Has anyone added a can of cherry puree to the five gallon American Wheat kit? I am planning to add some specialty grains in the pre boil and ferment it in primary, then when I transfer it to secondary pour the cherry puree in first then rack the beer over the can of puree.
Is this the best way or should I put it in primary? At bottling time? What has worked best for you?
Don’t add it to the bottling bucket/bottles. There are fermentable sugars in the puree and you will get bottle bombs.
Any other option is fine.
Add it to the primary, after fermentation is done. Unless you want to save the yeast for a future batch.
I used a can of cherry puree in secondary for an American Wheat w/ white labs 320. I left it in secondary for 3.5 weeks, and there was a gallon of trub left behind. The beer ended up very clear and tasted extremely bland. whatever you end up doing, my advice is don’t leave it in the secondary (or primary) for too long.
I did a 5 gal AG batch of American Wheat and threw 6 lbs of pureed cherries into the secondary. It should be in the secondary until this weekend. I can report what the taste is like when I keg it. My gravity in the primary ended up steady at 1.020, so I hope the cherries help bring that down a bit.
I recently made SWMBO a honey cherry wheat (4.8 gal) and used all 4 oz of cherry extract. The taste is mild.
Having mentioned this to my friend who brews I was told to use it along with cherry puree for a good cherry flavoring.
As you’ve read use the puree well before bottling as it adds fermentables.
I’d suggest a high amount of crystal in your wheat recipe for a decent residual sweetness. So much of what we perceive as fruit flavor is sweetness and lacking this you really don’t get a lot of flavor.
I make wheat and cream ale for the wife, and she adds a 1/4tsp of DaVinci syrup to her beer for a fruit flavor. Its sweet and fruity. This way she can mix things up and I can drink the base beer.
[quote=“Nighthawk”]Don’t add it to the bottling bucket/bottles. There are fermentable sugars in the puree and you will get bottle bombs.
Any other option is fine.
Add it to the primary, after fermentation is done. Unless you want to save the yeast for a future batch.[/quote]
Is it ok to add the natural extra from NB to the bottling bucket?
Yes. The extract is intended to be added to the bottling bucket.
