Ok, bare with me here....

[BigRob90]

So I want to try and brew a Smoked Cherry Porter. Problem is, I'm kinda stuck on how to go about this. I want to do more than just brew a smoked porter and add cherry extract. If at all possible, I want to stay away from the cherry extract entirely but so far I can't find a way to do that.

Northern Brewer has some cherry wood smoked malt so I was thinking of using that to get a sweet, smokey flavor but as for the cherry flavor, I'm not sure how to bring it through. Fermenting on cherry's doesn't sound like it would work but could I be wrong? Also, if I DID use the cherry wood smoked malt, would I have to substitute it for some other grains? Like the chocolate malt or something?

Looking at doing my first all grain batch here in the next month or so, so I'm trying to figure out if this is realistically something I can brew.

Thanks in advance!

Rob

 

[GodsStepBrother]

Freeze your cherries so all the cell walls burst, then once your beer has fermented through rack it on top of all the cherries should work like a charm. The alcohol in the fermented beer will stop a lot of the spoilage.

 

[hopsalot]

Freeze your cherries so all the cell walls burst, then once your beer has fermented through rack it on top of all the cherries should work like a charm. The alcohol in the fermented beer will stop a lot of the spoilage.

Word

 

[BigRob90]

Freeze your cherries so all the cell walls burst, then once your beer has fermented through rack it on top of all the cherries should work like a charm. The alcohol in the fermented beer will stop a lot of the spoilage.

Sounds good, thank you! Should I put them in a nylon bag or will putting them in without one be alright?

 

[GodsStepBrother]

That up to you, it would be easier to syphon out the beer if they where in a nylon bag. I think you would get better extraction if they where floating around on there own though. May sure and clean the cherries throughly with lots of cold water before even freezing. Sanitize colander or whatever you use and anything that will hold the cherries to try and minimize contamination. I have never used cherries in a beer but lots of other fruits, it has worked for me.

How strong are you thinking of making this beer?

 

[BigRob90]

That up to you, it would be easier to syphon out the beer if they where in a nylon bag. I think you would get better extraction if they where floating around on there own though. May sure and clean the cherries throughly with lots of cold water before even freezing. Sanitize colander or whatever you use and anything that will hold the cherries to try and minimize contamination. I have never used cherries in a beer but lots of other fruits, it has worked for me.

How strong are you thinking of making this beer?

Was going to aim for the 6.5-7% area. Still pretty new to brewing; I've done only 2 extract kits and one extract kit w/specialty grains.

 

[GodsStepBrother]

Shoot for 7% just to make sure. Let us know how this all turns out.

 

[BigRob90]

Shoot for 7% just to make sure. Let us know how this all turns out.

Will do, thanks for your help!

 

[keesh]

It might be worthwhile to put them in a nylon bag with some kind of weight that will hold it down, in suspension. This is because if the cherries are exposed to the open air they have a chance of attracting some ugly bugs (mold most likely). Then again, if your sanitation is sound it probably shouldn't be a problem. Just my 2 cents.