0002 - Cherry Wheat

This is a Mr. Beer recipe that seems to get a lot of negative feed back on the forums.  The main complaints are lack of cherry flavor and being very cidery (due to all of the non-malt sugars, called adjuncts).  I figured I'd try going a little off recipe for this one.  I used only half of the pouch of booster, and added a pound of wheat DME.  I didn't add the pureed cherries until a week after primary fermentation started.  Here's the Qbrew take on my changes:

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Cherry Wheat - Modified
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Brewer: James
Style: Fruit Beer
Batch: 2.13 galExtract

Characteristics
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Recipe Gravity: 1.064 OG
Recipe Bitterness: 16 IBU
Recipe Color: 5° SRM
Estimated FG: 1.016
Alcohol by Volume: 6.2%
Alcohol by Weight: 4.9%

Ingredients
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Mr. Beer Booster              0.40 lb, Sugar, Other
Mr. Beer/Coopers Bavarian Weissbier1.87 lb, Extract, Extract
Muntons DME - Wheat  (60%/40%)1.00 lb, Extract, Extract
Oregon Fruit - Dark Cherries  0.94 lb, Adjunct, Other

Mr. Beer/Coopers Bavarian Weissbier1.00 oz, Pellet, 5 minutes

Mr. Beer Dry Ale Yeast        1.00 unit, Yeast, Temperature Range: 68°-76° F   2.0 GRAMS

Notes
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Recipe Notes:
Added 1 pound Mutons Wheat DME and half a pouch of booster.  Recipe called for no DME and a full pouch of booster.

Batch Notes:
Very cidery after taste at bottling.  Will condition for at least 6 weeks before sampling.
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Brewing was pretty straightforward, brewed on 2013/02/02.  Have seen conflicting advice as to the need to boil the DME or not when not adding additional hops.  I opted to add it after the water boiled (and it almost bubbled over when I did so).  Next time I use it, I will boil it to see if it makes a difference in the final outcome of the batch.  ABV is a bit high for a wheat beer.  Should have left out the booster all together, but didn't start using Qbrew until after this batch was already fermenting.

Update 2013/02/23:
Bottled the batch today.  Really liking the conical fermenter.  Hardly any trub (sediment) at all in any of the bottles.  Tasted sample, had a strong cider bite to it due to the fruit sugars and booster.  Will need to let this one condition for at least 6 weeks before trying one.  Fermenter had a really strong cider smell to it even after soaking overnight and cleaning.  Soaked and cleaned it a second time which has greatly reduced the odor.