Happy Cherries!

Just had to post some in progress pics of my winter warmer.

It's a spiced cherry dubbel.

After 3 weeks in primary I racked onto 6lbs of cherries (half tart, half sweet).
The hydrometer sample tasted great, I can't wait to taste the sample in a month when I rack it off of the fruit!

lookin good! you know i'm not too far from IN...wanna send me a sample when they're done?

Thinking of doing something like that with black cherries and a porter.

Any reason why you didn't split the cherries and take the stones out? Won't the stones give an astrigent/tannin flavor to the beer?

just a fruit noob...lookin for answers

Mmm, looks yummy! Where did you get the cherries?

All of the cherries used had been pitted, so no worries there!

fretman124 said:

Thinking of doing something like that with black cherries and a porter.

Any reason why you didn't split the cherries and take the stones out? Won't the stones give an astrigent/tannin flavor to the beer?

just a fruit noob...lookin for answers

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bsay said:

Mmm, looks yummy! Where did you get the cherries?

Click to expand...

I found the tart cherries in Meijer. They were pitted and unsweetend. Michigan cherries.

The dark sweet were canned Oregon brand. They were in syrup, so I poured that off before adding them. I would have preferred the Oregon cherry puree, or fresh, but I missed the window on the fresh sweet cherries.

golfguy819 said:

lookin good! you know i'm not too far from IN...wanna send me a sample when they're done?

Click to expand...

I'm always up for trades!

Kegged this tonight! Looks and tastes awesome so far!!

Now for the waiting. I'll probably carb it up around Thanksgiving and pull a sample bottle or two.

what was your recipe? im looking into a dubble for myself and im trying to draw out plans right now

Being from Michigan I've always wanted to try a cherry beer, but haven't got to yet. I'm hoping our carpet will be laid within two weeks, and then I can get back to doing my hobbies. I'll put this on my ever-expanding list of recipes to try out.

Dubbel Trubbel

5.25gal

Gravity Before Boil: 1.044 SG (11.2 Brix)
Original Gravity: 1.072 SG (18.2 Brix)
Final Gravity: 1.008 SG (8.7 Brix)

6lb 0oz of Belgian Pale Malt
3lb 0oz of German Munich Malt
1lb 0oz of US Caramel 80L Malt
8.00 oz of US Aromatic Malt

1.25 oz of German Perle (All Of Boil-60min) (Original recipe called for Northern Brewer)

Towards the end of the boil add the following fermentable ingredients (stirring to avoid scorching).
2lb 0oz of Sugar - Turbinado (Original recipe called for Piloncillo or other partially refined sugar)

1 teaspoon of Ceylon (True cinnamon) I used regular cinnamon (end of boil)
1 drop of almond extract. (end of boil)

White Labs WLP530-Abbey Ale

I let this ferment for three weeks. I started off at the lower end of the yeasts range and slowly ramped the temp up to the upper part of the range over the first few days of fermentation.

After the three weeks I racked it onto 6lbs (3 tart, 3 sweet) of cherries.
And let this sit for a month. (The original recipe called for a minimum of 1lb of cherries per gallon, but suggested that 2lbs per gallon was better.)

I will let it age for another couple months in the keg.