Alternatives because of tart cherry shortage

[Tieman]

I'm working on this recipe:
http://wiki.homebrewersassociation.org/ItsAllMineSoKeepBackBerlinerWeisseWithSourCherries

I just discovered there has been an issue with the tart cherry crop this year. After searching on the internet it appears the cheapest I can get 5 lbs of frozen tart cherries is about $85 ($35 for the fruit, $50 for shipping), which is way over budget.

Does anyone have success using concentrate or dried/canned tart cherries? If so, any suggestions on how much to use to get the same effect as 5 lbs of frozen?

Thanks in advance!

 

[bja]

http://kingorchards.com/store.htm?category=Cherry%20Juice%20Concentrate

 

[Tieman]

Thanks!
Any idea how much I would use to get the same flavor as 5 lbs of tart cherries? I was guessing 32 oz, but that's just a wild guess.

 

[mendesm]

If you're going to add it at kegging/bottling, just take about a pint out of the secondary, split it into 5 glasses or so and add different amounts to each and pick the best one. You know the volume of beer and of juice in your sample, just scale it up to your batche's size.

 

[Tieman]

Great! This will greatly reduce the time before it's ready too. Everyone wins!

 

[bja]

When I used this, I put the whole quart in 5 gallon of beer and it was too much. I'd start with half a quart.

 

[bja]

If you're going to add it at kegging/bottling, just take about a pint out of the secondary, split it into 5 glasses or so and add different amounts to each and pick the best one. You know the volume of beer and of juice in your sample, just scale it up to your batche's size.

You will need to secondary since fermentation will restart.

 

[mendesm]

You will need to secondary since fermentation will restart.

Taste each sample after it has refermented THEN add the appropriate amount to the secondary. Since it is a small volume, they should be done refermenting pretty quickly

 

[passedpawn]

Walmart has canned tart cherries (Oregon brand). I've used them many times. Looks like this: