Cherries in Apfelwein

I just had an idea today and want to know what I might expect if I follow through on it. Here is the idea...

It is cherry time here in Washington State and I have about a gallon of fresh cherries from the tree in the back yard. I also have a batch of Apfelwein going made with just apple juice and 300 yeast that has been perking for about a week. What could I expect if I married the two by racking the Apfelwein out of the carboy into a plastic fermenter and added the cherries to it? There is not enough room in the carboy to add the cherries unless I remove some of the Apfelwein first. How about if I waited until I bottled and added a few cherries to each bottle?

Of course I would just split the cherries in two, remove the pit, and put the rest of it in with the Apfelwein.

Hummm...I actually have people that work for my company in Puyalup that can bring me some of this concoction to Colorado when you're done.

Add the cherries in about a week, add about.....8# (or More) to that 5 gallons jug, and rack onto it. leave it till it's clear then rack and bottle.

I wouldn't add cherries to the bottle...you'll end up with NASTY.

Man. This sounds GOOD!

Yea, adding cherries to the bottle dosn't sound too great. kahuna's suggestion will work fine I bet, just beware that the berries take up alot of volume when you add them, and on top of that, expand and bloat due to gas. I thought i read about someones attempt at the same thing, but he said that most of the cherry flavor was lost. good luck though, sounds like a tasty idea.

add it to bottling bucket or rack to secondary and add cherries there

So to make sure I got Kahuna's suggestion correct...

Wait for another week and add the cherries. What if the fermentation in not yet complete? The last batch I made took well over a month to finish out.

Of course the sugar and yeasts on the cherries will add to the over all flavor and additional fermentation.

Chip said:

So to make sure I got Kahuna's suggestion correct...

Wait for another week and add the cherries. What if the fermentation in not yet complete? The last batch I made took well over a month to finish out.

Of course the sugar and yeasts on the cherries will add to the over all flavor and additional fermentation.

Click to expand...

I would just add them one way or the other. A good bit of fermentation has already happened, and a good bit more will after you add the cherries. The point is that the cherries won't have to endure the first part of the fermentation. This will help to preserve the flavor and color of the cherry.