Cherry Wheat

Beer Recipes
1

Anyone have a good recipe for a cherry wheat ale? It will be my first fruit beer and I want to stay away from any cherry juice concentrate if I can.

2

Any low hopped American wheat recipe will be a fine base. 40-60% wheat malt, the rest pale malt. IBUs 15-20 with little to no late addition hops. Could use a small, light addition of late boil hops but it’s going to get covered up with the hops. Any neutral ale yeast would be fine (e.g. 1056/US-05). Just stay away from hoppy wheats or some of the newer “session wheat” beers which are the same thing. Too much bitterness will clash with the acidity in the cherries. Too much hop flavor will compete with the cherry flavor.

I wouldn’t avoid cherry juice concentrate as much as I would those artificial cherry flavorings.

3

The quart sized tart cherry juice from RW Knudsen would work well.

4

Good quality cherry juice concentrate actually makes a really nice beer. As said though, I’d avoid the cherry extract/flavorings like it was poison.

5

This is what I use in my Black Cherry cider and it comes out great.

6

I’ll be taking time tomorrow to pick a bunch of tart cherries from our two trees to use partly in a cider and partly in some kind of wheat beer.

7

I’d probably make base of two row, with 10-15% wheat malt, use some cherries in the boil. Then throw some cherry flavoring / concentrate after fermentation is over.

8

You could buy frozen cherries and rack your beer on them after primary fermentation.

9

Thanks everyone!

10

Be aware that fruit in the boil will set the pectin and give you a hazy beer, which isn’t a problem if that’s what you want.

11

I brewed this for one of the four beers on tap at my wedding two years ago. It was the second that got kicked. The Cherry Bay Orchards concentrate is very high quality. Jon recommended it to me.

50% White Wheat = 5 lb
40% Two Row Pale Malt = 4 lb
10% Munich = 1 lb
Rice Hulls

60 minute = 1 oz Willamette

WLP 320 American Hefeweizen Yeast

Add 32 oz of Cherry Bay Orchards Tart Juice Concentrate to the secondary

https://www.amazon.com/Cherry-Bay-Orchards-Concentrate-32-Ounce/dp/B00796FJPE