Beer Forum

I want to add sour cherries to my 1.5 yr old Flanders red. When are they in season and available to purchase? Would 6 lbs be enough for 5 gallons? How long does it need to sit on the fruit?

Here in Michigan I think they are usually ready in July. The season for tart cherries is short. I believe there are some good frozen sources if you aren't interested in going the canned/puree route. I haven't tried doing that with a Flanders Red yet, so I don't have any advice to offer there. Good Luck

You could use dried cherries too. They pack more punch per pound.

I've had good results with dried cherries.

All the dried cherries I have seen have been packed in safflower oil to keep them from sticking. Has this had any ill effects on anyone using dried fruit? I have 60 gallons of Oude Bruin that I would love to get some onto some fruit especially sour cherries. Since I have been unable to locate a sour cherry source in NH I will have to be buying dried or frozen. Thanks for the information.

NHB

PhillyBrewer wrote:I want to add sour cherries to my 1.5 yr old Flanders red. When are they in season and available to purchase? Would 6 lbs be enough for 5 gallons? How long does it need to sit on the fruit?

I like to really blast the amounts of fruit in my beers. I typically use about 2# per gallon of fruit for my sours (and regular beers). I also like to split my batch to get two beers for one. I rack half into a keg (or bottle half) plain and rack the other half onto the fruit for 4-6 mos. aging time. It is always fun to compare the two and see which you like better for future endeavors.

NHBrewer wrote:All the dried cherries I have seen have been packed in safflower oil to keep them from sticking. Has this had any ill effects on anyone using dried fruit?

I haven't used them, but my gut says avoid safflower oil packed ones...

OK so it seems sunflower oil instead of safflower but it makes me weary as well

http://www.paysonfruitgrowers.com/unswe ... rries.html