sour cherry ale

[mpp0117]

I brewed my first beer with fruit in it over the weekend (sour cherry ale from extreme brewing book) the recipe gets a little vague at the end. My plan is to keep the beer in primary for 3 weeks. I put the cherries in just before I pitched the yeast (as the recipe requested). Is it OK to keep the cherries in the primary for 3 weeks? My concern is that the cherries may begin to go bad / rot… and I know I would not want rotten fruit in my beer.

 

[menerdari]

The cherries will not go bad, they will ferment.
Ever hear of friendship cake? people pass starter around that has fruit added at intervals, some of that fruit could well have been in that starter for years.
All that said, most people add the fruit to a beer after racking it to a secondary fermenter, but I am sure you will be just fine.

 

[normzone]

Oh, man, that sounds good. I've had some great cherry ales before.

You'll find the fruit flavors fade over time. You may wish to add some more in the secondary. Now you've made me want to brew cherry ale.