When to add cherries?

General Homebrew Discussion
1

I am brewing a stout with dried cherries. When I tried it before, I added them to the fermenter and infected my beer. Since it is 4 pounds of them, I think it would be very difficult to try to disinfect them, and I believe all the nooks and crannies would resist that anyway. I’ve thought about taking it straight out of the kettle onto them, but I want to be careful that I don’t get a vegetal taste. Any recommendations ? Thanks.

2

I think you could sub the dried for cherry concentrate. Something that is kept cold without any preservative. A farmers market is where I have purchased before.

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3

Assuming you already have the 4 pounds of fruit, heat is your friend. Add them to the wort when the temperature is between 140 and 160. I think anything over that will create pectins and you probably don’t want that.

4

As a follow on to Jeffy’s comment regarding temperature. I often bag fresh fruit for brewing and then pasteurize in that temperature range using a sous vide cooker. Then, I transfer to muslin bags and toss them in the fermenter. This is all done near the end of the primary fermentation.

I have some excellent farms within 20 minutes for berries, so I can go from the bush to the fermenter in a couple of hours. I haven’t brewed with cherries yet.

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5

Thanks for the replies.

6

I just bottled a tart cherry cider that used tart cherry juice. :+1::+1:

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7

Really depends if the added cherries are done to ferment or flavor.

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8

They’re for flavor.

9

OK, for flavor, ensure no more fermentation and add cherries to secondary.

Or, don’t worry about a bump in ABV and add to secondary (without ensuring no more fermentation).

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10

I’ve found pure tart cherry juice helps me (hurting muscles) after a 40 mile bicycle ride. Mix as directed.

I need to keep the tart cherry juice in mind for my next Cherry Wheat brew.