Cranberry beer?

Has anyone had a good experience with a cranberry beer? I've searched around and haven't found a lot of posts on it most haven't reported back to say if it was great or terrible.

Was planning on brewing up a stout this weekend and I am contemplating adding cranberries in the secondary, or maybe I will get a small gallon size jug and add them to just a part of the batch. I'd hate to screw up a whole 5 gallons and also I have never tried this stout recipe before, so I'd like to have some reference point as well.

Thought I'd throw it out there to see what people think.

Lots of views, but not one comment.... Maybe some are interested.

OK, well, here I go then. I'm going to brew up a stout tonight. My plan is to get a 2.5 gallon better bottle and to secondary about 2 gallons along with the cranberries (undetermined amount as yet, but I have 3 lbs on hand).

Here is my going in recipe for the stout:

7.5 lbs english Pale ale
2.25 lbs flaked barley
1.0 lbs Black Roast Barley 500L (finely milled)
0.25 lb Acidulated Malt

.5 oz EKG FWH
2.0 oz EKG @60 min

Safale S-05


I'll follow up on how things turn out.

Dave

2.5 gallons into secondary - plain. Was able to get a taste after I measured the gravity, pretty promising.

2.5 gallons into secondary with 1 apple and 1.5 lbs cranberries chopped finely in food processor with a cup or so of water, simmered for ~20 minutes. Cooled and placed into a mesh hop bag in with the wort.

I haven't done much with fruit additions before, I'm guessing another week or two would be long enough before I bottle?

I used 1lb of washed cranberries in my last batch of Graff...let it sit for 7 days before kegging it. I would say take samples every other day after the 1 week mark...cranberries are super tangy and I'm glad I racked off when I did, although it should be less aparent in the stout.

Best of luck!

Just bottled. From my sample (after 8 days in secondary) the cranberry was somewhat subtle mostly just apparent in the mild tangy aftertaste. We will see how it is in a few weeks.

I brewed a Christmas Cranberry Cru a few weeks ago using a recipe that I found online. It called for just over 2 pounds of pureed cranberries added at the end of the boil. I cold crashed it last week and siphoned into corney kegs. I had enough left for a 2 liter bottle. I just smelled it this morning and it smells like a cranberry champagne! (it has Belgian Abbey yeast in it) It's extremely cloudy so I added some gelatin to it. Here's the recipe in case you're interested: http://hbd.org/cgi-bin/recipator/recipator?group=57&item=3611. From what the recipe says it should have a mild cranberry taste to it.

About two weeks in now, gave one a try.

Overall not bad, I know this needs a bit more time in the bottle to meld the flavors together. Nice aroma, fairly prevalent very tart cranberry taste.

I'm not sure if I should have not gone for the dry stout or something a bit more sweet, however I'm pretty happy with the outcome.

I'm thinking of trying something similar with cranberries and a cream stout I've already got in primary. Do fresh cranberries need to be boiled before adding to secondary? And quantity? From what I've seen so far I'm thinking of 2 1/2 lbs for a 5 gallon batch?
Any thoughts?

I'm not sure, but I think you would probably want to cook them a bit to kill any nasties living on the skins. I always hear people recommending freezing any fruits first as well. I would guess you are pretty good on the amount for 5 gal. I did have mine chopped finely, but then again they were in a mesh bag as well so I'm sure that made the contact a bit less.

Just about 4 weeks in the bottle and the flavors have really melded well together and I would definitely recommend giving this a try.

i want to make a cranberry wheat ale. i've read about adding them plain to secondary only. but i don't want a tart cranberry flavor. I want a sweeter flavor like cranberry sauce. Should I boil them with a bit of sugar and orange peel (basically make cranberry sauce) and add it to the wort?

The flavor I'm looking for is like Sam Adams cranberry lambic, but I'm not making a lambic

usually with fruit you want to hold it at around 160 to get rid of nasties; boiling sets the pectin which makes for a hazy beer. Sometimes fruit is added to the secondary after freezing which bursts the cell wall for better permeation of the beer with flavour. I'm reading this with interest since I am toying with the idea of adding mango puree to a pale ale. Your results with cranberries are very encouraging!

B

My cranberries are already frozen so that's good news for flavoring. I've been reading other posts on how secondary additions don't contribute too much flavor though. Most people report being able to faintly taste the cranberry. I don't care much about haze, more about flavor. I'll add irish moss or what have you to fix haze later.

My Cranberry ale has been fairly popular. I add 3# to the primary right away and let ferment for 2 weeks. Usually get a slight reddish tint and hint of tartness. Its enough to know its cranberry but not overpowering. I like this one as my father in law manages a large cranberry marsh so get cranberries galore.