Imperial Brown w/ Cherries

so I’ve got this idea but don’t have a good Imp brown recipe. I’ve never worked with fruit either. Most recipes call for racking the beer onto them in the secondary, but have no clue how much to use. I want the complexity and flavor without getting a ton of additional sweetness from the fruit. I’m envisioning that this would end up almost like a strong ale rather than a fruity Newcastle. Ideas? Suggestions?

 

You shouldn't get a lot of sweetness from the cherries since their sugar is almost completely fermentable. I've both good and bad luck with fruit. Usually you add fruit in the secondary.

My bad luck has been getting bacteria from fruit in a couple batches so now I pasteurize my fruit by a adding a bit of water to the fruit in a pot and bringing it up to 161°F and holding that for 15sec. I understand the heating can create haze but it's a brown so no biggie and it'll save you from worrying about infection.

With cherries I'd go 3-5lbs, that's just me though.

After its all said and done try it and see how you feel about the flavor and aroma. Sometimes adding an ounce of two of flavor extract from the LHBS can make the natural fruit pop a little better.

Just had an imperial stout with cherries aged in a whiskey barrel. Was delicious. I think you're on the right track with a big brown.

 

Thanks! I’ve been leery of trying fruit bc so many are just over the top and I’ve had some cherry stouts that taste medicinal. They almost verge on a Robitussin-like taste. I def don’t want those flavors.

 

Try the below without the pecans for a good imperial brown. Have done it with and without the pecans and also aged on Jim Beam soaked oak spirals. Very pleased.
https://www.starchefs.com/cook/reci...ke-mcgarvey/southern-belle-imperial-brown-ale

 

Sometimes I wonder about some commercial cherry flavored beers. I wouldn't be surprised if some are just made with extract. I can't remember the brewery that made the stout but it was a Michigan micro brewery and northern Michigan is known for cherries. I'd assume they at least used the real deal.

 

I have just taste tested a beer that I brewed that was inspired by Troeg's Mad Elf. They called for using a 50/50 blend of sweet and tart cherries at a rate 0.4 lb/gal. They add their cherries towards the end of primary fermentation, and I did the same. I ended up using the Oregon Fruit canned cherries (one sweet, one tart - all juices/syrups included), mashed with a potato masher at a rate of 0.5 lb/gal added on day 4 of fermentation.

It gave a nice hue to the beer, and it has a subtle cherry flavor, not over-the-top at all. Hope that helps in guiding the rates.

 

Actually I really think a beer like this would be awesome barrel aged or at least the home brew version of barrel aging

 

Thanks for the all the good ideas! Appreciate it!

 

Do what do you think about using Founders Sumatra mountain Brown as the base recipe sub out coffee and replace with the cherries? I really love that beer.

 

I bet that'd work out well. You find a clone recipe for it?

 

Found this on the BeerAdvocate forum. Looks pretty similar from what I can tell (though i’m not expert at building clone recipes). Supposedly turned out well.

Grain bill:
14.0# 2-row
3.5# Munich Malt, 10L
1.25# Crystal, 60L
1.0# Aromatic Malt
0.75# Chocolate Malt
1.0# Flaked Barley

Hop Bill
2.0oz Perle Pellets, 8.0% AA, @60min
1.0oz Hallertauer Pellets, 4.8% AA. @10min

Yeast
Wyeast 1056

Process
Mash Temp: 152F
Mash Length: 60 Minutes
Boil Length: 60 Minutes
Primary Fermentation: 21 days @ 68F

Coffee: 4 oz at flameout and 2-4oz cold press in secondary

 

That's generally how I start with my recipes. Think of a commercial beer I like and find a clone then modify if I feel like it needs it. I've been using an Old Leghumper clone to do a coconut porter. Comes out awesome.

 

Sounds tasty! Do you toast the coconut? I assume it’s in the secondary. If you ever get out to Breckenridge, find Broken Arrow Coconut Porter.

 

Personally I'd leave the coffee out if your doing cherry. Brewers Best has the best extracts IMHO. I add fruit in secondary, mostly frozen, with extract to taste. Adding to ferment will diminish flavor. A cherry brown I'd add 4lbs frozen for 7days secondary then extract to taste. Make sure you add Potassium Sorbate to minimize any secondary fermentation and cold crash for sure. Pure Cherry juice another option if available.

 

Yeah I was not planning on doing the coffee just using the base Brown to build off. I wasn’t that worried about the cherries and a secondary fermentation bc I was gonna leave it in the secondary for at least a month. I assume most of the fermentables would be eaten up in that time.

 

When adding fruit to ferment realize the flavor will go away.

 

Yep, low temp until it gets that light brown color like the coconut on a German chocolate cake. It got a 39 in the contest my lhbs does quarterly.

 

Got thinking about this beer again and was wondering...the coffee really countered the sweetness of a big brown like this. By removing the coffee and racking beer onto cherries will it be too sweet? Was thinking of Adding bourbon barrel chips to half the batch. Should I increase the hop additions to cut down on the sweetness?

 

Cherries won't sweeten it on their own. The sugar in fruit is completely fermentable. I'd leave the recipe as is because sometimes sweetness in beer makes fruit taste more like fruit. If anything I'd say the cherries may dry it out a tad.

 

Ok. Thanks!

 

Agreed with the above. Cherries won't sweeten your beer, it is just easy to imagine it that way because they are sweet when we eat them. However, the sugar ferments away.

In fact, cherries often have a very different impact in beer. Since they are a subacid fruit (they have an avg pH range of 3.2-4.5), they have the potential to create a tartness that reads very differently from the sweetness that we experience when we eat them. If anything, I'd expect cherries to temper the richness of a brown ale, assuming it wasn't too bitter or thin-bodied.