Kriekbier 2nd June 2007

[awalker]

From CAMRA - Brew Classic European Beers At Home

OG 1052
25litres

Lager Malt 4,000gm
Flaked Maize 700gm
Torrefied Barley 700gm
Crystal Malt 300gm
Chocolate Malt 135gm

90min
Whitbread Golding Hops 25gm
Tettnang Hops 20gm

15mins
Saaz Hops 10gm
Whirlfloc Tablet

Brewferm Belgian Yeast (?)

Mash 66oC 90 minutes

A batch sparge got 25litres at 1050

Not the best efficiency but I was breaking in a new brew assistant - the wife! As the beer was being made at her request she helped make it.

The idea is to split the batch and make half with black cherries and half as a Raspberry (Frambozenbier).

But the beer will not be aged 6 months as the book says, no chance of that.

[BarrowBoy]

Hmm, I know another potential brewster if this was on the menu.

When/how do you add the fruit? Is it dried fruit? What quantities?

[awalker]

Ok well there are apparently two ways of doing it in the book

First is to drop 4.5 kilos of black cherries or raspberries in the copper in the last 15 minutes of the boil.

or

age for a few months then add the fruit to the secondary, but obviously this will need a second ferment, where as the former will all be done in one go.

Fruit will hopefully be fresh if I can find any fresh black cherries
Obviously raspberries are easy to get in most supermarkets , farmers markets this time of year.
May have to find some kind of extract for black cherries.

I do recommend it, I really enjoyed the family brew session.
SWMBO has decided a bigger boiler (10G) with two elements will help speed up the process

[BarrowBoy]

Wow, that's a lot of fruit! I would strongly recommend talking to your local greengrocers and seeing if they'll do you a deal on a full box/tray. Cherries often come in 5k boxes (UK, Spanish, Turkish but watch out for those from the USA - bigger weights and a lot more pricey) and it would be at least a couple of trays of rasps.

Thanks for the recipe.

[steve_flack]

H
When/how do you add the fruit? Is it dried fruit? What quantities?

It's usually best to add in the secondary as the boil destroys the flavour and you'll probably set pectins in the fruit. The secondary is better than the primary as the fermented beer is a less attractive environment than wort for infections that the fruit might be carrying on them.

You need a lot of cherries (about 1-2lb a gallon) but raspberries you should be able to get away with less (1/4-1/2lb per gallon). You can also use frozen fruit. Actually freezeing the fruit beforehand is a good idea as it ruptures the cell walls of the fruit and makes the sugars easier to get to.

[BarrowBoy]

Thanks Steve. A stout is next but then I'm going to give this a go. In order to extract maximum fruit flavour how long would you leave it in secondary?

[awalker]

Thanks Steve. A stout is next but then I'm going to give this a go. In order to extract maximum fruit flavour how long would you leave it in secondary?

Surely you just have to keep tasting till your happy

[PGSteamer]

But the beer will not be aged 6 months as the book says, no chance of that.

If at all possible, try and keep a couple of bottles for 6 months. Hide them away where you'll forget about them.

I did a similar beer with plenty of raspberries a while back. At a couple of months old it was drinkable but very sharp and acidic. After 6 or so months this mellowed to a very pleasant tartness that was balanced with everything else. It greatly improved with aging.

[steve_flack]

Thanks Steve. A stout is next but then I'm going to give this a go. In order to extract maximum fruit flavour how long would you leave it in secondary?

Dunno really but I've read that a couple of weeks works for cherry wheat beers.

[awalker]

Thanks for tip PGSteamer, we have just got two 11litre cornies for it so it will go away for a few months and be aged in bulk.