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Dried cherries?

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Golddiggie

NewBee
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Nov 22, 2010
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Nashua, NH (USA)
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Pretty basic question that I'm sure the people who've been doing this for any length of time will be able to answer..

Would 6oz of dried cherries be enough to add good flavor to a 1 gallon batch? I'm thinking of going to a Whole Foods in my area to see if they have any honey that's from cherry blossoms... I could pick up more dried cherries too, at least another couple of packages if that's what it would take to do it up right... Thinking that 3-4 pounds of honey would be plenty for the batch... I'll just need to get some yeast, and nutrients, from the LHBS before starting it... Thinking of calling it something like "cherry bomb" :eek:

I'll look up the JAO recipes too, to get an idea of what everyone else has been talking about with those...
 

YogiBearMead726

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Aug 21, 2010
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I think you'll need a lot more than 6oz to call this a "cherry bomb" flavor wise. You might be able to get a whiff of it or a hint on your tongue somewhere, but I think you'd need something closer to 1-2lbs per gallon. I could be mistaken about that amount, but it seems like a good start.

I know Oskaar has some recipes that use dried fruit, rehydrated and blended, but those are in the Patron's area. I have to say, his recipe's alone made becoming a member worth it. Plus you get access to a lot of great threads about tips, tricks, and most any other question you could have.

*end shameless plug :rolleyes:*
 

Golddiggie

NewBee
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Generally with any fruit I measure in lbs per gallon, though I'm aiming for a lot more than a "hint" of flavour.

Does that go the same for normal and dried? I would think that the weight of dried fruit would be less, since they lose a lot of water weight (typically) when dehydrated... It also tends to concentrate their flavors, and sugars... I can't imagine that 1# of normal state fruit would be considered the same as 1# of dehydrated fruit...
 

AToE

NewBee
Registered Member
Jun 8, 2009
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Calgary AB Canada
Good point, dried might be much less, I've never really tried it. You'll probably get much different tastes too than with fresh/frozen (raisins for example I don't think end up the same as grapes). You'll probably be looking at leaving the fruit in for a lot longer as well, fresh I usually do about a week, but you'll maybe need triple or quadruple that time, hard to say.

For a strong cherry taste I'd probably use 3 or 4 lbs of fresh, but I like crazy fruit bomb meads, you might be fine adding the dried equivalent of only 1 or 2 lbs.
 

Golddiggie

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Nov 22, 2010
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Now that makes more sense to me... Think I will get a gallon jug when at the LHBS today... I'll get a few pounds of honey and then get some more dried cherries (enough for 1-2 pounds, so another two packages would give my just over a pound)... I'll end up using wildflower honey in this (it's good stuff)...

Since I'm not a patron yet, any other advise you can give me on making the 1 gallon batch? Thinking of getting another package of the D47 yeast, so that it doesn't knock you on your ass at first taste... Thinking I'll warm up the honey, add it to a little warmer water, and then put it into the jug... Warm enough so that the honey goes into solution in a reasonable amount of time, but doesn't kill the subtle flavors of the honey too...
 

AToE

NewBee
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Jun 8, 2009
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Calgary AB Canada
I think you're getting a pretty good handle on things, not a whole ton of advice to give. If you can keep the temp below say 72F then I think D47 is probably a good choice, though it often rockets past it's rated ABV tolerance.

I find a mead at 13-15% ABV is about right for me, but I'm making dry meads. Any higher than that and they start tasting like liquor to me - and I simply haven't been making mead long enough for those higher ABV batches to mellow out, I think they'll need at least 2 years before I touch them again.

3lbs of honey and you'll end up dry for sure, can always backsweeten if you want.
 

YogiBearMead726

NewBee
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Aug 21, 2010
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San Francisco, CA
I just checked up on one of Oskaar's recipe's, and he does use less than 1lb/gal of dried cherries in it. There's no mention as to what the final cherry character is, but his are typically great recipe's to expand/experiment with since they're proven; kinda like JAO, in that if you don't follow the directions to the letter, the warranty is voided. :p
 

Golddiggie

NewBee
Registered Member
Nov 22, 2010
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Nashua, NH (USA)
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I just checked up on one of Oskaar's recipe's, and he does use less than 1lb/gal of dried cherries in it. There's no mention as to what the final cherry character is, but his are typically great recipe's to expand/experiment with since they're proven; kinda like JAO, in that if you don't follow the directions to the letter, the warranty is voided. :p

So, if I wanted to try it, would 12oz of dried cherries be good, or should I go for 18oz??
 

AToE

NewBee
Registered Member
Jun 8, 2009
4,066
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Calgary AB Canada
It's tough to say, but I'm sure you could use 12oz, then let that extract for a month or so, rack off the cherries and taste it, then if it needs more go for round two with some more.
 

Golddiggie

NewBee
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Nov 22, 2010
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Nashua, NH (USA)
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It's tough to say, but I'm sure you could use 12oz, then let that extract for a month or so, rack off the cherries and taste it, then if it needs more go for round two with some more.

I'll get another package of dried cherries when I get to the grocery store again... I have three pounds of wildflower honey that's not ear marked for anything else... Although I need to wait until after I rack my porter/braggot before using all that... I'm thinking about using honey to prime that with... ;D
 

Medsen Fey

Fuselier since 2007
Premium Patron
As a general rule, you can figure the dried fruit are probably the equivalent of 4-5 times their weight in fresh fruit. Using 18 oz of dried cherries in a gallon will probably be "fruit bomb" level. The dried fruit will not taste exactly like the fresh fruit just as raisins don't taste the same as grapes. Still, you can get wonderful flavor from dried fruit.

I would suggest chopping the dried fruit to make it more accessible, and then soaking overnight to reduced sulfites (if sulfites were used).
 
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