Getting cherry flavour into beer

[AJA]

Add a shot of Kirsch in your pint before drinking?

 

[The-Engineer-That-Brews]

Thanks everyone for the helpful input. I've ordered some LorAnn flavourings in both cherry and black cherry. It's the brand stocked by Malt Miller so I figured that was some kind of endorsement, although it is cheaper on eBay. I've also bought some of the Lowicz cherry cordial as the local Tesco had some. I plan on doing a bit of a taste test using samples of the beer and a pipette.

What's the recommended dose rate for the Lowicz cherry cordial?

I know I will need to wait for the sugars to ferment out. @Dutto @the baron

Hi there - how did this work out in the end?
I'm thinking dark cherry stout might be an interesting festive brew, but I got my fingers burned a bit last year going off-piste with the spiced ale and ended up having 20L of something that can only be described as 'a bit peculiar'

 

[BlackRegent]

@The-Engineer-That-Brews
I tried the cherry flavourings in samples of the porter base and didn't like it at all - too synthetic tasting.

In the end I went with the Lowicz cherry cordial and used two bottles in a single 19L corny.

I would suggest adding the cordial to the fermentor in secondary. Because I didn't discover that my use of cherry puree was a complete waste of time (in the sense it didn't add any discernible cherry flavour) until the beer was kegged, I had to add the cordial to the keg, which caused a secondary fermentation due to the sugars in the cordial and massive overcarbonation.

That said, the cordial was successful in imparting a palatable cherry flavour to the beer. I wouldn't say the flavour was dramatic - very much at the subtle end of the scale, like a mild marzipan.

I have no idea how they get strong cherry flavour in big beers. If you've ever had the Vocation black forest imperial stout, you will know what I mean. I can only assume it's massive quantities of fruit, or some other black magic I'm oblivious to.

 

[The-Engineer-That-Brews]

@The-Engineer-That-Brews
I tried the cherry flavourings in samples of the porter base and didn't like it at all - too synthetic tasting.

In the end I went with the Lowicz cherry cordial and used two bottles in a single 19L corny.

I would suggest adding the cordial to the fermentor in secondary. Because I didn't discover that my use of cherry puree was a complete waste of time (in the sense it didn't add any discernible cherry flavour) until the beer was kegged, I had to add the cordial to the keg, which caused a secondary fermentation due to the sugars in the cordial and massive overcarbonation.

That said, the cordial was successful in imparting a palatable cherry flavour to the beer. I wouldn't say the flavour was dramatic - very much at the subtle end of the scale, like a mild marzipan.

I have no idea how they get strong cherry flavour in big beers. If you've ever had the Vocation black forest imperial stout, you will know what I mean. I can only assume it's massive quantities of fruit, or some other black magic I'm oblivious to.

Thanks for the update Hmmmm - it sounds like cherry flavour is perhaps at the more demanding end of the fruit beer spectrum. Perhaps I’d better start with bitter orange or vanilla!!

 

[Wilko.]

I'm purchasing some concentrated cherry extract. The company suggests 1 small 7.5ml bottle per 23 litres of beer. I'll likely add it to 21 litres though. Anyone else tried this? I'm tempted to add 15ml into the 21 litres after reading these comments