Sour Cherry Syrup

[jessup]

Does anyone have any experience with using Cherry Syrup? I've found very limited information on the subject, but have recently been experimenting and will give feedback as soon as the batches become drinkable. Apparently it's common in Poland to add cherry syrup to the beer while serving in the glass, but this isn't anything i need info on. I'm looking for info on post fermentation flavor. Is it overpowering, light in flavor, is there an extract "twang"? What can i expect? Cough syrup type flavors?

This is what I used:

Here's what i've found on the use of cherry SYRUP:

http://www.brewboard.com/index.php?showtopic=109654
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f12/kreik-beer-84911/index2.html

I recently brewed a strong stout (~8%) with Chocolate Coffee and the Sour Cherry Syrup for a holiday treat. The whole bottle (33oz. or 1 liter) of Sour Cherry Syrup was added to the secondary and at that time there was a LOT of coffee flavor to compete with. I'm hoping it will turn out okay, but you win some you lose some. Any info would be nice and I'll return to sum up how the finished product tastes. Anybody try this before?

 

[dontman]

I have not used the syrup like you showed or was mentioned in the link but I am using a Cherry Concentrate. The flavor is excellent. Something to note. There is no added sugar on the concentrate. It is strictly fresh cherry juice with most of the water removed, but its brix is 68, only 2 less than the syrup that was mentioned in the link.

 

[JVD_X]

Isn't "SOUR cherry" different from "Cherry"?

 

[Cpt_Kirks]

Isn't "SOUR cherry" different from "Cherry"?

Pie (red) cherries are generally sour. Dark cherries are sweeter.

 

[jessup]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sour_cherry
Prunus cerasus, or the sour cherry, is a species of Prunus in the subgenus Cerasus (cherries), native to much of Europe and southwest Asia. It is closely related to the wild cherry (P. avium), but has a fruit that is more acidic and so is useful primarily for cooking.

The tree is smaller than the wild cherry (growing to a height of 4–10 m), has twiggy branches, and its crimson-to-near-black cherries are borne upon shorter stalks.

There are two varieties of the sour cherry: the dark-red morello cherry and the lighter-red amarelle cherry

Cherry Varieties - Sweet and Sour Cherries
There are two general varieties of cherries: sweet and sour. The success of your recipe will depend on choosing the right variety. Fresh sweet cherries are available in the U.S. from May through August. Sour cherries begin ripening in June. Dried cherries are now available year-round and can be eaten as snacks or used in recipes like raisins.

Sweet Cherries
Usually eaten out of hand, sweet cherries are larger than sour cherries. They are heart-shaped and have sweet firm flesh. They range in color from golden red-blushed Royal Ann to dark red to purplish-black. Bing, Lambert, and Tartarian are other popular dark cherries. Sweet cherries also work well in cooked dishes.

Sour Cherries
Normally too tart to eat raw, sour cherries are smaller than their sweet cousins, and more globular in shape with softer flesh. The Early Richmond variety is the first available in late spring and is bright red in color, with the Montmorency soon following. The dark red Morello variety is another popular sour cherry. Sour cherries are normally cooked with sugar and used for pies, preserves, and relishes.

Info on the contents of the Syrup
http://www.marcopolofood.com/product.asp?prodid=mp-sour-cherry-syrup
25g of Sugar in 1oz = 845 g or 1.89 lbs sugar in whole bottle (33.8oz)

 

[Cpt_Kirks]

I am going to try the cherry extract again. I think I used too much last time.

 

[Houblon]

http://www.cherryconcentratestore.com/

I added 10oz to 4gal/beer and its very tart with a strong cherry pie aroma.

 

[WillPall]

Does anyone have any experience with using Cherry Syrup? I've found very limited information on the subject, but have recently been experimenting and will give feedback as soon as the batches become drinkable. Apparently it's common in Poland to add cherry syrup to the beer while serving in the glass, but this isn't anything i need info on. I'm looking for info on post fermentation flavor. Is it overpowering, light in flavor, is there an extract "twang"? What can i expect? Cough syrup type flavors?

This is what I used:

Here's what i've found on the use of cherry SYRUP:

http://www.brewboard.com/index.php?showtopic=109654
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f12/kreik-beer-84911/index2.html

I recently brewed a strong stout (~8%) with Chocolate Coffee and the Sour Cherry Syrup for a holiday treat. The whole bottle (33oz. or 1 liter) of Sour Cherry Syrup was added to the secondary and at that time there was a LOT of coffee flavor to compete with. I'm hoping it will turn out okay, but you win some you lose some. Any info would be nice and I'll return to sum up how the finished product tastes. Anybody try this before?

I would expect a syrupy twang, but that is only based on my experience with commercial brews like the Sam Adams Cherry Wheat. At any rate, if that's the only problem, I doubt it will really matter. If you want cherry flavor, you're going to get a sugary taste. Let us know how it turns out!

 

[Imp_atient]

Sam Cagalione's (Dogfish Head Brewery) book "Extreme Brewing" has a Sour Cherry Ale recipe using actual cherries. I won't post the recipe until I try it (also I feel bad about plagiarism) however I would think that using that recipe combined with Jessup's cherry recommendations would yield the results you're hoping for without having the sort of "astringent" qualities generally attributed to synthetic syrup additions.

 

[jessup]

My follow up on the Sour Cherry Syrup...

Brewed this batch around thanksgiving for christmas time and here we are drinking it in march. hmmm, what was i thinking? maybe i should be saving this for next christmas anyway, had problems during primary fermentation using WL calif ale yeast and when the gravity stopped dropping @ 1.050 i knew there was a problem. yeast was unhealthy so i'm at fault to save the beer, on 12/12 i took a leap of faith and threw in a buncha bottle dregs from various sours and some washed roselare yeast and that miserable wort went back to fermenting. on 1/3 i put the batch in a 3 gal oak barrel where it stayed for about 6 weeks. kegged it about a month ago and force carbonated.

slight chocolate cherry flavor at first, very lite on each being in competition with the oak that slightly overpowers in a nice balanced way. coffee bitterness flavor with cocoa nibs after taste. oak. lots of oak! cherry aroma through the nasal passages after sipping. slight horsiness to it, but nothing more than a tinge, not lactic at all. full body & sweet from lactose or residual unfermentables prob from the cherry syrup, but very lite considering. does brett eat lactose?? the amount of layers are outrageous, but the cherries are definitely northing more than an underlying flavor that's not quite distinguishable underneath the oak, chocolate and bittering coffee. a nice addition, but not as nice as whole cherries would've been. overall worth the $3 i spent on it, but that's about all. i think i should let this beer sit for a few months and see if it can evolve to the next level. still a lot of unfermentables in there that brett can prob break down!

for what it's worth here's the recipe:
3 lb wheat dme
3 lb lite dme
1 tsp gypsym
1 lb choc
.5 lb rstd barley
1 oz chocolate coffee early addition
1 oz centennial - 60 min
1 oz cascade - 60 min
1 oz cascade - 10 min
1 tsp irish moss
2 oz chocolate coffee - 0 min
11 oz sour cherry syrup
~8 oz lactose
WL california ale yeast cake unwashed
Secondary for approx 3 weeks:
33 oz bottle Sour Cherry Syrup
Roselare/Sour dregs
Oaked for ~6 weeks

 

[malagabeer]

Sorry for reviving this old thread but for those that have brewed with syrups i have a question.

I am planning on making fruit beer by adding syrup but i still dont know how to avoid a new fermentation after adding the syrup.

A brewer friend told me to use potassium sorbate before adding the syrup but i am not sure at all. I know that is used in wine to backsweeten but it is used in beer?


has anyone used potassium sorbate before adding the syrup?? If you dont, how do you avoid a new fermentation after adding the syrup.

 

[jessup]

I am planning on making fruit beer by adding syrup but i still dont know how to avoid a new fermentation after adding the syrup...how do you avoid a new fermentation after adding the syrup.

you've gotta remove ALL yeast. there are a number of ways to do this. you can use campden tablets or potassium metabisulfate (Kmeta) which are kinda 1 in the same, pasteurizing will definitely work, a centrifuge, gellatin finings & cold crashing is a good last step to totally clear out all yeast.

 

[malagabeer]

you've gotta remove ALL yeast. there are a number of ways to do this. you can use campden tablets or potassium metabisulfate (Kmeta) which are kinda 1 in the same, pasteurizing will definitely work, a centrifuge, gellatin finings & cold crashing is a good last step to totally clear out all yeast.

I will give it a try to potassium metabisulfate thank you...