CHERRY HOOKER
Mash at 153°F (67°C) for one hour and run off as usual.
Bring the wort to 200°F (93°C) for 15 minutes. Cool the kettle down to 95°F (35°C). Add food-grade lactic acid to achieve a pH of 4.7. Pitch 8 pills of Swanson Lactobacillus Plantarum. If possible, bubble CO2 through the wort and blanket it with CO2. Our pH was at 3.69 16 hours later and at 3.30 (our target) 40 hours later.
Boil for 60 minutes, following the hops schedule. Add a French Oak infusion spiral (1" x 8", medium toast) to the primary fermentor and rack onto it at yeast pitch.
Ferment at 68°F (20°C), and on day 7-10, depending on fermentation activity, rack into secondary fermenter on top of 2kg sour cherries.
Taste daily after 48 hours until desired taste and gravity are reached.
Carbonate to 2.5 volumes of CO2. Final gravity may be a bit high (1.022 on the commercial batch), but fruit tannin and acidity should cut that quite a bit and prevent excessive sweetness.