Kriekbier

[smp465]

Hi all,

Can anyone give any advise on this subject, i don't see a lot to go on from previous posts for an all grain version. Basically i'm not too stuck with regards to the grain and hops as i have Grahams euro beers book with the Liefmans recipe. What i am unsure about is how to best tackle the cherry addition. The book mentions either adding them to the secondary for several weeks or to the boil for 15 . Love to hear of any experiences, 40pints of this represents considerable investment with the cherries costing around 20 quid! I want to keep this for next Xmas, but should be getting the cherries next week from a caterer.

Thanks in advance for any help.

[mysterio]

I've made raspberry beer before. I froze the fruit and added it to secondary and let it slowly work its way through the sugars. One tip I would add is to mash quite warm to get plenty of mouthfeel from your grains, the fruit can dry the beer out quite a bit, and a bit extra unfermentable sugar from the mash well help stop it from being too puckering. Another thing you might consider is a souring culture.

[smp465]

Cheers Mysterio, thanks for that. Did you heat the fruit or anything before adding it to try and reduce contaminants? Is it the presence of wild yeast/bacteria that "dry it out" by fermenting the otherwise unused sagar?

[mysterio]

No, I just froze it before adding it. The yeast already present in your beer will consume the sugars in the fruit. I had no problems with infections. Fructose is highly fermentable so this has the effect of thinning the body somewhat. I used US-05 yeast which attenuates quite well, in retrospect I wish i'd used something less dry.

[aceuass]

Dawson's Kriek

This recipe, a sour Belgian-style ale, comes from the brewing log of NB's Michael Dawson, homebrewer for 13 years and harborer of bacteria for probably a lot longer than that. It yields a medium-bodied wheat beer with a reddish-brown color, cherry-pie aroma, and a tart, acidic bite that comes from a combination of real cherries (in puree form) and cultured bacteria. While young, the sour character of this beer will be subdued and the cherries more pronounced, but sourness will increase with age.

7 lbs. 2-Row
3 lbs. Flaked Wheat
0.5 lbs. Rice Hulls

Boil Additions
1 oz. Hallertau Select (60 min)

Special Ingredients
Oregon Cherry Puree (2 cans) (add to secondary fermenter)

Wyeast #3278 Belgian Lambic Blend. Optimum temperature: 63-75° F.

4+ months conditioning

Mash Schedule
122° F for 60 minutes
150° F for 60 minutes
168° F for 5 minutes

Hope this helps
Cheers
Paul

[mysterio]

Recipe looks great but i'm not sure where you'd get Oregon fruit puree around these parts

[aceuass]

Recipe looks great but i'm not sure where you'd get Oregon fruit puree around these parts

http://www.northernbrewer.com/beer-flavorings.html

Im sure you can find something similar over there, the above do ship.

Cheers
Paul

[smp465]

I looked at the cherry flavouring available at Hop & Grape, but i prefer the real fruit option as it feels more authentic. If my supply of cherries falls through, i might give that a go however.

[mysterio]

I think the Oregon product aceuass is referring to is quite high quality stuff, and is basically just pureed fruit.

Brouwland (Belgian homebrew superstore) do 4kg cans of sour cherries which is also worth bearing in mind.

[smp465]

The stuff from H&G has Brouwland on the label. I'll have a look at that, sounds good

[smp465]

Great Mysterio, that is my new backup option.

[awalker]

I have some of the cherry flavour from H&G
If you want it it you can have it, its not nice
I ended up buying a tin of the cherries from Brouwland and jsut dumped them in a corny as a secondary from a while (a week or two I think).
After a month or so, I did not like it but after six or so months it was great, Still have loads in the keg

http://jimsbeerkit.co.uk/forum/viewtopi ... highlight=

Still need to sort out the photos for it

[smp465]

Thanks AW, i somehow missed that thread despite searching the forum for relevant topics! As for the juice, i appreciate the offer, but i believe my wifes catering friend has found a supply from somewhere so i will go with those. Been desperately eating everything in the freezer this week to make space for them - not what i need before Xmas!