| |
Main
Date: 10 Jun 2006 10:44:17
From: Bryan M. Everitt
Subject: Relationship between pitted/unpitted cherries
|
I am getting ready to brew a fruit beer and want to use 10 pounds of fresh
cherries for a 5 gallon batch. Unfortunately, I have only been able to get
a hold of canned, pitted cherries. Given that the pit constitutes a
significant amount of the weight of the cherry, what are your
recommendations for the new amount I should add? I have been able to find
some info, but nothing exact. There is a USDA guide to farm products that
seems to indicate pitted cherries weigh about 70% of unpitted cherries,
which would mean 7 pounds. Does this sound right? Thanks for any advice.
--
Bryan
O
|
|
| |
Date: 12 Jun 2006 01:35:38
From: Joel
Subject: Re: Relationship between pitted/unpitted cherries
|
Bryan M. Everitt <beveritt@insightbb.com > wrote:
>I am getting ready to brew a fruit beer and want to use 10 pounds of fresh
>cherries for a 5 gallon batch. Unfortunately, I have only been able to get
>a hold of canned, pitted cherries. Given that the pit constitutes a
>significant amount of the weight of the cherry, what are your
>recommendations for the new amount I should add? I have been able to find
>some info, but nothing exact. There is a USDA guide to farm products that
>seems to indicate pitted cherries weigh about 70% of unpitted cherries,
>which would mean 7 pounds. Does this sound right? Thanks for any advice.
I guess that's reasonable. However, in my experience (I have
a cherry tree in my front yard; this year's crop is a few days
from being ready) the flavor contribution you get from them will
vary with the particular crop. And in your case, the variety
may well be different from what your recipe called for. So
it's something of a crap shoot in any case.
What I do, and I use the cherries these days mostly for mead,
is to start with one pound per gallon. I steep the cherries
(usually pitted, but often with a pound or two unpitted) in
the mead for awhile, then when I rack off the cherries I decide
whether to add more cherries, and how much. It's not unusual to
end up using seven or eight pounds total. For beer, I would
think amount of flavor would vary with the base style-- more
for a stronger-flavored beer (stout), less for a mild beer
(American wheat, blond ale).
Then of course you may want more or less cherry flavor in
your ale for your desired effect and tastes. You really just
have to use a recipe as a guideline and adjust as you find
necessary.
--
Joel Plutchak
"Things deserve to get stirred up." - Michael Balzary
|
|
