Cranberry/Rosemary Irish Red Ale

[Sly Conner]

I'm about to brew an Irish Red Ale (Mangrove Jack's Kit), and I'm planning on adding cranberries and a little fresh rosemary to the brew.
Anyone try anything similar or have any experience in this combination?

 

[kevin58]

Mods: Maybe the recipe posting guidelines should be pinned to the top of this forum like in the Specialty, Fruit, Historical, Other Recipes forum.

 

[bkboiler]

Interesting! What's been your experience with brewing Irish reds in general?
I've had several commercial examples that I personally find undrinkable....
I had made the style several times and finally landed on a recipe that is delicious (I'm not so bipolar on any other style, honest!).
I could see a *TINY* amount of rosemary being *okay* in a Belgian beer, like maybe alongside some bitter orange peel...
I cannot fathom it in a Irish red. Or cranberries either...
Sounds like you should get a bottle of the commercial stuff and blend with some cranberry juice and rosemary "tea" to proportion to see if you like it before committing to a whole batch.

 

[IslandLizard]

Mods: Maybe the recipe posting guidelines should be pinned to the top of this forum like in the Specialty, Fruit, Historical, Other Recipes forum.

Thanks for reporting the misplaced thread. Moved to our Recipes/Ingredients Forum.

I've also taken your "guidelines" suggestion to the other mods and admins.

 

[Sly Conner]

Too late now, brew is on and it's brewing nicely... I used one bottle (950ml) of organic cranberry juice made from 3 lbs of cranberries.
I also added 28 grams of rosemary needles, tied off in a mess bag.
not sure what'll taste like once completed, but I will say now that the smell is most excellent!
can't wait for the finished product

 

[IslandLizard]

Too late now, brew is on and it's brewing nicely... I used one bottle (950ml) of organic cranberry juice made from 3 lbs of cranberries.
I also added 28 grams of rosemary needles, tied off in a mess bag.
not sure what'll taste like once completed, but I will say now that the smell is most excellent!
can't wait for the finished product

It's a long fetch to call it an Irish Red, but it could become Saison-ish.

Fruit, and vegetable beers like those are weird, but can be an interesting niche or refreshing on a hot summer day with friends.

Years ago, for our "mystery ingredient" club competition I brewed a Rosemary Saison. It was drinkable (and appreciable) as a novelty, but that half keg wore out her welcome in the keezer after 3+ months...
A Cucumber/Rosemary version of it, with the other half of the batch didn't fare much better. It really needed dill... and a salad as a food pairing.

On a similar note, a Watermelon Saison was very drinkable. Until it became not.
I bottled the rest of the half keg, and forgot about it. 3 years later I stumbled upon that case with all kinds of odds and ends.
Remarkably, that Watermelon beer had become very dank, lost her pink tint, turned crystal clear, with a nice 1/8" of compacted sediment. It was an interesting experience, and sadly, there was not enough of it left.