Do you remember when I said that it was probably time to do another video for the process of racking to secondary fermentation a few days ago? Well I will say it again because I didn’t do it for this batch either and it will continue to stay at the top of the list of things to do for the next brew. So as usual, if you are interested in the specifics of racking the wort from a primary to secondary fermenter check out the video in “Pumpkin Ale – Part 2” on the “Brewing” page above. In this post I will just highlight the specifics of this batch to keep you up to date on the progress.
The Chief of Sanitation is serious about his job.
This step was where I could begin my attempt to turn this recipe into a Cherry Dunkelweizen as I called it from the beginning. Before racking I took 60 oz of frozen, dark sweet cherries and set them out to thaw. Frozen cherries work nicely because the freezing punctures the skin a bit, making them extra juicy as they come to room temperature and perfect for steeping during secondary fermentation. I would have liked to get some sour cherries for the mix as well, but I did not have that option where I bought them. If this turns out well (and even if it doesn’t), there will be many other opportunities for that.
Watching cherries thaw is exciting
A large funnel would have been helpful.
The (soon to be) Cherry Dunkelweizen came in with a specific gravity of about 1.0139 at the time of transfer. That leaves it with a current ABV of approximately 4.6% and I will just have to wait and see what the addition of cherries ultimately does to that number.
Adding the wort
The sample (without the cherries yet added) was pretty tasty, but I think the cherries will be a great addition. With that, the cherries were added to the secondary fermenter before racking. My (basic) understanding is that adding the room temperature fruit at this time is OK because the mix now should be acidic and alcoholic enough to keep any bacteria from doing damage. In the future I would certainly do secondary fermentation for a beer like this in a bucket rather than a carboy (more room), but I wanted to be able to see what was going on this first time through.
It all got a bit frothy
After the wort was racked and the airlock was in place, the cherries slowly started to float to the top. In a very short time the fermentation became much more violent than it ever was during primary and I quickly switched the airlock with a blow off tub for that first night. When things calmed down a bit the airlock was implemented again as fermentation continued on.
So now the batch is still in the bathtub and is still showing some signs of active fermentation. Though in the future I might let the cherries sit for longer in secondary, I think I will end up bottling this batch sometime soon just to see what the impact was. That will give me a better guide for what to do with future fruit infused batches.
Until bottling . . .
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