Ideas for Dark Cherry Quad

[bolus14]

I have scowered the forums and many different google searches and haven't found anything besides the Bretted Bourbon Cherry Quad that comes up with almost any search for a Cherry Quad.

I'm wondering if anybody has ideas for getting a quad to taste more like sweet/tart cherry, or dark berries like black berries, black currants, etc rather than plum and raisins. Sam Adams Tatravis and Ommegang's Three Philosophers are in the realm of what I'm thinking.

 

[pricelessbrewing]

Take a quad recipe, reduce the og slightly, rack onto cherries/cherry concentrate/cherry juice, add more concentrate as priming sugar.

After visiting Griffin Claw brewery, I plan on doing this for a pseudo Cherry Trippel as it was delicious. Have yet to have three philosphers.

 

[motorneuron]

I think the above advice is spot on. You could consider using a yeast that is more spicy than fruity, which might allow the cherries to shine. Also consider adding the tiniest amount of true cinnamon, which I think enhances and highlights sour cherry flavor. (Thanks to Radical Brewing for that tip.)

You could also consider using blackberries and raspberries instead of cherry. It's true that cherries work well, but it'd be something different. Raspberries are more one-note, so using blackberries might allow for a more subtle fruit presence, along with a beautiful color.

Be sure when picking a recipe not to overdo the dark grain. Fruit will add color, and in general, the "dark fruit" kinds of flavors you want here come from special B, darker candy sugar/syrup, and the actual fruit. Don't use much, if any, roasted grains. Nothing darker than pale chocolate, and maybe not even any of that.

 

[bolus14]

I was thinking of using the recipe from the Pious recipe on here, don't have the exact link right now, but it's a westy "clone" if I remember correctly. I was going to use the recipe without specialty grains, or maybe add just a small of Special B with the candi syrup.

Also I hate to ask more, but is there a good way to calculate how much the concentrate or fruit will add to the ABV? I like the raspberries and blackberries idea too. Would there be any advantage to adding during the boil or just hold off and add all fruit after primary fermentation finishes?

 

[motorneuron]

That sounds like a good approach.

You can check the nutrition facts of the product in question to figure out how much sugar is in it. Generally it'll all be fermentable if you leave it in for long enough--it's mostly sucrose and fructose, I think, but in any event is mostly simple. You can then calculate ABV as if you had just added that much sugar. So, for example, blackberries are about 5% sugar by mass (http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/fruits-and-fruit-juices/1848/2). So if you add ten pounds of blackberries to secondary, that's like adding half a pound of sugar, give or take a little.

 

[pricelessbrewing]

That sounds like a good approach.

You can check the nutrition facts of the product in question to figure out how much sugar is in it. Generally it'll all be fermentable if you leave it in for long enough--it's mostly sucrose and fructose, I think, but in any event is mostly simple. You can then calculate ABV as if you had just added that much sugar. So, for example, blackberries are about 5% sugar by mass (http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/fruits-and-fruit-juices/1848/2). So if you add ten pounds of blackberries to secondary, that's like adding half a pound of sugar, give or take a little.

This.

 

[bolus14]

Thanks for the input, it really is appreciated. Im hoping to make something in the next week or two so it has a good 4 or 5 months to age before the holidays are once again upon us.

I'm thinking of either going all cherry, not sure if I'll use real cherries, cherry concentrate or cherry juice yet, might try to find some blackberry juice/concentrate as well and do a combination of both or might split he batch, see how each tastes before bottling and either bottle seperately, together or some of each . Oh the joys and decisions to be made,

 

[kingwood-kid]

If you're using concentrate, the label will tell you how much sugar you're adding, which is pretty easy to add into software to calculate your adjusted original gravity, which will ultimately give you your abv. If you're adding whole berries or puree, the fruit is going to add about as much alcohol (from the sugar) as it absorbs. It'll skew your abv a little, but not to the point that it's worth worrying about.

Fruit, when fermented, doesn't taste sweet. It tastes sour, because you're mostly left with the acid from the fruit. Any beer is going to contain some unfermented sugars, which will help balance the acidity. The right balance is very dependent upon personal taste.