Do cranberries and blueberries flavor mix well?
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You could mix a small amount of the 2 juices in those proportions to get a preview of how they might play together.
I have not tried those 2 together. Ocean Spray juices mix a ton of flavors with cranberry. I have tried several. Looking on their site, they have a cran-blueberry-raspberry, but I have never tried it.
https://www.oceanspray.com/Products/Product-Filter?category=Juices
How about a thread on the one you enjoyed most?
But, TBH, fermenting cranberries sounds not too good to me.
Cranberries are a little bitter to me already. I think fermenting them would really enhance that bitterness, and not in a good hops kind of way.
For my own personal taste, I like the cran-raspberry & the cran-apple the best.
https://www.oceanspray.com/Products...Drinks/Cran-Apple-Cranberry-Apple-Juice-Drink
https://www.oceanspray.com/Products...t-Juice/100-Percent-Juice-Cranberry-Raspberry
But, honestly I've tried fermenting cranberries before and I have found I like the flavor I get from adding crushed frozen/thawed cranberries when added to secondary far superior to the fermented flavor. This could be just personal taste, but the flavor is much brighter, as is with most fruits. Also, cranberries are very tart, but the flavor fades quickly if they're pulled to quick. I left mine in for 2 weeks & I think I could've gotten away with a bit longer. That said, they add quite a bit of tannic value, so the extra time left in there may require either a little more aging or a tad more backsweetening to counter the extra tannin contributions.
One other tip I would offer, cranberry seeds are small, not as small as blueberry seeds, but I would still highly recommend using a fine mesh brew bag for easy removal from the must/mead.
I use 250 micron bags that don't let any seeds through.
Bellamei Brew Bags Extra Large Reusable 2 Pack 250 Micron Fine Mesh Bag for Fruit Cider Apple Grape Wine Press Drawstring Straining Brew in a Bag (2 pack-22"×26") https://a.co/d/3cLV9PJ
I hope this helps you.
Happy meading
This is my current method. Once primary is finished, off to a secondary with a mashed bag and grounded berries.
sallgoodguy
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You can get around using the actual fruit and having to go through all those prep steps by using a puree or frozen. Puree being the better solution. I think Moretti offers cranberry puree.
Or get a concentrate. I used this for my apple/cranberry cider: Cranberry Juice Concentrate | FruitFast® The advantage of a concentrate is that you won't get as much cloudiness as with a puree.
Thanks for this link.
I might be a little late to the game, but, I have used cranberry, whole fruit in a beer once. Very sour just in it's own, actually too sour. I ended up mixing it with cherry extract, then it turned out fine.
My process for using real fruit in a beer is to wash the fruit then toss it in the freezer. After my base beer has fermented I transfer it off the yeast (secondary or serving keg) then add the thawed fruit in either a sanitized mesh bag or a stainless steel mesh cylinder. The keg goes into the fridge to cold crash and age. After that I will usually just carbonate and serve but you could transfer again off the fruit. Back flavor with an extract if needed.
My process for using real fruit in a beer is to wash the fruit then toss it in the freezer. After my base beer has fermented I transfer it off the yeast (secondary or serving keg) then add the thawed fruit in either a sanitized mesh bag or a stainless steel mesh cylinder. The keg goes into the fridge to cold crash and age. After that I will usually just carbonate and serve but you could transfer again off the fruit. Back flavor with an extract if needed.
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Well, it looks pretty good. My guess it the cranberry will overwhelm the blueberry, which is a relatively subtle taste, and the blueberry is not sweet enough to balance out the cranberry.
Have never used either in beer,, but my gal sometimes makes ice cream recipes on a commercial level, and I've tried a lot of flavor combos & experiments of that.
Have never used either in beer,, but my gal sometimes makes ice cream recipes on a commercial level, and I've tried a lot of flavor combos & experiments of that.
Two weeks later or so, so it's time for a taste taste.
Smell - pleasant. Cranberry with a hint of something else.
Taste - Initial sweetness + cranberry acid taste. Followed by a very weak blueberry taste.
Overall, enjoyable.
Picture - after agitating fruit bags, clarity has a bits of fruit in the way.
Left glass - very cranberry mead. FG 1.012 (removed fruits after 9 days (and moved to cider)) Taste profile seems nice. Gentile cranberry taste. Needs at least 1 month in secondary.
Middle - blueberry-cranberry mead (see above). It's clearing nicely and taste wonderfully. Smell is nice too. FG 1.016
Right glass - blueberry mead. Been sitting in the secondary for about a month. FG 1.006. Almost ready for bottling.
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