Cranberry

DiscoFetus · 10-16-2008, 08:33 PM

Ok, so not too long ago we made a Blueberry Wheat. Turned out not too shabby, nice little blue highlight and the flavor was very wheat, berry the biscuit and honey which was pretty cool. Problem was the berry was one of those things you could tell it was there, but it wasn't identifiable. We put about 2 lbs of frozen (fruit only) blueberries into the last 10 mins of the boil and then throughout primary which was for 3 weeks.

We're about to do a Cranberry Wheat tonight...in like 3 hours...and I forgot to post this earlier. Any suggestions on how to get this to have that cranberry flavor that's noticeable but not offensive while still providing the wheat and malt profile?

Extract a good idea? My store carries an organic all natural cranberry concentrate, will adding a little of this to the boil with the berries work?

novafire · 10-16-2008, 08:44 PM

Have you seen this recipe? I just started it last night.

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/19135-post1.html

I would imagine adding fruit in a similar manner to your particular wheat beer would work.

DiscoFetus · 10-16-2008, 08:46 PM

Nice, I had been thinking about that method, but the pectin would be the biggest issue. I had forgotten about the pectic enzyme. I'm gonna look for it at the store, and also pick up some cranberry concentrate from my store. We'll decide what to do with it from there I guess.

That recipe looks slammin though, let me know how it turns out.

I'll keep checking back. Thanks so far!

novafire · 10-17-2008, 03:13 PM

Here is a similar recipe that does not use pectic enzyme. Not sure if I will use it or not.

http://byo.com/byoblog/labels/cranberry zinger.html

**bad coffee** · 10-17-2008, 04:10 PM

you could just brew the wheat, then ferment it. add thawed frozen cranberries in the secondary.

rack to tertiary/keg when there's enough cranberry flavor.

B

DiscoFetus · 10-22-2008, 01:22 AM

I tossed that idea around. We ended up cooking down a pound of cranberries in about a quart of water and this cranberry concentrate I got from my store. About 8oz of it. Boiled it in the wort for about 10 mins and went into primary. Will strain out the berries into secondary. Thanks for all the help and will keep you updated!

JoMarky · 10-22-2008, 01:32 AM

I bought some cranberry concentrate as well for a few reasons. 1- Its easier than dealing with fruit in a carboy, 2- it'll give me control. I'll be adding at kegging time to taste. Throwing fruit in the boil/before fermentation will result in lots of the flavor being eaten up by the yeast. My concentrate also said 2-3 oz per 5 gallons, hopefully yours isn't as concentrated.

Anbrew · 10-22-2008, 02:14 AM

The winner of this year's Samual Adam's Longshot competition made a cranberry wit. I asked her how she handled the cranberry and she said she just used oceanspray.

**SenorWanderer** · 10-24-2008, 08:01 PM

i've been mulling a thanksgiving beer with cranberry. maybe something like a belgian pale. my first instinct given the lack of time i have until turkey day was cranberry juice in the 2ndary. probably something more organicy than oceanspray, i think it would be easier to deal with than the actual fruit.

kahunaman · 10-31-2008, 09:17 PM

Can I do this with fresh cranberries, and if I do do I have to cook or cut them first, or just throw em in? I have a wheat I JUST put in the primary fermenter and was trying to figure out what to do with it. this is an awesome idea, and we have a ton of fresh cranberries locally right now. I would do Cranberries and oranges. Thoughts?