Bottling the Cherry Beers

So (finally) I bottled the cherry beers. New puppy ownership and large stockpiles of finished beer have definitely curtailed my brewing; however, I am determined to brew at least twice this summer.

The first half of the batch (11 bottles) was the cherry amber ale by itself. I added 2oz. of cherry extract to the second half (13 bottles). I know that it may be a bit strong (usually one adds less than 4oz. to a five-gallon batch) but it should give me a clear idea of whether extract really makes the flavor better.

Final gravity: 1.010
Estimated ABV: 3.7% (clearly, fermentation didn't renew but cherry flavor was absorbed)

Moving the Amber, et al.

Today I moved the amber-based experimental beers into two secondary aging vessels. Half of the beer went into a smaller, 2.5 gallon carboy - this half will be the amber "control" beer and Old Tjikko #2 (when I add the spruce essence at bottling). The other half went into a 5 gallon carboy - I first added just over 3 lbs. of sweet cherry puree and then siphoned the beer on top of it. Since the cherry puree is full of fermentable sugars, this should renew fermentation and, thus, there needs to be a little more room than the other half of the brew (which is done with active fermentation).

Right now the "finishing" gravity is 1.010, meaning about 3.7% ABV for the amber beer and Old Tjikko #2. The cherry beer half should ferment a bit more so we shall see it's final gravity in a few weeks.

Experimental Beer(s) - Amber, et al.

On Sunday I brewed the first part of a batch of experimental beers. Basically, I am using an amber ale as the base beer for a few modifications. Five gallons of brew will be split into the following:

2.5 gal. of Old Tjikko #2 (since the spruce ale had decent support at the recent tasting, I figured I would keep the style but try a different approach - the prior used molasses and pale DME)

5 gal. of cherry beer (this will be split further into two versions: while all of it will be aged on 3lbs. of sweet cherry puree, I will add up to 2oz. of cherry extract at bottling to 2.5 gal.)

2.5 gal. of amber ale (the remainder will remain as is - a control)

Ingredients (for the amber ale base beer):

5.5lbs Amber LME
1lb Crystal 50-60L* speciality grains
1/2lb. Golden Naked Oats [hopefully for some extra body]
2oz. UK Kent Goldings hops (1oz. for bittering; 1oz. for flavoring)
Wyeast American Activator liquid yeast

OG: 1.038