[Megary]

I have a Stout fermenting away that I plan on adding cherries to.  Of course, if I come to my senses, maybe I won't.

Now I can easily add packaged, grocery store, frozen cherries to a secondary fermenter, rack the beer on top and let whatever happens happen. Seems easy enough, but maybe...not so fast?

My biggest concerns are:
1. I really, really, really want to avoid any medicinal, "cough syrup" flavor in the finished beer.
2. IF packaged, frozen cherries are not "clean" enough, I'm concerned that a "sous-vide" type sanitizing step will strip some flavor away.

Yes, there are other options for adding cherries.... Fresh, cherry juice, extract. I'm not opposed to any of them, though the medicinal concern remains, even more so with extract. And I suppose I missed the boat for the best fresh cherries.

I don't need to add Cherries. I can go with Raspberries or Cranberries instead.

Or nothing.

Thoughts?

[Iliff Ave]

I used a quart of cherry juice in a beer once and it turned out great. It was a strong ale not a stout though.

[Megary]

I used a quart of cherry juice in a beer once and it turned out great. It was a strong ale not a stout though.

When did you add the juice?  It sure would be a lot easier to add juice to the keg at packaging.

[Iliff Ave]

I used a quart of cherry juice in a beer once and it turned out great. It was a strong ale not a stout though.

When did you add the juice?  It sure would be a lot easier to add juice to the keg at packaging.

I let it ferment out so I added it about a week post pitch. It was organic black cherry juice in a bottle. I was bottling so I didn’t want to add it at packaging

[reverseapachemaster]

I wouldn't be overly concerned about adding frozen fruit without any additional processing. If you wanted to heat treat them to pasteurize, it can affect the flavor but lots of beers are made with pasteurized fruit or fruit puree and turn out fine.

That cherry cough syrup flavor is a product of using sweet cherries. IMO you'll always get some of that using that type of cherry and it leans more that direction the sweeter the beer. I have a baltic porter sitting on second use sweet cherries so I'm not completely opposed to doing this, but know what you're in for here. Sour cherries don't give off the cough syrup flavor but they add acidity that IMO isn't great in a stout.

Juice is an option, but it's going to dilute the beer. If you add it in the keg, it's going to add sweetness because there's unfermented sugar until the yeast in suspension slowly consume it. If you go the juice route, check the back label to make sure it's 100% cherry juice. Sometimes cherry juice is cut with other fruits.

[erockrph]

Heating fruit can set pectin and lead to a haze, so I always try to avoid that. I haven't used cherries specifically, but I've never run into an issue with frozen fruit, or fresh fruit for that matter, causing contamination in beer or cider.

[denny]

At least once a year, I add foraged, unwashed, unsanitized mushrooms to a batch of beer. In 25+ batches, I have never had an infection. Fermented beer has alcohol and a low pH. I wouldn't worry about frozen cherries.

[Megary]

Well, I ended up using frozen Cherries and Cranberries (tis the season).  Just chucked them in a secondary and transferred the beer on top.  I'll let them stew for about a week.

This is, without question, the most overwrought beer I've ever made.