My brewer friend Jay and I decided to break out the carboys now that it's starting to warm up outside, so we headed down to The Ginger Man last week for a "sampling session" with the hopes that we would find a fine ale to brew for the spring/summer. We tried (too) many wonderful beer styles that afternoon including a very tasty Sam Adams cherry wheat.

After much discussion we both concluded that we wanted something light bodied, cherry flavored, with a pretty high ABV % It was with this criteria that we decided to brew the world's first (as far as we know) drum roll... cherry malt liquor!

yes, I know. I expect this to turn out pretty badly but I'm committed now so with that being said, wish me luck! I think the hardest part is going to be collecting enough 40oz bottles since we intend to use a 10 gallon recipe. I don't know a single person who drinks king cobra so I can't exactly call all my friends and say "hey, save me your empty 40's"

updates and pics to follow. :-)
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Um.....congrats? Sounds like fun....let us know how it turns out!
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Cherry Malt Liquor? This frightens me...
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I don’t think cherry & malt liquor should ever be used in the sentence. :-)
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I may have just thrown up a little in my mouth. Good luck, hope it's enjoyable! Diet Dr pepper here I come. :-)
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Your still drunk. Once you come to your senses you'll realize what you've just said.

Other than that though have you guys made a American style lager before? That's pretty much what you're trying to do and adding the cherrys may over power the beer the trick is to do it just enough so it's not too sweet.
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I fully expect it to be terrible, I know. but keep in mind this whole project is in no way meant to be taken seriously. Neither of us actually drink malt liquor.

We may just do 5 gallons instead and use the other bucket and carboy for something good. Also, we're going to have to use ale yeast since I don't have the means to facilitate a refrigerated lager-style fermentation.

As far as the cherry flavor goes, our local brew shop is staffed with fantastic geniuses and they have never led me astray. I usually tell them what I want to make and they write out a recipe for me. I know they carry various fruit extracts meant specifically for brewing and I'm sure they can adjust the recipe to our desired level of sweetness.
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I think it's awesome.

Like this stuff:

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I'm surprised there isn't a cherry malt liquor on the market already....you guys may be on to something:-)

I mean we may think it's gross, but if MD 20/20 has a market then there must be a market for cherry flavored malt liquor....
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I'd rather drink cherry malt liquor mixed with gasoline than that god awful, good for nothing, waste of time, money, space, and bottles that is Sam Adams cherry lambec. :-)
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I would suggest you break up the batch into smaller fermenters and use different amounts of whatever additives you're using in each. Could save a lot of bee...errr..malt liquor...
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Umm.....Sam Adams doesn't make a cherry lambic. Their cranberry lambic on the other hand......still sucks.

And that cherry malt liquor still frightens me.
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:-) That Sam Adams cranberry lambic tastes like vomit to me.....it's just vile!
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Try Lindemans Kriek Lambic (Cherry) instead! :-)

Bacardi Black Cherry probably fits the bill.
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Lambics are much too sweet for me and I wouldn't dare mess with "wild fermentation" Also we intend for this to be more like cherry rocket fuel and I think Lambics generally tend to be fairly low in alcohol content. My goal is for the yeast to eat up most of the excess sugar so we end up with something drinkable.
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Just make sure you have a big yeast starter to throw in there, otherwise it'll never attenuate completely.
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Hawkeye your right it is cranberry. I forgot what it was because all I could taste was the bile that I gagged up into my mouth
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