Kreiky Knees Ale

Ingredients:

3.5 lbs. Brewferm Kriek Kit Malt Extract
2.0 lbs (1 can) Edme Supex Malt Extract
1/2 oz. Saaz hop pellets (boiling)
1/2 oz. Saaz hop pellets (aroma)
5.0 lbs Unsweetened frozen cherries (no syrup)
1/2 oz. Saaz hops (dry hopped)
1 tsp.  Irish Moss
1 1/2 cup powdered light malt extract (for bottling)

Bring 4 litres water to a boil and add boiling hops and extract.  Boil for 1/2 hour, add next batch
of hop pellets and irish moss.  Meanwhile, thaw cherries in hot water (less than 60 degrees C)
and mash up with potato masher or similar instrument of cherry destruction (watch it) and pour
into empty pot with dry hop pellets.  When boil time totals 45 minutes pour boiling wort over
cherry/hop mixture and let sit for 15-20 minutes with lid on pot.  Add  entire mixture, including
mashed up cherries, to enough water to make five and a half US gallons (the solids taken out
later leave you with about five) and pitch yeast from kit (Belgian) when temp. is about 28
degrees C.  Allow to ferment unitil activity is slowed, then rack to secondary.  A "j-tube" is
useful due to cherry clogging activities.  Leave in secondary (I use glass for this) for about 2
weeks.  Rack into clean fermenter containing powdered malt extract boiled in water and bottle
from this.

This beer improves imensely with ageing, starting as a "cherry pie" taste and slowly maturing
into a slightly sour lambic style kriek impersonator.  An additional additive is oak chips,
included in my latest batch, still in the secondary.  They may give a more accurate impression
of the woody keg taste of, for example Rodenbach type beers.  My last batch is about 13 months
old and is now being served in wine glasses where the beautiful colour (deep dark red) is offset
by a very white, fine bubbled head.

Jeffrey Pinhey, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, 74040,3137