Cherries- purée vs concentrate

[AzOr]

I ran across a recipe in Craft Beer and Brewing for a Cherry Stout. It calls for 13 oz of cherry concentrate for a 5g batch.
I just ordered a couple of cans of Oregon fruit purée tart cherry. One is scheduled for a mead and I was wondering how much of the purée to use in place of the 13 oz of cherry concentrate. Each can is 3lbs
Any thoughts?

 

[Jayjay1976]

I ran across a recipe in Craft Beer and Brewing for a Cherry Stout. It calls for 13 oz of cherry concentrate for a 5g batch.
I just ordered a couple of cans of Oregon fruit purée tart cherry. One is scheduled for a mead and I was wondering how much of the purée to use in place of the 13 oz of cherry concentrate. Each can is 3lbs
Any thoughts?

I have only limited experience with Oregon canned tart cherries in beer, but I can tell you that two 14oz cans on top of 6 gallons of Philly sour ale contributed enough additional acidity to push the tartness to almost undrinkable levels. You're not brewing a sour but you might consider using half sweet and half tart to create a balanced cherry flavor.

On a side note, I've been thinking about brewing an imperial stout with dark cherries, but my plan is to also add Luxardo liqueur or maybe grenadine syrup to the beer after fermentation is complete. I suspect there is a lot of overlap between cocktail cherries and what people perceive as cherry flavors, so a stout that captures the taste of a cordial cherry could be really good.

 

[madscientist451]

Fermented cherries don't taste anything like cherry. For the beer, I'd skip the puree, get the cherry concentrate and add it when kegging.
For the mead, I'd add it with other fruit like blackberry and and black currant aiming for 3-6 lbs/gallon and add to secondary of a full strength mead.

 

[AzOr]

I have only limited experience with Oregon canned tart cherries in beer, but I can tell you that two 14oz cans on top of 6 gallons of Philly sour ale contributed enough additional acidity to push the tartness to almost undrinkable levels. You're not brewing a sour but you might consider using half sweet and half tart to create a balanced cherry flavor.

On a side note, I've been thinking about brewing an imperial stout with dark cherries, but my plan is to also add Luxardo liqueur or maybe grenadine syrup to the beer after fermentation is complete. I suspect there is a lot of overlap between cocktail cherries and what people perceive as cherry flavors, so a stout that captures the taste of a cordial cherry could be really good.

I’m pretty familiar w tart cherry juice, not concentrate. I’ve been using it in cider for years. I do prefer tart over sweet. Years ago I did experiment w sweet cherry juice in meads and ciders. I always got a slight fake cough syrup from sweet cherry juice.

I also made Papazians Cherries in the Snow with fresh frozen cherries. I used the sweet, regular eating cherries and I wasn’t crazy about the flavor. Drinkable but wasn’t my favorite.

 

[AzOr]

Fermented cherries don't taste anything like cherry. For the beer, I'd skip the puree, get the cherry concentrate and add it when kegging.
For the mead, I'd add it with other fruit like blackberry and and black currant aiming for 3-6 lbs/gallon and add to secondary of a full strength mead.

I’m trying to use what I have on hand (in the mail anyways).
As far as kegging, I would probably bottle a good portion of the batch and give away for Xmas gifts. So I wouldn’t want to leave any fermentables in the bottle. If I were leaving in kegerator, I could get away with it.
Again- I’m trying to use what I have so I’ll stick w the purée. Oregon Fruit has made me lazy. It’s quality stuff. Sure I could source good fresh fruit then purée and freeze, but why.
I just used apricot purée in a mead. Currently sitting in carboy but the samples are solid tasting.