I really love stone fruit and cherry flavors in beer. My favorite examples come from BDSA's like St. Bernardus 12 and Rochefort 8. I've also tasted them in English porters, and even in funky Brett beers. I'm starting tinkering with a recipe that will really hype up these fruit flavors. I'm not sure what final form it will take, but I'm starting with something vaguely dubbel/patersbier-ish. Below is the first recipe I plan to try. I'm planning to use a fair amount of crystal, and mash low to balance the residual sweetness.
I wrote a thread about using crystal malts to generate cherry/fruit flavors previously, and I got a lot of good info. Some people suggested using ingredients besides crystal malt, such as invert sugars, yeast, etc... to bring out these cherry/apricot/plummy flavors. I'd like to discuss these options some more.
I want this to be a long term tinkering project. I'd love to hear people's ideas, either based on experience or theory (and however far flung) to make a total cherry bomb ale.
Cherry Bomb A1
Fermentables
Amount Fermentable Maltster Use PPG Color
8.0 lb Maris Otter Pale (UK) Any 86 % Mash 38 3 °L
0.5 lb Crystal 70L (UK) Any 5 % Mash 34 70 °L
0.5 lb CaraMunich II (DE) Any 5 % Mash 34 46 °L
0.25 lb Special B (BE) Any 2 % Mash 34 115 °L
Hops
Amount Hop Time Use Form AA
0.5 oz Centennial (US) 60 min Boil Pellet 10.5%
Yeasts
Name Lab/Product Attenuation
Trappist High Gravity (Westvleteren) Wyeast 3787 Wyeast 76.0%
Mash steps
150.0 °F 60 min
Predicted Stats
1.052 OG
1.012 FG
18 IBU
5.2% ABV
12 SRM
0.36 IBU/OG
I wrote a thread about using crystal malts to generate cherry/fruit flavors previously, and I got a lot of good info. Some people suggested using ingredients besides crystal malt, such as invert sugars, yeast, etc... to bring out these cherry/apricot/plummy flavors. I'd like to discuss these options some more.
I want this to be a long term tinkering project. I'd love to hear people's ideas, either based on experience or theory (and however far flung) to make a total cherry bomb ale.
Cherry Bomb A1
Fermentables
Amount Fermentable Maltster Use PPG Color
8.0 lb Maris Otter Pale (UK) Any 86 % Mash 38 3 °L
0.5 lb Crystal 70L (UK) Any 5 % Mash 34 70 °L
0.5 lb CaraMunich II (DE) Any 5 % Mash 34 46 °L
0.25 lb Special B (BE) Any 2 % Mash 34 115 °L
Hops
Amount Hop Time Use Form AA
0.5 oz Centennial (US) 60 min Boil Pellet 10.5%
Yeasts
Name Lab/Product Attenuation
Trappist High Gravity (Westvleteren) Wyeast 3787 Wyeast 76.0%
Mash steps
150.0 °F 60 min
Predicted Stats
1.052 OG
1.012 FG
18 IBU
5.2% ABV
12 SRM
0.36 IBU/OG
