# Cherry Wheat Beer



## KHB (4/1/10)

Me and my mate are having a big brew day next week and he is making a wheat beer. I managed to pick up some fresh cherries today cheap and am going to de pit and freeze them. I tried searching but couldnt find any info. I plan on putting 1.5kg cherrys which have been pureed for a 20 litre batch into secondary for a week then keg. Does this sound the way to go??

Cheers
KHB


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## KHB (4/1/10)

BUMP!


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## Crazy (4/1/10)

KHB said:


> Me and my mate are having a big brew day next week and he is making a wheat beer. I managed to pick up some fresh cherries today cheap and am going to de pit and freeze them. I tried searching but couldnt find any info. I plan on putting 1.5kg cherrys which have been pureed for a 20 litre batch into secondary for a week then keg. Does this sound the way to go??
> 
> Cheers
> KHB




KHB

This is something I have done each year for the last couple of years. All the batches are based on my standard wit. I then add 5 kg of fresh cherrys that I have frozen into a 20L batch. I put them in still frozen, de-stemed and scored but not pitted. It then sits on the fruit for at least six months before kegging. I think any shorther than a few months and the secondary fermentation won't be complete and your beer will finish a bit too sweet.

Last year I did two, both with 5kg of cherrys and the same base beer from the same batch but also added some bugs to one of them. The standard batch is the standard deep cherry colour but the one with bugs is a real pale peach colour. Both taste great but the "lambic" is still changing in flavour after 10 months and so stays in the cube maturing.

Cheers Derrick


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## goatus (4/1/10)

Not to hijack your thread, but newbie question.. is the freezing supposed to be sanitising the fruit?

Could you not develop an infection from adding fruit to secondary, or are you boiling or dumping them in no rinse first?


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## barls (4/1/10)

have a look in the wiki section theres a thread on it


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## manticle (4/1/10)

http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/inde...;showarticle=39


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## goatus (4/1/10)

cheers. </hijack>


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## KHB (4/1/10)

Derrick said:


> KHB
> 
> This is something I have done each year for the last couple of years. All the batches are based on my standard wit. I then add 5 kg of fresh cherrys that I have frozen into a 20L batch. I put them in still frozen, de-stemed and scored but not pitted. It then sits on the fruit for at least six months before kegging. I think any shorther than a few months and the secondary fermentation won't be complete and your beer will finish a bit too sweet.
> 
> ...




So just leave it in there and keep checking the Gravity till stable??


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## Back Yard Brewer (4/1/10)

http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/inde...;showarticle=39


Having read the wiki, IMHO once the fruit has been prepared how the brewer wants it, freezing for at least a couple days should be enough to kill off bacteria. A majority of the general public regard sterilising as using hot water. Hot water at 80c is convenient and easy but I do think that sometimes we overlook the fact that freezing is another efficient form for controlling microbial growth. (No debate needed just an opinion  )

So for my Strawbeery I will be preparing, freezing and then into the primary near completion, rack to secondary for around a week then crash chill at around 1c.

BYB


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## manticle (4/1/10)

Heat kills bacteria, cold makes it dormant. When cold gets warmer, dormant wakes up.

Not debate, just basic food safety.


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## barls (4/1/10)

i prefer the chemical method, ie 1 candem tablet in the mix and leave for 24 hours and then pitch


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## manticle (4/1/10)

I can't cope with sulphites in my booze.


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## barls (4/1/10)

but by heating you risk setting the pectins, but it can be done. i found that it killed off most of the arroma of what ever your using.


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## manticle (4/1/10)

barls said:


> but by heating you risk setting the pectins, but it can be done. i found that it killed off most of the arroma of what ever your using.



This is the dilemma (am I using that word correctly QB?) I face as I have a plan for an aged sour fruit beer which will be racked onto a sour citrus blend. Maybe the citric acid and the alcohol/co2 (will be fermenting with the roselare yeast by this point) will be enough as I'm neither a fan of sulphites nor pasteurisation.

For what it's worth I've made fresh apple ciders using no sulphites or pasteurisation and they've been fine.


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## barls (4/1/10)

recently i havent sterilise my fruit when using it and even my meads dont have sulfates in them.
i have read that most big belgian brewers dont sterilise ether but rack a nearly finished beer on to the fruit, thus the alcohol is protecting it.
have yet to give it a got though myself


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## manticle (4/1/10)

That's my theory and probably the one I'll go with. Not too much point being neurotic about infection when you're deliberately adding wild yeast, milk bacteria and something else I've forgotten but normally considered an infection, racking onto wood chips and fruit and ageing for a minimum of 12 months.

Obviously I'm referring to my intended sour beer here but the reading I've done on non-pasteurised fresh apple ciders and my own limited experience with the same (actually half fresh and half store bought preservative/sugar free) suggests alcohol, co2 and dominant micro-organisms (ie introduced yeast) are enough to keep the fruit yeasts etc at bay without making jam or smelly egg gas.

Mileage varies individually etc, etc.


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## drsmurto (5/1/10)

manticle said:


> I can't cope with sulphites in my booze.



You could try steeping your fruit in a spirit, preferably one with minimal flavour (vodka comes to mind). Even better would be pure ethanol and if you were in Adelaide i could supply you with that. I'm not 100% sure of the % of ethanol required to make something sterile but at a guess, anything above 30% should be ok. 

My plan was to do what Barls has mentioned. Thaw out the fruit (in my case, strawbs), mush them up with a potato masher and add potassium metabisulphite and leave for 24 hours. Rack on to the fruit.

Agree, freezing food doesn't kill much. Not home freezing (-18C). You would need to go to -80C to do some good.


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## manticle (5/1/10)

DrSmurto said:


> You could try steeping your fruit in a spirit, preferably one with minimal flavour (vodka comes to mind). Even better would be pure ethanol and if you were in Adelaide i could supply you with that. I'm not 100% sure of the % of ethanol required to make something sterile but at a guess, anything above 30% should be ok.
> 
> My plan was to do what Barls has mentioned. Thaw out the fruit (in my case, strawbs), mush them up with a potato masher and add potassium metabisulphite and leave for 24 hours. Rack on to the fruit.
> 
> Agree, freezing food doesn't kill much. Not home freezing (-18C). You would need to go to -80C to do some good.



Good idea. I was going to soak my whisky chips in single malt so the idea fits the brew.


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## Crazy (5/1/10)

The freezing is more about rupturing the cells and helping the cherrys go squishy. 

As far as anti-bacterial the plain cherry wit is about 12 months old and no off flavour ( 6 months @ ambiant) but this may just be luck. 

I did give the fruit a rinse under the tap however to make sure there were no pestacides. I guess you could give them a rince in star san or similar if you are woried but I would make sure you drain well.

Cheers Derrick


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