How Long Up The Kriek...?

[James Squire]

Hi all,

Yesterday was bottling time for the beer from two of my fermenters. My kegs are full, as is a cupboard full of longnecks, I only had enough empties to account for about 30 Litres of the 40 Litres I was to bottle. I decided to use this as an opportunity to try something new, a fruit beer.

The two beers in fermenters were a bit of an experiment themselves. Basically one big batch of a Coopers Pale Ale clone recipe split in two with one fermented with recultured Coopers yeast and the other fermented with some slurry of the Wyeast Belgian Golden Strong Ale yeast. After bottling, I wound up with two litres of the Coopers yeast batch and about eight litres of the Wyeast batch left over. So I decided to blend the two to make 10 litres and use this to make a Cherry Beer. I headed down the cheaper route with the fruit (not sure if this was wise?) and grabbed a 700g jar of pitted cherries, threw them into the bottom of a small fermenter, racked the two beers on top, airlocked and put it away to do it's thing.

So now I am wondering if I could ask for some guidance from those who have experience with fruit in beer. First question, how long should I leave the beer on the cherries? Second, how important is using fresh fruit as opposed to canned stuff? Third, to head down more of a lambic road, is it worth trying to 'infect' the brew with something (i've heard of people adding some yoghurt juice...)?

Any tips?

Cheers,

Cale

 

[GMK]

OK - one jar is no good in 10 ltrs.

I have one on the go at the moment - will need another 2 jars at least.
Try and get morello cherries as these are bitter as opposed to dark.

Get the ones in natural juice and NO added sugar etc.

Will need to lager in the fridge at 2c for 4-6 weeks.

Hope this helps

 

[kook]

If you're looking for real cherry flavour, it's worth bearing in mind that the lambic producers use around 300-400g/l of fruit. Some do go as low as 200-250, and I've heard of as high as 500g/l !

As for time, it depends what you're looking for. If you're using fresh fruit and want to make sure that any bugs in the fruit have time to do their work, 3-6 months. If it's frozen or tinned fruit, 3-4 weeks should be fine.

 

[James Squire]

Thanks for the tips,

I guess I'll have to pick up some more cherries! I was fearful that it might not be enough. They were Morello Cherries though. Perhaps another jar of those + some fresh fruit for the bugs. Then leave for 3-6 months.

Kook, what do you think about also adding a little bit of juicy bacteria from the top of a yoghurt container? I've heard of this being an acceptable method of getting some bugs going? I notice from your Biohazard Cupboard contents that you know a thing or two about sour beers?!?!

Cale

 

[kook]

Kook, what do you think about also adding a little bit of juicy bacteria from the top of a yoghurt container? I've heard of this being an acceptable method of getting some bugs going? I notice from your Biohazard Cupboard contents that you know a thing or two about sour beers?!?!

I've tried a berliner weisse that used yoghurt culture to get going, and it was quite tasty. A different sour to other lactobacillus infected beers that I've tasted.

If you want to make a sour/funky fruit beer, you're really better starting with a sour beer to begin with. Personally, I wouldn't bother to add any bugs with your current base beer. It could take a considerable time to sour, as lacto doesn't like alcohol. You'd probably get better souring results with a blend of brettanomyces and pediococcus.

I'd just stick around 300g/l of fruit (frozen or tinned) in, and leave it for a month or so. Should make a nice fruit beer, and you'll probably still get some pH reduction. Could even add a little lactic acid to sour it a touch more.


Thats just me though - there's nothing to stop you trying, and I'd certainly be interested in hearing about the results!

 

[James Squire]

Update.

Picked up another 2 jars of Morello Cherries + 500g of fresh cherries for the hell of it. So all up it's 3 x 700g jars of Morello cherries and 500g of fresh fruit added to a 10L blend of two beers. Gonna be hard to replicate if it turns out to be great!

I'll leave for minimum 3 months then bottle.

Cheers.

 

[kevo]

How much beer volume do you lose adding large amounts of fruit?

Does the fruit break down leaving more liquid? Or does it displace the beer anyway so losses are minimised?

Kev

 

[James Squire]

Hi Kev,

Great question. I'm probably not the best person to answer but... I would expect over the time we are talking that the fruit will break down to some degree, but perhaps not enough to add much volume. The fruit definately displaces the liquid somewhat, I do expect to lose some volume to the cherry crud that will be left behind though.

Cheers

 

[kook]

How much beer volume do you lose adding large amounts of fruit?

Does the fruit break down leaving more liquid? Or does it displace the beer anyway so losses are minimised?

Kev

You've kind of answered your own question there. The fruit will break down leaving juices, which probably displaces the beer lost anyway. You might still lose a small amount but I found that I was able to drain my last raspberry beer pretty much completely, just leaving the fruit sludge.

You might find it a bit harder if you're using a racking cane though, this was through a tap.