Help! Cherry Sour Kriek Two Questions

[Common763]

Just spent a year on my Cherry Sour Kriek. I didn't bottle properly (my fourth brew) and the recipe I called for required Cherry puree which got into the bottles. The beer is ruined. Here is my question...I want to do another batch but want to use real cherries this time, and keep the remainder of the recipe the same. The recipe called for (2) 46 ounce cans of Oregon Seedless Cherry Concentrate. Does anyone know what the comparable cherry type/amount would be?

Second question...I have another Cherry Sour Kriek that I am bottling in a couple weeks. I feel like it is gonna be really tough not getting that puree from the bottom in the bottles, but if it does it trashes the beer. If I put the carboy in an elevated position and start the syphon should that be sufficient or is it gonna still agressively pull that pulp in?

 

[martyjhuebs]

I would personally cold crash and rack from the top. I usually put my siphon tube halfway down the carboy and start bottling. Its better to leave some beer behind than ruin the entire batch. As far as the cherries go, you can always add a little oil free cherry candy flavoring if you miss the mark with your substitute.

 

[Common763]

Thanks. For me its not about the flavor but the nuisance with the cherry puree. Can you or anyone else tell me what the comparable portion would be in using real cherries, and which type I should use?

 

[Agate]

Rather than worrying about an equivalent, think about how much cherry presence you want in your Kriek. At 1#/gallon, you'll have a moderate amount of cherry presence. 1.5-2#/gallon will give it a nice strong cherry punch.

 

[Common763]

Ok...That helps...so if I add 8 to 10 lbs of cherries to a five gallon batch that would give me a nice strong cherry flavor then. What kind of cherries would you use for a sour cherry kriek?

 

[Agate]

Any tart cherry will work well. Being in Michigan, I've used montmorency, but it all depends on what you can get. I'm personally not a fan of sweet cherries in sour beer.

And use cherries with pits, if you can find them!

 

[poptarts]

I bought a real kriek the other day it said they use 400g/L cherries to lambic. but I would probably start around 2lbs a gal and go up from there. 400g/L is a crap load of cherry, it tasted awesome though.

 

[hopbrad]

im a bit confused on your comments/methods and it makes me think you are doing a few things wrong.
1. are you bottling right from the carboy and not using a bottling bucket? (using carb tabs)
2. are you not elevating your carboy when you siphon? meaning you are pumping the entire time during the transfer? if so, that will stir up a ton of trub/puree/yeast.

anyway a few tips on bottling:
1. put the carboy on a table.
2. put bottling bucket on the floor with priming sugar
3. put siphon about 1/2 way into the carboy, start siphon. dont let it splash. let gravity take care of it. your comment about not having the carboy raised makes me think you are pumping the entire time on a even level.
4. slowly lower the siphon towards the trub/yeast cake/cherry puree.
5. put bottling bucket on the table and bottle from there or raise it even more so you dont have to sit on/near the floor.

if you can, cold crash the beer, that should compact everything on the bottom, or siphon the beer in a secondary for a few weeks.

 

[martyjhuebs]

^ What he said... I cold crash... Boil my priming sugar with water for 20mins, chill and add to carboy. Let sit for a couple hours in the refrigerator and then siphon off the yeast cake straight into bottles.

 

[poptarts]

you can save 19 mins off that boil, or just mix it was a bottle of water and skip all that nonsense

 

[Common763]

First off thanks to all for the responses...This site is awesome and super helpful...Hop Brad...No, I havent been doing it right...I am a semi-newbie at this having only done three beers prior to this one. I normally just pump by hand until most of the beer is transferred from carboy to bottling bucket. Buckets at same level. In this situation that was a horrible idea because of the 100oz of cherry pulp at the bottom, hence a bad beer. If I put the carboy 3-4 feet above bottling bucket, and pump siphon in the middle of the beer, are you saying I just need to lightly pump once or twice for the siphon to start? Thanks.

 

[Common763]

I kinda solved my issue with the first kriek batch...I put the bottles in the fridge and once really cold the cherry concentrate left in the bottles stays if I pour slowly so now I can at least enjoy 75% of each bottle which is better than expected. Cheers!

 

[hopbrad]

If I put the carboy 3-4 feet above bottling bucket, and pump siphon in the middle of the beer, are you saying I just need to lightly pump once or twice for the siphon to start? Thanks.

yes exactly. you should be able to find some videos/demonstrations on youtube on bottling too.