Local source of sour cherries for kriek?

[Eoin]

I'd say research.... The Germans have Sauerkirschen. Let me come back to you on that.

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[lordstilton]

Right talking to a mate there and the tree I showed you was wrong this is the one we ate from all the time https://maps.google.ie/maps?q=woodfarm+acres+palmerstown&hl=en-IE&ll=53.354442,-6.381657&spn=0.000006,0.006518&gbv=2&hnear=Woodfarm+Acres,+Dublin,+County+Dublin&gl=ie&t=h&z=18&layer=c&cbll=53.354379,-6.381564&panoid=ksvDPpLSJoEG_xsTB7xefA&cbp=12,49.15,,0,-5.1 but there are loads of them in the estate..the ground would be littered with the stones..I got a list of identifying features so I'll know for certain next week.

[Eoin]

Right talking to a mate there and the tree I showed you was wrong this is the one we ate from all the time https://maps.google.ie/maps?q=woodfarm+acres+palmerstown&hl=en-IE&ll=53.354442,-6.381657&spn=0.000006,0.006518&gbv=2&hnear=Woodfarm+Acres,+Dublin,+County+Dublin&gl=ie&t=h&z=18&layer=c&cbll=53.354379,-6.381564&panoid=ksvDPpLSJoEG_xsTB7xefA&cbp=12,49.15,,0,-5.1 but there are loads of them in the estate..the ground would be littered with the stones..I got a list of identifying features so I'll know for certain next week.

Being on an estate suggests sassanach imports, could be good. Steal those Bastards.

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[imark]

People were honest and worked hard.

Ah... The good old days

[Eoin]

The article I linked to suggests native cherries are sour, and 30 years ago when those estates were built there wouldn't have been the quick fix mentality there is today. People grew stuff back then, and didn't import everything. People were honest and worked hard.

Anyway, if they're imports, it's just a case of locating natives. It reminds me of native apples, most of which are being eaten by the birds rather than making their way into tasty alcoholic beverages. An odious waste. (odious is correctly pronounced o-jis)

I'd consider long time imports as native at this point, if they're right, they're right. To be honest I didn't really know we have native cherries.

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[Eoin]

Ah yeah, that'd apply to people alright.

But not native is not native. Minks for example. There was a break out from a mink farm in Co Roscommon a good few years back, and there are minks living in the wild now, but they're still not native, and they're still dangerous little bastards.

Longford isn't that wild.

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[Eoin]

But once the minks are out there's not a lot you can do. Anyway wild cherries... We have some?

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[DEMPSEY]

The breakout in Roscommon I believe went along the line of,"what would happen if we left this gate open".

[Eoin]

Sour Morello cherries according to Wiki, the Germans call them Schattenmorellen, so they should be easy enough to get.

[Eoin]

On another note, Blanchardstown/Tyrrelstown is full of raspberry canes, the whole place...thousands of them.

[Eoin]

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Cherries-Dried-Morello-Sour-W-S/dp/B0050B93QQ/ref=sr_1_sc_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1396863003&sr=8-3-spell&keywords=morello+cherrries

There's an option, the kilo is quite expensive though.

[Eoin]

Did a bit more reading

Prunus avium (i.e. the native one) is known as many things, one of them is "sweet cherry". Prunus cerasus is sour cherry. An analogy seems to be eating apples vs cooking apples.

Not unheard of to use P.  avium in beer:
http://beerandbrewer.worldsecuresystems.com/_blog/News/post/Fruit_Beers_Trend_Continues_with_Birra_Del_Borgo_(Italy)_Prunus/

Try it in your small batch, but sweet is not the way to go. I had a cherry coke yesterday after having posted to here, just to remind me what medicinal sweet cherries taste like....yuck.

If you want native fruits then I'd suggest Framboise or Blackberry is the way to go personally.

[Eoin]

Unless we have native peaches here, which I doubt sincerely....

[Eoin]

Cherry coke is puke! First time I drank it I got a chest infection. Dunno if it's related...

Well the taste of cherry coke is sweet cherry extract....

[Will_D]

But once the minks are out there's not a lot you can do.

We on the posh side of town have a cunning plan to insulate our mash tuns with mink fur lined jackets!

How posh is that?

Re sour cherries:

You can buy sour cherry juice in health food shops - its super concentrated and super expensive (like €23 for 0.5 L IIRC)

or

Phone some Polish shops - they may have them in small tins

or

Phone Musgraves or other the large catering food suppliers - should have them in 5 or 7 kg tins for a fair price.