Fresh Sour Cherries In Sydney

[neonmeate]

ok seeing as it's cherry season I am thinking of making a Liefmans kriek sort of thing - a sour brown ale with sour cherries added (not a lambic - i'm still working through the great maggot disaster of 2004) (that's another story)

anyway! i know they grow morello and montmorency cherries in Young and Orange and Mornington Peninsula and parts of SA. apparently they will be ripening round mid-late december. has anybody ever seen them fresh anywhere in sydney? i really want to use fresh ones rather than jarred.

perhaps i will have to drive off to young for the day and pick some for myself. perhaps i could bring back 10 or 20 kg if other brewers here would be interested in using some

 

[Fermented]

You might be able to save yourself the trip.

I recall seeing some for sale around Fairfield a couple of years ago. Can't remember the exact shop for the life of me. I grabbed some for a Schwarzwalder Kirschtorte (Black Forest Cherry Cake, and yes, I'm part Kraut) and they were a lot nicer than the usual preserved Latvian/Croatian/[insert Eastern European source here] ones - proper sour without citric acid as a booster.

You could try calling either the German Club (around Fairfield somewhere) or the Austrian Club (Forestville) for some hints. I've found them to be really helpful sometimes for sourcing odd ingredients.

Cheers - Fermented.

 

[neonmeate]

fairfield hey.... i was thinking some of the middle eastern places might have them.
i would love to try a black forest cake with fresh morellos... mmm

malnourished just pmd me with the brilliant idea of ringing the cherry farmers up. not wanting to disturb their saturday arve i emailed em but will post info here when i hear back.

 

[Fermented]

Can't say I've seen cherries in middle eastern cooking, but there's another thread about freekah (Syrian grain; http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/inde...howtopic=27870) where I've mentioned a few shops around your neck of the woods.

If you have any luck locating a source in Sydney, I would be very happy to know about it. I have a new oven on the way as my old one (<10 years) decided to blow the fan forced element, the bottom element and then yesterday the glass door decided to spontaneously collapse in a pile of black shiny rubble. New oven = lots of cooking - perfect timing for Christmas.

Cheers - Fermented.

 

[neonmeate]

got an email back - they don't send any sour cherries to market, only way to do it is pick your own - will try some other places and then i might have to plan a little drive!

 

[neonmeate]

walked around every single cherry-selling stall at flemington and noone had any idea.
however a fruit shop in balmain reckons they can get some for me... will post here when i get some

 

[Insight]

Hi neonmate, didn't see this thread first time around. I get sour cherries and a lot of other fruits from Frozberries (www.frozberries.com.au) up in Hornsby. Of course they don't strictly meet your "fresh" criteria, but they are excellent for brewing.

Edit: Oh - and give them a ring with your order before heading out to pick them up. The online order form doesn't work.

 

[neonmeate]

Hi neonmate, didn't see this thread first time around. I get sour cherries and a lot of other fruits from Frozberries (www.frozberries.com.au) up in Hornsby. Of course they don't strictly meet your "fresh" criteria, but they are excellent for brewing.

Edit: Oh - and give them a ring with your order before heading out to pick them up. The online order form doesn't work.

wow great stuff thanks insight i will definitely be getting some from there if the fresh ones don't turn up. i did want them unpitted but i can always add some mahlab (ground cherry stones) for cherry stone flavour

 

[Damian44]

I dont suppose you could share your recipe. Im going back to Bathurst for Xmass, and my mum usually has a big box laying around.

 

[neonmeate]

well i have no idea really, still pondering over that. was going to go something along the lines of raj p apte's rodenbach style ale

"

24 L batch
Pale 2row, Belg 4kg
Munich, Germ 1kg
Caramunich, Belg 0.5kg
white wheat, raw 0.5kg
OG 1.065 at 85%
3 L/kg=18 L mash liquor
20 min 52 C
20 min 62 C
60 min 70 C
mashout 74 C
sparge 78 C 20L
30 L collected.
Unmalted wheat was rested at 52 for 20 minutes in 3 L. Boil for 20 minutes and add to raise main mash to 70.
3 year old aged hops, maybe Hallertau, 50 grams boiled for 2 hours. Total boil 8 hours for caramelization.

"

only perhaps i would do a sourmash too and throw in a few grams of roast barley for colour, but not enough to taste.

then i would chuck in about 8 or 9 kg of sour cherries and let it sit there for a few months. but i plan to do some reading up on it, especially if i'm using the wyeast sour blend which i havent used before.

 

[neonmeate]

insight, thanks for the tip of the frozen sour cherries, i managed to find small packets of it at DJs food hall in the city and gave em a try - fantastic sour flavour, just what I'm after. much better than the polish jarred stuff. I will be ordering in a big box of em.

damian44, i found all the info for liefmans kriek - pils, caramunich, vienna, roast barley in grist, goldings (WGV) for bittering (20IBU), saaz/tettnang aroma, four months primary with rodenbach's yeast (roeselare), then a further 6-8 weeks sitting on the cherries. OG should be around mid 1050s im guessing.

 

[gibbocore]

Mate, you should try some wine soaked oak chips as well.