Hello all. I'm considering making an extract high gravity cherry ale and was wondering if anyone has any input on this. was thinking of using the cherries in the snow recipe from the complete joy of homebrewing and just bumping the DME to 12lbs and using some white labs california ale yeast that i have in my fridge. My main question is would the cherries go well With the high gravity? i'd hate for it to come out tasting like cough syrup. . . any feed back would be appreciated. Thanks
high gravity cherry ale?
- Thread starter uknowwh00
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Ommegang's Three Philosophers is a cherry kriek blend in a belgian quadruppel and it's great. I dont have any experience using cherries, but i think the flavor goes well with high gravity, particularly a little choclatey taste.
Mermaid
Well-Known Member
I've been researching this a bit - as I've wanted to brew something similar to Troegs "Mad Elf" or the New Glarus Wisconsin Red. "Mad Elf" is a good example of a HG "cherry" ale.
Unfortunately, this beer seems to be inconsistent for me - some bottles I get are quite nice, a sipper more than a guzzler, something to take the chill off a cold winter night. Other bottles have been bordering on vile/undrinkable/cough syrup. Not sure if that's aging, mishandling of the bottles, or just a crap batch - it's just not always good. But yeah, that's one example of the style. They use a Belgian strain of yeast, probably one of the Abbey/High Gravity strains.
What you want to do is get your base recipe figured out first - and then pick a yeast that will not crap out / get tired before it's finished chewing on your wort (without the cherries). Not sure how the WLP 001 would stand up to a high gravity brew - while it IS a beast, you want to make sure that you've got plenty of healthy yeasties when you dump it into that HG wort. I would recommend picking an alcohol tolerant Belgian strain over the 001, but that's just me.
As far as the cherries are concerned, you want to dump them in after your wort has been going for a while. You don't have to use a secondary, but you also don't want to dump them in right away. You could use frozen whole cherries (with the pits), or a few cans of the cherry puree, I still haven't quite figured out the calculations on how much to use - still more research needed on my part.
Other tidbits I've picked up over the course of researching this, if you've got the time and/or willingness to experiment, dosing your fruit beer with lactobacillus and tucking it away in a carboy for a few months can make for a more interesting beer. Lacto goes well with cherries, but you have to give it a while to work it's magic.
It's all about hitting that balance of flavors, giving the beer enough time to fully ferment, and with a HG brew - it could be a few months before it's really mellowed enough to make it taste right. If you're not planning on drinking this sucker for a while, definitely look into finding a place to tuck the fermenter and let it have a nice long nap (i.e. brew now, bottle next Spring, drink next Summer)
Unfortunately, this beer seems to be inconsistent for me - some bottles I get are quite nice, a sipper more than a guzzler, something to take the chill off a cold winter night. Other bottles have been bordering on vile/undrinkable/cough syrup. Not sure if that's aging, mishandling of the bottles, or just a crap batch - it's just not always good. But yeah, that's one example of the style. They use a Belgian strain of yeast, probably one of the Abbey/High Gravity strains.
What you want to do is get your base recipe figured out first - and then pick a yeast that will not crap out / get tired before it's finished chewing on your wort (without the cherries). Not sure how the WLP 001 would stand up to a high gravity brew - while it IS a beast, you want to make sure that you've got plenty of healthy yeasties when you dump it into that HG wort. I would recommend picking an alcohol tolerant Belgian strain over the 001, but that's just me.
As far as the cherries are concerned, you want to dump them in after your wort has been going for a while. You don't have to use a secondary, but you also don't want to dump them in right away. You could use frozen whole cherries (with the pits), or a few cans of the cherry puree, I still haven't quite figured out the calculations on how much to use - still more research needed on my part.
Other tidbits I've picked up over the course of researching this, if you've got the time and/or willingness to experiment, dosing your fruit beer with lactobacillus and tucking it away in a carboy for a few months can make for a more interesting beer. Lacto goes well with cherries, but you have to give it a while to work it's magic.
It's all about hitting that balance of flavors, giving the beer enough time to fully ferment, and with a HG brew - it could be a few months before it's really mellowed enough to make it taste right. If you're not planning on drinking this sucker for a while, definitely look into finding a place to tuck the fermenter and let it have a nice long nap (i.e. brew now, bottle next Spring, drink next Summer)
Three Philsophers is a great beer!!! I had last week off and took a trip to Brewery Ommegang and wow!!! great food and great brew!! I was really impressed with the place. also was kinda surprised that they dry hopped Three Philosophers with cascade... Well... Anyway... Thanks ALOT for the input.. I figured out a rough ideas for my recipe and was wondering if you could let me know what you think....
1 lb 20L crystal steep@150F for 30 minutes
3 ozs. tettnang 90 mins
1 oz. tetnang 20 mins
12 lbs. Breiss light malt extract
6 lbs. sour cherries after boil
3 lbs sweet cherry puree in secondary
as per your suggestion mermaid^^^ I was thinking of using WLP500 Trappist yeast instead of the 001...
I was also cosidering a tertiary ferment but still need to do some research... and maybe some lactose to taste at bottling..
1 lb 20L crystal steep@150F for 30 minutes
3 ozs. tettnang 90 mins
1 oz. tetnang 20 mins
12 lbs. Breiss light malt extract
6 lbs. sour cherries after boil
3 lbs sweet cherry puree in secondary
as per your suggestion mermaid^^^ I was thinking of using WLP500 Trappist yeast instead of the 001...
I was also cosidering a tertiary ferment but still need to do some research... and maybe some lactose to taste at bottling..
bjl110
Well-Known Member
Just to note, there is WL 099 (super HG) if you don't want to go the Belgian route. Though, it sounds like you don't mind that. Epic brewing co does a "brainless on cherries" that is pretty excellent. Had t for the first time last week. Some good info on their site as well.
