Flavouring a Belgian Beer kit, advice sought...

[Grumpy Jack]

OK, so I've previously flavoured some of my kit beers with a variety of items, mainly along a darker richer wintery theme, but I've currently got a Brewferm Diabolo kit on the go and I'm toying with the idea of trying to do half the bottles with a fruit flavour, such as a cherry or blackcurrant essence; in part because I know it'll go down well with her indoors and she'll only drink one before dozing off... :thumb: see, there is a plan here...

The thing is, I want to achieve a good fruit flavour in the background, without turning it into a bottle of some strange ribena style beer... Does anyone have experience / suggestions of essences or additions that I could use? If so, quantities and opinions on quality would be much appreciated!

I'm looking to bottle the brew this weekend...

 

[jamesb]

I found some cherry syrup in Tescos (in the polish isle) the other day. I was playing around with adding it to a couple of bottles of shop bought Belgiums the other day.

Bit sweet for me though I'd love to get hold of some sour cherry essence.

 

[Grumpy Jack]

I found some cherry syrup in Tescos (in the polish isle) the other day. I was playing around with adding it to a couple of bottles of shop bought Belgiums the other day.

Bit sweet for me though I'd love to get hold of some sour cherry essence.

Wonder if it'd act as a primer though when bottling? :wha:
I'll take a look... cheers!

 

[Kyral210]

I would try buying real fruit (cherries, bananas, etc.), liquidising it to a good consistency, and then taking a gravity reading. From there you know how much sugar is in the liquid and thus how much you have to add to prime your batch. Give that a shot on a few bottles and then report back on your discovery.