Recommended style of brandy for soaking cherries

Discussion in 'Homebrewing' started by AlexHouston, Oct 16, 2012.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. AlexHouston

    AlexHouston Crusader (438) May 19, 2011 Illinois
    Trader

    I'm coming up with a recipe for a Belgian style dark imperial stout that is aged on cherries soaked in brandy. The snag I'm running into is finding more recipes telling me how to soak the cherries, but little elaborating on what style to use and how much. One idea was to use kirschwasser, which is made from cherries, to employ an intense cherry flavor but I'm not sure of how powerful that brandy is, let alone how much flavor is absorbed in the cherries. Have any of you had alot of exposure soaking fruit for adding it to beer? Also, is there a better way to add more belgian flavor to it in the form of adjuncts or different types of sugar? I'm not as well versed in Belgians, so any advice is appreciated.
     
    #1 AlexHouston, Oct 16, 2012
  2. MaxSpang

    MaxSpang Initiate (0) Jan 28, 2011 Ohio
    Trader

    Can't really help with the brandy other than saying that you should probably use brandy that's good by itself. If you don't like it by itself, chances are you won't like it in your beer.

    Belgians often use candi syrup in their recipes, so I would think you could add some dark candi syrup (or swap out some of the grain with it) to this beer and get decent results. Keep in mind, this will make the beer dryer which may or may not be what you want in an imperial stout.
     
    #2 MaxSpang, Oct 16, 2012
  3. AlexHouston

    AlexHouston Crusader (438) May 19, 2011 Illinois
    Trader

    I contemplated the sugar, since that's frequently used, but sugar thins the body, from what a friend told me.
     
    #3 AlexHouston, Oct 16, 2012
  4. Eriktheipaman

    Eriktheipaman Pooh-Bah (2,303) Sep 4, 2010 California
    Pooh-Bah

    Yeah sugar leaves less unfermentable behind compared to base malts. But depending what your OG is I think you would be ok with some Candi Sugar. Not sure if I'd personally use it but I wouldn't worry too much.
     
    #4 Eriktheipaman, Oct 16, 2012
  5. VikeMan

    VikeMan Grand Pooh-Bah (3,067) Jul 12, 2009 Pennsylvania
    Pooh-Bah

    If you want the flavor contribution from dark candi syrup, but without the thinned body that normally comes along with replacing grains with syrup, you could also add some carafoam or maltodextrin.
     
    #5 VikeMan, Oct 16, 2012
  6. yinzer

    yinzer Initiate (0) Nov 24, 2006 Pennsylvania

    Well you have to take that in context. If your making an imperial anything and your malts add up to lets say 1.080, adding a reasonable amount of sugar won't make a thin beer. You might notice some dryness at the finish, which might be good.

    And your mash temp if also a factor too.
     
    #6 yinzer, Oct 16, 2012
  7. OddNotion

    OddNotion Pooh-Bah (1,915) Nov 1, 2009 New Jersey
    Pooh-Bah

    Also just adding sugar wont really thin out the beer, that would happen if you replace malt with sugar since the sugar is more fermentable. Youll get an abv boost by just adding sugar to the current grain bill but wont necessarily lose body.
     
    #7 OddNotion, Oct 16, 2012
  8. AlexHouston

    AlexHouston Crusader (438) May 19, 2011 Illinois
    Trader

    Y'know, that's very true, I wonder why that never occured to me before. Unless I was substituting that, I really shouldn't have a problem with adding the candi sugar.
     
    #8 AlexHouston, Oct 16, 2012
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.