Fruit Beer Tart Cherry Cream Ale

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cshamilton

Well-Known Member
Joined
Mar 19, 2011
Messages
359
Reaction score
42
Location
South Central Michigan
Recipe Type
All Grain
Yeast
Nottingham
Yeast Starter
Rehydrated Packet
Batch Size (Gallons)
5
Original Gravity
1.052
Final Gravity
1.010
Boiling Time (Minutes)
60
IBU
19
Color
Pink
Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp)
13 @ 68F
Secondary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp)
7 @ 68F
Tasting Notes
Delicious
This turned out so good, I had to share.

The base is a cream ale (basically my version of the Cream of Three Crops), which I wasn't sure about but worked very well. This is about the cherry flavor with the malt playing a supporting role. Reminds me of Rubeaus but with Cherry.


5.25 pounds of Briess 2-row pale
1.50 pounds of Flaked Corn
0.75 pounds of Flaked Rice

Brew 4 gallons of the Cream Ale - I mashed at about 150F with 3 gallons of strike water and then sparged with about 3.5 gallons to hit my pre-boil volume.

Hops

0.5 oz Magnum (US) 60 min Pellet 11.0%
1.0 oz Saaz (CZ) 0 min Pellet 2.5%

One packet of rehydrated Nottingham yeast

Ferment for 10-14 days at 68F (I did 13 days)

Secondary - Add 1 gallon of Tart Cherry Juice (make sure this is preservative free). Ferment 7 days and bottle/keg about 5 gallons of beer.

The tart cherry juice gives the beer a hint of sourness that isn't overpowering, but ties everything together. It was so popular when I served it that I had to ration it out so that everyone who wanted to try it could.

Brewtoad version: https://www.brewtoad.com/recipes/cherry-cream-ale-5g
 
This turned out so good, I had to share.

The base is a cream ale (basically my version of the Cream of Three Crops), which I wasn't sure about but worked very well. This is about the cherry flavor with the malt playing a supporting role. Reminds me of Rubeaus but with Cherry.


5.25 pounds of Briess 2-row pale
1.50 pounds of Flaked Corn
0.75 pounds of Flaked Rice

Brew 4 gallons of the Cream Ale - I mashed at about 150F with 3 gallons of strike water and then sparged with about 3.5 gallons to hit my pre-boil volume.

Hops

0.5 oz Magnum (US) 60 min Pellet 11.0%
1.0 oz Saaz (CZ) 0 min Pellet 2.5%

One packet of rehydrated Nottingham yeast

Ferment for 10-14 days at 68F (I did 13 days)

Secondary - Add 1 gallon of Tart Cherry Juice (make sure this is preservative free). Ferment 7 days and bottle/keg about 5 gallons of beer.

The tart cherry juice gives the beer a hint of sourness that isn't overpowering, but ties everything together. It was so popular when I served it that I had to ration it out so that everyone who wanted to try it could.

Brewtoad version: https://www.brewtoad.com/recipes/cherry-cream-ale-5g

This sounds awesome. Do you have a picture of the finished beer by chance?
 
Hmm. Not a good one unfortunately. I saved a bottle - I'll try to crack it open this weekend and take a picture. The color is definitely pinkish from the cherry juice.
 
This is going to be my first BIAB, I will be using Tart cherry Puree, I was wondering if adding a vanilla bean to the secondary would be OK, looking to get the tart cherry Pie flavor!
 
Well it wouldn't be a bit different with vanilla, but it's your beer so have fun with it! Maybe try splitting it, rack half of the batch to secondary with vanilla and leave the rest as is.
 
This is going to be my first BIAB, I will be using Tart cherry Puree, I was wondering if adding a vanilla bean to the secondary would be OK, looking to get the tart cherry Pie flavor!

American Cream Ale with Tart Cherry Puree
All Grain
BIAB
5.5 gal
8 lbs American 2-row
.5 lbs Crystal 40L
8 oz Corn Sugar

Hops:
1oz Willamette 60min
1oz Willamette 10min
Yeast Safale US-05
Special Ingredients:
Tart Cherry Puree 3 lbs secondary 10 days

7.5 gal water
Strike temp 160
Mash temp 152 for 60min
Mash out 170 for 10min
OG 1.044
FG 1.006
ABV 4.99
Bottled Saturday will wait 3 weeks to taste
tasted sample when bottling the cherry was not as up front as I would have liked, I'm hoping that the flavor of cherry will be more pronounced after 3 weeks.
 
I think that your cherry flavor is low for two reasons.

1. Using Crystal instead of Flaked rice/corn. The crystal adds stronger flavors that reduce your perception of the fruit.

2. Not enough cherry. 3lbs is only about 5 cups of juice - I'd recommend at least double that amount. The equivalent of A gallon of juice would be about 9 pounds of fruit

That said, it's beer so enjoy it! You can always add a maraschino cherry to your glass of beer if you want more flavor.
 
Thank you, I'll be giving it another go in the near future, will be sticking to your recipe, those darn pie cherries are not cheap!
 
Book Marked !!!

FWIW - I have a cherry wheat in a 2ndary. I pitched 6 cans of pureed Oregon Tart Cherry at flame-out. Then was thinking of priming with cherry juice.

Its for xmas drinking. I want to start blending aged fruit beer with other beer styles. Something to think about here.
 
American Cream Ale with Tart Cherry Puree
All Grain
BIAB
5.5 gal
8 lbs American 2-row
.5 lbs Crystal 40L
8 oz Corn Sugar

Hops:
1oz Willamette 60min
1oz Willamette 10min
Yeast Safale US-05
Special Ingredients:
Tart Cherry Puree 3 lbs secondary 10 days

7.5 gal water
Strike temp 160
Mash temp 152 for 60min
Mash out 170 for 10min
OG 1.044
FG 1.006
ABV 4.99
Bottled Saturday will wait 3 weeks to taste
tasted sample when bottling the cherry was not as up front as I would have liked, I'm hoping that the flavor of cherry will be more pronounced after 3 weeks.

any updates on this?
 
Need to add a pic later at work now,
The Tart Cream Ale is very good SWMBO likes it very much!
I should have used twice/maybe three times as much Tart Cherry puree but that stuff is not cheap!
I will make again and follow the grain bill exactly as the OP, but will add 6 to 9 lbs of puree to the secondary.

OK attached the beer porn : )

20161125_172857_resized.jpg
 
Last edited:
Need to add a pic later at work now,
The Tart Cream Ale is very good SWMBO likes it very much!
I should have used twice/maybe three times as much Tart Cherry puree but that stuff is not cheap!
I will make again and follow the grain bill exactly as the OP, but will add 6 to 9 lbs of puree to the secondary.

Yeah need beer porn....

Three times this phone's spell check auto corrected and was saying "Yeah need beer poured".

:D
 
Just made this recipe, thanks for posting. Went light on the cherry and then split the batch and added vanilla to half. Came out great.
 

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