Borgs expert opinions wanted!

[Dawg LB Steve]

Saturday will be day 14 of the latest 4 Gallon recipe, in 2 LBK's and the first time using DME and Grains, a stout consiting of:

3lbs Amber DME
1 lb Flaked wheat
1.5 lb Crystal 40L
1.5 lb Light DME
.75 Roasted Barley
1 oz Kent @ 40
1 oz Target @60
Safeale US-04 Yeast

The question is on taste, how does adding in a can of Oregon Dark Sweet Cherries puréed sound ? And there is quite a bit of trub right now, more than I have ever had in an LBK before, should I rack to a secondary before adding the fruit? Should I rack to a secondary even if I don't add the fruit cause of the amount of trub to finish out the fermentation?

[jimjohson]

Racking is a personal preference some do some don't. I did a wee heavy and there was a lot of trub in there I left it and just racked to a bottling bucket at the end. Trub covered the spigot even with a cd case under the front.

[FrozenInTime]

I added a can like your wanting to do with cherries at week 2 on a stout. I had a serious eruption that made a pretty good mess. Make sure you have a big enough pan under the LBK to catch it.

[Dawg LB Steve]

FIT, how was the flavor profile, did the cherry stand out or was it subtle? Maybe I'll put half the can in each, I have a 4 Gallon batch split between 2 LBK's, so its under the the normal MB fills.

[FrozenInTime]

Did not have a real strong influence. I also used some cocoa powder in it, they kinda offset each other in my opinion. I also had a vanilla bean in the mix. I'm going to redo it with one ingredient at a time to see which one brought what to the party... not sure which one it was but atleast one of them left me wanting less of it (if that makes sense). I used a whole can of sweet cherries.

[Dawg LB Steve]

If I go with the cherries, gonna have to change the name to Virgin Montucky Mud Cherry Stout!

[Old Buzzard]

Just curious on how the whole Montucky Beer and the Browns Avatar come together. Any insights that can actually get posted?

[Dawg LB Steve]

I live in an eastern suburb of Cleveland and have season tickets and I couldn't resize the avatar I use on MB's forum, Red Solo Cup! The Dawg LB O.I.C. I use as a name in MB is "Only In Cleveland"! The Montucky comes from our group of campers that affectionately call the village out in the country where the campground is!

[DaYooper]

Seeing as you have already split between two LBKs, you have a perfect chance to see the impact. I would do one straight up as you were planning and toss the cherries into the other. That is the beauty of batch splitting.

With regards to secondary, I usually do that when adding fruit but it is with 5 gallon batches and into a carboy. Racking into a secondary LBK will give you a LOT of headspace for oxidation depending on how quickly the secondary fermentation takes off. So if you do not have a vessel with less headspace I would simply toss the fruit in the LBK you have and when complete rack over to a bottling bucket, slimline, or LBK and leave the majority of trub behind.

[Dawg LB Steve]

Thanks DaYooper, I was tossing that idea around too. If I do one (2 gallon batch) with cherries should I use the whole can, Oregon I think is 15 oz?

[Bluejaye]

Yes, you'd want to puree an entire (single) can of Oregon fruit. There might be some Mr. Beer recipes that even use 2, but those might be in the cider section.

[Dawg LB Steve]

Thanks Bluejaye!

[Old Buzzard]

Well Dawg at least now I know who you are from the other site. My brother went to the seminary in Cleveland. The Montucky threw me off cause that's what a the locals from Montana call their rural areas. There's even newspapers and beer with that name.

Best of luck with your fruit addition and let us know how it goes.

[Dawg LB Steve]

Can of cherries went into one of the LBK's this morning, left the other alone. Will be a good side by side comparison.

[Kealia]

You got some sound advice there. Splitting that batch and testing on one of the LBKs is the best way to see exactly what you get from the addition.

Whether you like it or not, you'll learn something from this.