Dog Gone Bad Cherry Wheat Ale

Classification: cherry wheat beer, wheat beer, extract, fruit beer

Source: Dave Baker (dbaker@monroe.ny.frontiercomm.net), r.c.b., 11/15/95

Here's an extract recipe I sort of did "on the fly" - and it turned out to be real good. It's my first (but not last!) stab at a cherry wheat.

This really turned out great... two weeks after bottling the brew was very cherry-like, almost too much - but after 6-8 weeks it mellowed out to a much more subtle brew. I think you'll like it.

Ingredients:

3 kg Ireks Weizenbier extract (hopped)
1/2 lb. Ireks wheat malt (grain)
1/2 lb. Munich malt (grain)
5 lb cherries (I think I used Bing)
2 oz. Ocean Spray Cranberry Juice Cocktail
1 oz. Hallertau - alpha 2.4%
1 oz. Cascade - alpha 4.9%
1 pkg #3056 Wyeast Bavarian Wheat yeast
3/4 cup corn sugar for bottling

Procedure:

Crack grains, bring to boil, remove @ boil
add extract
@ 30 min. add 1/2 oz. Cascade
@ 58 minutes, add 1/2 Cascade + 1 oz. Hallertau
@ 60 minutes, remove hops and turn off heat
add cranberry and crushed cherries (I removed pits)
steep for 20 minutes - temperature @ 170 degrees
pour all of wort (including cherries) into 5 gal. fermentation bucket along with cold H20 to fill Note: don't use carboy - cherries will clog blow-off! add yeast when temperature goes below 80 degrees

I let the primary go, left cherries in for 1 week, then racked off to carboy. At two weeks, rack to bucket, boil 3/4 cup corn sugar and stir into bucket, and bottle.