Kirsch

[brewnovice]

I have just made a batch of Kirsch for the first time, and after scouring the internet I could only find one vague recipe (abbreviated here to just the importent bits):

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Remove the stems from two pounds of fresh cherries, rinse in cool water and remove the pits.
Place a layer of the cherries in a wide open mouth glass jar with a lid and cover with a layer of granulated sugar. Continue to layer the pitted cherries, covered by the granulated sugar, until you have used up all two pounds of pitted cherries and about a pound of granulated sugar. Place the lid on the container and put in the refrigerator to allow the cherries and sugar to mellow overnight.
The next day remove the cherry-sugar mixture from the refrigerator and add a bottle of unflavored vodka. Make sure the lid is secured very tightly and place the cherry-sugar-vodka mixture in the back of a kitchen closet which is dark and somewhat cool. On a daily basis you need to shake this container so that the cherries, sugar and vodka stay mixed together - but never remove the lid.
After 6 months' time, strain the liqueur from the cherry-sugar mixture into a clean glass bottle with a lid that seals airtight. Now store this bottle of Kirsch liqueur in the refrigerator, allowing it to age for another 6 months.
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I am about a week in to this recipe, but my question is: when complete, will this always need to be stored in the refrigerator? Also will this last almost indefinitely or do these type of fruit liqueurs have a very limited shelf life? Obviously if you buy a commercial Kirsch you would not need to refrigerate, but then a commercial one probably only has cherry flavor not actual cherries and sugar.

Thanks for any advice
Kev