400442178_7689607369273132485_n.jpg
 
Very interested in how this turned out. How many pounds of sour cherries did you use? Were they frozen/thawed/fresh/dried? How did the beer turn out? Anything you would change if you brewed it again?
 
Getting ready to brew this soon. A few minor changes, but otherwise the same.

I'll be using a little less grain, more like 18#, WLP500, 2#dried tart cherries (currently in the freezer) and I don't have a barrel. Instead, I have a bag of toasted French oak chips soaking in a bottle of 2011 Unruly Cab.
I may use Belgian Pale instead of Pils. Not sure yet.
 
Very interested in how this turned out. How many pounds of sour cherries did you use? Were they frozen/thawed/fresh/dried? How did the beer turn out? Anything you would change if you brewed it again?

I'd probably add less cherries. I love the cherry flavor in this beer but it could have certainly let the oak shine a bit more if the cherries hadn't infused a slightly stronger flavor. I still think it's fantastic. The hint of cherry and oak at different points is great.

Getting ready to brew this soon. A few minor changes, but otherwise the same.

I'll be using a little less grain, more like 18#, WLP500, 2#dried tart cherries (currently in the freezer) and I don't have a barrel. Instead, I have a bag of toasted French oak chips soaking in a bottle of 2011 Unruly Cab.
I may use Belgian Pale instead of Pils. Not sure yet.

Sounds good. My barrel is American oak (medium toast) and had not been filled with any wine, bourbon, etc. prior to racking this quad into it. The only other beer I've made that has sat in the barrel is my RIS. No noticeable flavors from that RIS in the Quad.


10414404_745710032154584_7062217264136896490_n.png
 
That is a thing of beauty!

My LHBS had French oak spirals ($$) and French oak chips (affordable). I went with chips. This will be the first beer I've used wood on. I'm thinking about getting a barrel someday.
 
Yeast starter going on this now. WLP500.
I picked up the grain and hops yesterday. I went with 15# of Belgian pale and will add 1# of light DME, otherwise it's the same grain and hops and candy.
Can't wait to drink this one!


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew
 
I forgot to post. 1.094 OG. After some more reading, I think I need a better crush on my grains. I missed a few points.
One week in, I opened it and added the cherries. There was still a krausen, but since I opened it, in the cherries went. Did not take a reading. I'll do that in a couple weeks when I add the oak.


Sent from my magic box, using only my thumbs.
 
I forgot to post. 1.094 OG. After some more reading, I think I need a better crush on my grains. I missed a few points.
One week in, I opened it and added the cherries. There was still a krausen, but since I opened it, in the cherries went. Did not take a reading. I'll do that in a couple weeks when I add the oak.


Sent from my magic box, using only my thumbs.



1.016 at 3 weeks. Tart and malty, cloudy. I'll wait a bit more then add the Cabernet Sauvignon soaked French oak chips.
This is gonna be awesome!


Sent from my magic box, using only my thumbs.
 
Still 1.016 @ 5 weeks. Added oak chips. They've been soaking in Unruly Cabernet Sauvignon for about 2 months. Smells amazing!!
I'm drinking the wine now. It's better than it was out of the bottle.


Sent from my magic box, using only my thumbs.
 
Awesome!

Had a bottle earlier today. :D

ImageUploadedByHome Brew1412549891.823294.jpg
 
For bottle conditioning this, did you pitch anymore yeast at bottling? I tried doing a mad elf clone, decided not to, and at 2.5 months in the bottle, very little carbonation detected. I'm a bit disappointed, but hoping for the best come Thanksgiving/Christmas time.
 
No additional yeast at bottling. It's got a great carb.
 
Tried a bottle. Not much head yet and the oak is pretty strong.
I pulled back on the priming DME just a tad. I didn't want any bombs. That's probably why it's not too heady yet.
Definitely needs time to mellow. I'll try again around Christmas.


Sent from my magic box, using only my thumbs.
 
Tried a bottle. Not much head yet and the oak is pretty strong.
I pulled back on the priming DME just a tad. I didn't want any bombs. That's probably why it's not too heady yet.
Definitely needs time to mellow. I'll try again around Christmas.


Sent from my magic box, using only my thumbs.

Update? :D
 
@mbaumannerb @nukebrewer @dave37 Tasting notes, please?
 
Brewed this beer at the end of last year. Had this sitting in fernentation for a month, and now I was anxious to see how this beer came out of primary. Was not dissappojnted. Here are the highlights.

I racked it to secondary, and already this is a great beer. Taste is Carmel, and honey notes. The booze comes through, but is not overpowering. Aroma is also great, with similar notes as taste. And it is a nice looking beer as well. I'm excited to see how the cherries add to this beer.

My final numbers were OG: 1.095, FG: 1.015, this puts me at 10.67%. Much better than I thought I would finish. I wish I could keg this beer, but I won't be ready yet. Thanks @Remmy for the recipe,

 
Has there been a consensus on how much cherry to add and what type you added? I bought all of the ingredients and will be brewing in a couple weeks. Still debating if I want to add some oak as well or not, I have it around but thinking I might want to keep this simple for the first run
 
Has there been a consensus on how much cherry to add and what type you added? I bought all of the ingredients and will be brewing in a couple weeks. Still debating if I want to add some oak as well or not, I have it around but thinking I might want to keep this simple for the first run


4 lbs. - sweet cherries. Leave them in for 10 days.

For what it's worth, I brewed this twice: the first, barrel-aged and the second, without any oak whatsoever. I preferred the non-oaked version. I also had it on-tap, so that could've been the determining factor. Nectar! [emoji1]
 
4 lbs. - sweet cherries. Leave them in for 10 days.

For what it's worth, I brewed this twice: the first, barrel-aged and the second, without any oak whatsoever. I preferred the non-oaked version. I also had it on-tap, so that could've been the determining factor. Nectar! [emoji1]

Thanks Remmy, wondering that myself. Got a dubble batch fermenting now replicating yeast.
 
Thanks Remmy, wondering that myself. Got a dubble batch fermenting now replicating yeast.


I problem. I'll have to update the recipe to reflect that.

Also, if one of the moderators can change the title of this thread from 'sour' to 'sweet,' that would be great. The reason it was originally sour cherries was because that was my intent. However, I could not find sour cherries. So, I went with 4-lbs. of sweet cherries instead.
 
4 lbs. - sweet cherries. Leave them in for 10 days.

For what it's worth, I brewed this twice: the first, barrel-aged and the second, without any oak whatsoever. I preferred the non-oaked version. I also had it on-tap, so that could've been the determining factor. Nectar! [emoji1]


Thank you!
I was going to give the first go without oak as well
 
Brewed this over the weekend.



Hit my strike and mash temps right on (need to look into mash ph)



Most full my tun has ever been



View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1493170613.034957.jpg







Preboil gravity was a little low. Went for a 2 hour boil so I could sparge more



View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1493170634.712265.jpg







Missed the OG by 15 points...oops



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Set the fermenter at 60 and we are off in less than 12 hours
View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1493170696.285155.jpg







A blow-off still wasn't enough. 48 hours post pitch



View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1493170713.013103.jpg
 
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