It will happen. Tomorrow they will play a "should win" Buffalo team. This is when the collapse will start. Or AV is the coach that Philadelphia always deserved and they go all the way. One or the other, no in between. Then again, there was that annual December west coast trip when Disney kicks...
I believe I used a pound in a 5 gallon brew. They are unfermentable and only serve to prevent the mash from compacting anyway. And as far as recirculation rate....your going to want the wort coming in equal to the wort exiting. You are going to have to play around with it a bit until you get it...
I have used both tart and sweet depending on style. I believe it was a pound in a 5 gallon batch, but I have to double check my brew day notes. The tart cherrys I halved and soaked in vodka before pitching into the secondary. I just pureed and boiled the sweet cherry. Niether had a cough syrup...
I did a 5 gallon pale wheat with apricot and I don't think that the 5 gallons survived a month. EVERYONE was drinking it. It was very refreshing, though with the pureed apricot alone there wasn't enough flavor coming through. I added some extract after secondary and it was perfect. Watermelon...