Vintners Harvest Cherry Puree

[anthropod]

I have ordered two cans of Vintners Harvest Cherry Puree.

My goal was to make a cherry porter.
I have a basic porter recipe, and was going to add the cherry puree in secondary.

Here are my questions to anyone that has used this product.

1. In a 5 Gallon Batch, one or two cans. (They are 3Lbs 1oz)
I want to taste cherry, not just guess that there might be cherry.
If one can is enough, that would be great.

2. Is it a good product.
It gets great reviews on the websites, but I saw one post here that it made the beer taste like cherries that had gone bad.

3. How long in secondary?
My plan was two weeks, but time is not an issue, I can go longer or shorter.

I have attached a photo of the product just for reference.

 

[anthropod]

So my two cans came in today. It has a web address on the back that says there are recipes on their website. I went to the site, and there were no recipes that I could find, nor was there evidence that they made this product. (Although their logos matched.)

There are no expiration dates on the cans. But... I am optimistic because it gets good reviews on some of the home-brew shops websites.

 

[mdweil]

We used one can in a 5 gallon batch of lambic and it was more in the aroma than the flavor. We let it sit for six months because we used a brett brux yeast. Next time we'll go for two cans. I've been told the wine bases are better to use than the puree, but there are whole pitted cherries in the can.

 

[anthropod]

Thanks! I think I will go for two cans and see what happens!

I'll Report back how it went.

 

[BeastYeast]

I've been searching high and low for the best products to secondary flavor and backsweeten ciders. I saw these gems in the back of my Midwest Brewing catalog.... The first time I think I've ever read one!

Please report, this sounds fantastic!

 

[rocketsan]

Curious as well

 

[anthropod]

My beer is carbing up right now. May taste it this weekend and will report back.

 

[yourfavo]

I've used cherry before for a stout and I'm using it again right now for a strong ale. They taste good. Same issue with any purée is getting it to clear up.

 

[anthropod]

I 2nd the clearing up. What helped me is a cold crashed at 2.5 C for a week and it was really clear. (Until I let some of the trub rack over because I wasn't paying attention.) really the purée adds a lot of trub. I should have dumped some before I cold crashed.

 

[yourfavo]

I 2nd the clearing up. What helped me is a cold crashed at 2.5 C for a week and it was really clear. (Until I let some of the trub rack over because I wasn't paying attention.) really the purée adds a lot of trub. I should have dumped some before I cold crashed.

I read that a cold crash as well as some pectic enzyme ( double dose) really helps but haven't tried either yet.

 

[BeastYeast]

Sweet, thanks for the updates, I will look forward to seeing more.

My thoughts are to:

Finish primary to dry
Rack to secondary
Halt fermentation with sorbate/metabisulfite
Add pectic acid
Add puree for flavor/sweetness
Hit it with sterilized wine degasser
Cork and airlock
Let that sit 2-4 weeks around 60-65 in secondary
Rack to keg with sparkalloid or other fining agent
Carb

Any thoughts or comments?

 

[yourfavo]

Sweet, thanks for the updates, I will look forward to seeing more.



My thoughts are to:



Finish primary to dry

Rack to secondary

Halt fermentation with sorbate/metabisulfite

Add pectic acid

Add puree for flavor/sweetness

Hit it with sterilized wine degasser

Cork and airlock

Let that sit 2-4 weeks around 60-65 in secondary

Rack to keg with sparkalloid or other fining agent

Carb



Any thoughts or comments?

Why did you decide the not let the purée ferment? I'm thinking you may get more sweetness than you want.

 

[BeastYeast]

That's a good point, but I would add the puree to taste using only the amount for my desired flavor/sweetness, then freeze the remainder for another batch. Now that you mention it I might go with half to ferment and half to backsweeten flavor? IDK, its awful pricey to use in primary, 96 oz is about 40-50 shipped depending on selection for 96 oz. Considering I can make a simple cider for about $20 bucks with store bought apple juice, that raises the cost pretty significantly when you add this stuff into the mix. I'm not experienced enough at cider to know how much flavor to expect from adding it to primary. I could add a lb or two of fruit to the primary though which would be cheaper and at least add some flavor?

I will eat/drink anything although I do prefer my ciders with a little sweetness. I've been using apple juice concentrate and recently ordered some other natural juice concentrates to play with.... Then I found these beauties!

 

[yourfavo]

Did you ask you lhbs? Mine doesn't keep all flavors in stock but they can get anything. I think they usually run 15-25 for a 49oz can, depending on flavor.

 

[BeastYeast]

Problem is that I don't have a LHBS. I score all of my stuff online or when I'm traveling regionally for work. I live in a small midwest town of maybe 15,000 people. We could use one!

 

[anthropod]

Just tasted my porter. This was a Cherry, Vanilla, Dark Belgium Candi Syrup, Porter. It is really good. Cherry is not overpowering so two cans was perfect.

It is cloudy, though that doesn't mater much for this porter. The cloudiness came mostly from me not paying enough attention when racking into my keg. I let some puree trub get sucked up for the last little bit. I had cold crashed it for a week and it came out nice and clear when I first started racking.

I would certainly recommend brewing this beer. It is very tasty. It may be my favorite beer I have brewed. Just for grins here is my recipe. I cobbled together some ideas, and it just worked out.

(5 Gallons)

8 lbs of Two-Row
1 lb of Munich
1 lb of Crystal 40L
8 oz of Carapils
8 oz of Black Patent
4 oz of Chocolate
2 Lbs of Homemade Dark Candi Syrup (Sugar # 5 https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f12/20-lb-sugar-jar-yeast-nutrient-114837/)

1 oz of Northern Brewer (Bittering 60 Min)
1 oz of Cascade (Aroma 5 Min)

Yeast Safale US-05 (63 Degrees F. Fermentation)

Let this ferment out 2 weeks & dumped trub (Conical Fermenter)

Added:
2 cans of Vinters Harvest Cherry Puree
5 Vanilla Beans (Soaked in dark Rum for sanitization..Sailor Jerry's if that matters)

Let Ferment three weeks. Cold Crashed for one, Kegged and Force Carbed.



(FYI The stock porter was based on MoreBeer's all-grain porter. I had had it once, and it was a very tasty basic porter. If you are a MoreBeer Customer, you could save some time buy buying their all grain kit. I got my from Austin Home Brew as I like their recipe build option and the fact they have an unmilled grain option. MoreBeer will do that, but not for their specialty grain in their kits. Meaning, if you order the porter kit from them, the specialty grains will be milled. Nothing wrong with that, I just don't always know when I can brew and since I have my own mill, I prefer unmilled.)

 

[anthropod]

Just an update... Tonight's pour was clear. I think I drank all the sediment last night.

 

[BeastYeast]

Congrats on another successful experimental brew! Looks great and I'm sure it tastes even better.

PS, I love Sailor Jerry's Spiced Rum. I also think it has a hint of cherry flavor in it!