Tart cherry juice concentrate

[kylekohlmorgen]

Just had my cherry juice for the day. The bottle of concentrate had the company, which is from Michigan, and below that in the fine print "product of Turkey". They had to find the tart cherries somewhere. Now I know one of the wheres.

yeesh - I'll check the bottle I have left over. I want to make sure my cherries are AT LEAST from this country, hopefully from the midwest. Thanks for the heads up!

[morticaixavier]

Just had my cherry juice for the day. The bottle of concentrate had the company, which is from Michigan, and below that in the fine print "product of Turkey". They had to find the tart cherries somewhere. Now I know one of the wheres.

yeesh - I'll check the bottle I have left over. I want to make sure my cherries are AT LEAST from this country, hopefully from the midwest. Thanks for the heads up!

good luck! the midwest was hit hard by the weather this year and the cherry crop was very nearly wiped out. maybe find some from the pacific northwest though.

[hubie]

Instead of measuring the gravity, just look at the nutrition label which will tell you grams of sugar per serving. 28.35 grams = 1 oz. Divide priming sugar needed by sugar per serving to get the number of servings to add for priming.

Well, sure ... if you want to do it the easy way...

[hopfenundmalz]

Just had my cherry juice for the day. The bottle of concentrate had the company, which is from Michigan, and below that in the fine print "product of Turkey". They had to find the tart cherries somewhere. Now I know one of the wheres.

yeesh - I'll check the bottle I have left over. I want to make sure my cherries are AT LEAST from this country, hopefully from the midwest. Thanks for the heads up!

Michigan is the #1 producer of culinary (tart) cherries. The crop was 3% of last years, so good luck on finding domestic. I will use a concentrate made from imported cherries if I have to. Poland was another place they were looking at for importing tart cherries.

Edit - the company that is on the label is in the heart of the cherry growing region of Michigan, so they had to do something. Such is agriculture.

 

[tschmidlin]

Just had my cherry juice for the day. The bottle of concentrate had the company, which is from Michigan, and below that in the fine print "product of Turkey". They had to find the tart cherries somewhere. Now I know one of the wheres.

yeesh - I'll check the bottle I have left over. I want to make sure my cherries are AT LEAST from this country, hopefully from the midwest. Thanks for the heads up!

Michigan is the #1 producer of culinary (tart) cherries. The crop was 3% of last years, so good luck on finding domestic. I will use a concentrate made from imported cherries if I have to. Poland was another place they were looking at for importing tart cherries.

Edit - the company that is on the label is in the heart of the cherry growing region of Michigan, so they had to do something. Such is agriculture.

 

Washington had a bumper crop, but then we don't grow as many so it's not like it would make up for the losses in Michigan.

[eddiebever]

Do you have a link to the juice she is using?

I usually use the whole fruit and not just juice.  I've made a mead and a Flanders red using it.  I'm interested in trying the concentrate though, since the season for the fruit is not that long.

I use the tart cherry concentrate from http://www.brownwoodacres.com/cherry-juice-concentrate/ at about 5 to 1. Works great.

[johnrk]

Just had my cherry juice for the day. The bottle of concentrate had the company, which is from Michigan, and below that in the fine print "product of Turkey". They had to find the tart cherries somewhere. Now I know one of the wheres.

yeesh - I'll check the bottle I have left over. I want to make sure my cherries are AT LEAST from this country, hopefully from the midwest. Thanks for the heads up!

Currently allot of the cherry concentrate is being imported from Turkey, China and from South America. Unfortunately, you won't see this on the websites of many companies selling it but will on the bottle when you get it. I found out the hard way and it affected my last batch. As mentioned, Washington had a good yield, New York and Utah both produced, by they only make up about 5% - 8% of the total crop production. It was Michigan that was hit hard. Not only lost cherries, but other crops too. It's hard to find the Michigan grown Montmorency, 68 brix, but you can still get it and that all that will use, just perfected recipe and won't be using any imported cherries. These guys still have some of the 68 brix www.traversebayfarms.com/cherryjuice.htm but they only sell in the smaller bottles now gallons. A little frustrating.

[brewsumore]

For 6 gallons of sour-worted oude kriek, based on the product's stated # cherries per serving, towards the end of primary fermentation I added 19 - 20 oz. of "Tart is Smart" 100% montmorency juice concentrate from Washington State (Othello, WA) to emulate Oud Beersel's 400g per liter of fresh cherries rate for their Oude Kriek.  Mine came out very well.  I've used this product for other beers as well (dubbel, porter), sometimes in addition to cherry puree.

It's pretty expensive though at $30 for 32 oz.:

http://www.amazon.com/Tart-Smart-Cherry-Concentrate-32-Ounce/dp/B001CFMGGI

[hopfenundmalz]

It was in the 80s at this time last year, followed by a freeze.

This year it is below freezing at night, some days get above freezing. Much more what one is used to seeing.

If the weather is good, they are predicting a bumper crop due to the trees resting for a year.

[fmader]

It was in the 80s at this time last year, followed by a freeze.

This year it is below freezing at night, some days get above freezing. Much more what one is used to seeing.

If the weather is good, they are predicting a bumper crop due to the trees resting for a year.

I'm liking the sounds of that! I at least want to brew a 5 gallon batch of my Cherry Stout...if not 10. A 10 gallon batch will require 20 pounds. 10 pounds cost 30 bucks last year. I hope that the price will be cheaper if the harvest is greater this year!

[hopfenundmalz]

It was in the 80s at this time last year, followed by a freeze.

This year it is below freezing at night, some days get above freezing. Much more what one is used to seeing.

If the weather is good, they are predicting a bumper crop due to the trees resting for a year.

I'm liking the sounds of that! I at least want to brew a 5 gallon batch of my Cherry Stout...if not 10. A 10 gallon batch will require 20 pounds. 10 pounds cost 30 bucks last year. I hope that the price will be cheaper if the harvest is greater this year!

The wife found some Michigan tart cherries for her Rumtopf. She said they were a little more than double what she was used to paying.

[quattlebaum]

I know this is an outdated post but this brew is quite tasty
Brewer: Quattlebaum   
Batch Size: 6.00 gal   Style: Witbier (16A)
Boil Size: 7.30 gal   Style Guide: BJCP 2008
Color: 2.8 SRM   Equipment: All Grain 5 Gallon
Bitterness: 18.2 IBUs   Boil Time: 60 min
Est OG: 1.042 (10.4° P)   Mash Profile: My Single Infusion, Light Body, No Mash Out, Fly
Est FG: 1.008 SG (2.0° P)   Fermentation: Ale, Two Stage
ABV: 4.5%   Taste Rating: 30.0
Ingredients
Amount   Name   Type   #
5 lbs 11.4 oz   Pilsner (2 Row) Ger (2.0 SRM)   Grain   1
1 lbs 14.6 oz   Wheat, Flaked (1.6 SRM)   Grain   2
15.0 oz   Oats, Flaked (1.0 SRM)   Grain   3
0.4 oz   Magnum [13.0%] - Boil 60 min   Hops   4
2 pkgs   Belgian Witbier (Wyeast Labs #3944)   Yeast   5
Taste Notes
Ladies love this and so do i. Maybe just a little less cherry concentrate.
Notes
1oz Mahlab 5 min boil. 1 pint sour cherry concentrate keg. 50/50 RO
Mahleb is basically groung cherry pits.

[reverseapachemaster]

What flavors do you find the ground cherry pits adds?

[hopfenundmalz]

What flavors do you find the ground cherry pits adds?

Those add an almond like, or nutty taste in the meads that I have tasted with it. You can find mahleb at a Middle Eastern market.

[quattlebaum]

I agree with hopfenundmaiz. A nutty and slight almond note when I taste it prior to kegging  with cherry concentrate.