Cherries At Dawn (6/2/93)

Loysenian Cherry Kriek, from p354 of Papazian.

6.25lb dry light malt extract
0.5lb crystal malt
0.5lb crushed pale malted barley
0.5oz Talisman hops, left in the sun for 24 hours
Brettanomyces lambicus yeast culture (takes a looong time)
1 packet Edme ale yeast
11lb sour cherries, frozen, thawed, and bashed to split skins

Added crystal malt to 1.5 gallons water, brought to boil, removed crystal malt and turned off the heat. Added malt extract, cooled to 130F, and poured into bucket. Added barley, sealed with aluminium foil, and insulated with blankets. Left for a day.

Brought to boil - one hot break. Added hops and boiled for 60 minutes. SG 1.070. Pitched ale yeast (lambicus was still culturing). Down to 1.020 after 4 days - added lambicus culture. After another 3 days, boiled a gallon of water, cooled to 160F, added cherries, and kept at 160F for 30 minutes. Racked wort and added cherries to carboy.

Racked off cherries at some point. Bottled at some later point. Who knows? Half a tablespoon of HopTech cherry extract was added to half of the batch. Labels: lambda-R and lambda.

Notes

Little kriek character evident, and not much difference between lambda and lambda-R. However, a pretty good plain lambic. Let it age to acquire some complexity.

Jonathan Hardwick