American Wheat Partial Mash

I’m not too sure if there’s a benefit to a few cycles but I’ve read forum posts of people doing a few cycles. I am shooting for a nice red haze in the beer. The extract would surely be enough to get the flavor I want but it wouldn’t give me any color. Actually would be a good experiment. Thaw and refreeze 1 time vs 3-4 cycles and see if flavor or color is any different.
 
BoomerBrews said:
I also picked up a bottle of tart cherry natural extract at the homebrew store to add if I don’t get as much flavor as I want from the frozen cherries. Should be a hit for Christmas time.
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Dude!! If it really has a strong cherry flavor, serve it with a shot of chocolate liqueur on the side. Chocolate covered cherries were always a special treat at Christmas when I was a kid. :)
 
J A said:
Dude!! If it really has a strong cherry flavor, serve it with a shot of chocolate liqueur on the side. Chocolate covered cherries were always a special treat at Christmas when I was a kid. :)
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I have 36ozs of sweet dark cherry I just added tonight at high krausen. The air locks going nuts. I don’t think it’ll add a whole lot of flavor to 5 gallons but I could be wrong. I really want the cherry to be noticeable so I’m sure I’ll be adding some of that extract I got. I’m beyond excited. I’m looking into to kegging. I was gifted a kegerator so now I feel I must keg this batch so I can sip on some draft all through Christmas :D
 
Completely forgot to respond to that chocolate comment. That does sound delicious. Maybe I’ll make this a bit sweeter and flavorful just so I can do that.
 
This beer should actually be on the dry side. Frozen cherry addition 50 hours into ferm should result in dry finish. Very curious to see how this plays with the extract added at bottling.
 
Update:

I let the beer sit over the cake and the cherries. It’s been 13 days since I added the cherries and wow has this beer changed a lot. I drew a sample and confirmed a 5.5% ABV. I tasted the sample (I waste no beer) and wow, the harsh bitterness I originally tasted has diminished. The cherrys have been brought out but are not overpowering. I’m really impressed and I think this will be a good drinking beer. I was planning on waiting until the weekend to transfer to a keg but might go sooner.
 
BoomerBrews said:
the harsh bitterness I originally tasted has diminished.
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It's pretty common that the first samples hold on to a lot of the hop bite and also are really rich in yeast which can lend it's own bit of bitterness. It inveriably mellows out by the end of fermentation and it'll continue to shift balance away from hops and toward malt (and fruit) flavors throughout the time that it ages.
Sounds like a nice beer. ;)
 
J A said:
It's pretty common that the first samples hold on to a lot of the hop bite and also are really rich in yeast which can lend it's own bit of bitterness. It inveriably mellows out by the end of fermentation and it'll continue to shift balance away from hops and toward malt (and fruit) flavors throughout the time that it ages.
Sounds like a nice beer. ;)
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Yeah, my first beer I made I was anxious and rushed it and it still turned out good. After that I made a pretty complex porter and let it sit in primary for 3 weeks and pulled samples each week to see the difference and I was blown away by the changes. 3 weeks in the primary seems to be the magic number for maturing a beer for me.
 
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Well done Sir!
It is hard to be patient when you are starting out, cool that you took samples over the 3 weeks and truly experienced the difference the extra time can make. I am thinking that I need to give my Christmas Ale that third week to mature before racking it. Then it will truly be a Christmas Ale:D
 
Update:
Batch is kegged carbed and I’ve been drinking it for a few days. Things I noticed. Cherry is very subtle. You get a hint of fruit at the end. It blends well with cascade. Body is medium and it actually drinks comparable to a lager. It was a hit at the party I hosted for Christmas. Very smooth and a good drinking beer but not as much cherry as I had hoped. Crushing/pasteurizing the cherries may do it next time. The color is a nice Amber. Solid head at the pour. Some things I noticed. I made a similar recipe but used crystal malts and more hops to make an apa. I used the same yeast (safale us05) and the same hops at aroma/flavor (cascade). While the beer does drink completely different and is smoother and a better drink I taste some of the same after tastes that I did in the APA. I’m going to experiment with new yeasts for some new beers and see what happens
 
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