Don't know what to do with the Cherries

[NewBrewTony]

Ok so my friend has a huge cherry tree and I went crazy picking them for like 4 hours. I was able to get a lot of juice from them and now i am frustrated because I don't know what to do with it all. Maybe I was thinking of a Brandy or even a nice fall beer with a subtle hint of Cherry. Any suggestions people.
Oh and by the way I am way new to this sight so hi everyone.

 

[BigKahuna]

Hi.
Think Cherry Blond Ale and
Cherry Apfelwein?
Cherry Mead?
Cherry Wine?
Cherry Brandy would require distillation...so don't even think about it...but a cherry Liqueur made with Vodka might make a nice addition to a can of coke every once in a while.

 

[david_42]

Are they sweet cherries or tart (pie) cherries? If they are sweet, cider or wine would be better and easier. Tart cherries are good in a number of styles of beer, including stouts, dunkels, blondes, and wheats.

 

[summersolstice]

I made mead with the cherries I picked a couple of weeks ago.

 

[NewBrewTony]

Bigkahuna that actually brings up a very interesting fact for me. A still.....is it legal or illegal to have and operate a still in the state of Oregon

 

[Loup]

I believe (not 100% sure on this) in order to legally distill liquor for the purposes of drinking, your still must be inspected and approved, you then have to sell all the distilled liquor to the state, then you can buy it back from the state, paying the appropriate taxes, then drink.

 

[NewBrewTony]

That sounds like BULL to me. I think there is a whole lot of other varieties of drinks that I can make without distilling. I am going to try and make a cherry mead using blackberry honey for the added sweetener. Any suggestions?

 

[Rezilynt]

Chocolate Cherry Stout

 

[summersolstice]

That sounds like BULL to me. I think there is a whole lot of other varieties of drinks that I can make without distilling. I am going to try and make a cherry mead using blackberry honey for the added sweetener. Any suggestions?

That's exactly what I did -cherry mead with blackberry honey. It's in the secondary now and I have high hopes for it.

 

[BigKahuna]

Bigkahuna that actually brings up a very interesting fact for me. A still.....is it legal or illegal to have and operate a still in the state of Oregon

It is absolutely illegal in the United States for a private and unlicensed citizen to poses or operate a still or to concentrate alcohol by any method (Freezing AppleJack). The ONLY country that I am aware of that it is legal to distill alcohol is New Zealand.

That's why we call'em water purifiers.

 

[EvilTOJ]

Bigkahuna that actually brings up a very interesting fact for me. A still.....is it legal or illegal to have and operate a still in the state of Oregon

I'm not sure why you'd ask about whether it's legal in Oregon or not. It's a federal law like BK said.