Tart cherries and bourbon

[bonSreeB]

It's time for me to start asking about going into a secondary fermenter. I'm trying a Boulevard BBQ inspired extract quad. Their BBQ has cherries added as well and I've read how they split each batch and cherry one half and then mix them before bottling, but I don't want to go this in depth. I just want a little tart cherry and bourbon barrel flavor. I was planning to rack to my secondary after 3 weeks in primary and then go 2-3 weeks in the secondary.

From what I've been able to discern myself, 2lbs of tart cherries and it seems maybe 1oz of oak chips soaked in bourbon would be about what I need for these light flavors of each. Would someone please guide/tweak what I have if they see it differently? I was also going to use Devil's Cut to slightly raise the flavor of the "barrelness" of the beer, is this ok?

Please offer your opinion, I more than open to being completely wrong.

This is my first beer and yes I know it's a little complicated and probably over my head but I'm over the first hurdle....Beer started with a SG of 1.096:rockin: and after 6 days is now still bubbling well and sitting at 1.025

 

[DocScott]

I've never had the beer, but I think your two pounds of tart cherries should be pretty good for an obvious cherry presence. Be careful with the oak chips - your amount and soaking in Devil's cut is fine - but don't leave them on it for too long as new oak chips tend to give a lot of oak flavors pretty quickly. Your proposed 2-3 weeks should be no problem. Just remember that you need to give the beer time to completely ferment out the sugars present in the cherries.

To monitor the progress of the cherries, watch your gravity. To monitor the oak addition, your taste buds will tell you.

Ambitious first brew, but sounds like its going well!

 

[madscientist451]

There's a reason they add cherries and oak to only part of the commercial beer you are trying to emulate. The flavored beer and non flavored beer aren't just "mixed" but they are blended to taste depending on how strong the cherry and bourbon flavors are. I think a wise move would be to do just like they do, only add flavor to half of your batch, then blend back with a portion (or all) of your unflavored beer. The idea is to give you options. If you add your whole batch to the cherries and oak, you won't have as many options if the flavor gets stronger than you want. If the cherry/bourbon flavors aren't strong enough you can always add more.

 

[bonSreeB]

I've never had the beer, but I think your two pounds of tart cherries should be pretty good for an obvious cherry presence. Be careful with the oak chips - your amount and soaking in Devil's cut is fine - but don't leave them on it for too long as new oak chips tend to give a lot of oak flavors pretty quickly. Your proposed 2-3 weeks should be no problem. Just remember that you need to give the beer time to completely ferment out the sugars present in the cherries.


To monitor the progress of the cherries, watch your gravity. To monitor the oak addition, your taste buds will tell you.

Ambitious first brew, but sounds like its going well!

Thanks for your response.

As in obvious cherry presence, do you mean it will be like wow, that's got cherry flavor or just noticeable? I really want it to be just noticeable but had read cherries require more than most fruits to impart flavor. I intend on freezing them, pasteurizing in a little water and racking the beer onto them already in the secondary. I'm really not looking for oak flavor too much, just more on the bourbon side. Has anyone ever soaked the cherries in bourbon and added them instead of the chip?

I would like to mix them but would smaller carboys so as not to have to much headspace in the secondary. I may just let the cherries stay on the low side but may let the bourbon rip, couldn't possibly have too much alcohol in my alcohol right?

Checked "baby beer", my gf and I call it that. The hydrometer is approaching 1.020 but it's a little hard to tell because the krausen has dried on it very thick at that spot

 

[DocScott]

Thanks for your response.

As in obvious cherry presence, do you mean it will be like wow, that's got cherry flavor or just noticeable? I really want it to be just noticeable but had read cherries require more than most fruits to impart flavor. I intend on freezing them, pasteurizing in a little water and racking the beer onto them already in the secondary. I'm really not looking for oak flavor too much, just more on the bourbon side.

With 2 lbs in 5 gallons, it will be fairly easy to pick out the flavor but shouldn't overwhelm the beer, especially in a quad. I'm not sure what you mean by "pasteurizing in a little water" - with fresh fruit, I'd just freeze it then put into secondary and rack on top of the frozen fruit.

As for the bourbon/oak - If you're not looking for oak, don't use it! You'll get the burnt oak flavor from the bourbon -- the barrel is what gives the spirit its flavor in the first place. If you want the vanilla/wood from the oak, go ahead and use the chips, just taste it every few days until it tastes as you want.

One last suggestion - if you are going to use the cherries and oak and don't want to separate them and blend, you may want to add the cherries, let the secondary fermentation complete, then add the oak and check it periodically until it tastes as you want.