Dark fruit with a strong dark ale?

[charlieboltman]

im going to be brewing a Strong Dark Belgian this weekend and I was thinking about adding in a dark fruit like currants and or black cherries to the secondary.. late in the secondary that is.. I’ll be using Wyeast 3864. And I’m shooting for around 10%abv.. I dont want an over powering fruit bomb just a little hint.. I figured the darker fruit flavor would compliment the style and yeast..

Have any of y’all ever added fruit to a strong dark before or have any suggestions?

I made the same recipe last year and just finished the last bottle.. it was most def good but did slightly leave me wanting more.. and for a beer that matures in about a years time yeah just don’t want to be left wanting more out of it..

My favorite strong dark Belgian is the Unibroue Grande Reserve but I figured I wanted to try something a little different..

Any ideas??

Oh yeah the recipe kit is the NB. northy 12 Belgian Quad

 

[deadwolfbones]

Keep in mind that most of the sweetness will get fermented out and what you'll be left with is the sourness. It could still be a great addition (and isn't uncommon in examples I've seen).

Might be more interesting to bottle half and fruit the other half, so you know next time what the effects are.

 

[charlieboltman]

Might be more interesting to bottle half and fruit the other half, so you know next time what the effects are. [/QUOTE]


Great idea .. I think I will do that.. bottle 1/2 then fruit the other.. just in case. Just had an idea of adding black cherries and cocoa nibs... ehh we’ll see.. I think there’s a lot of options so I’ll play around..

I’ll keep it in the secondary for a little over 4 months.. would you add in immediately into the secondary? Or wait?