Cranbeery Ale

Classification: fruit beer, cranberry ale, extract

Source: Tim Phillips (tcp@esl.ESL.com) Issue #327, 12/20/89

This isn't the best beer I've ever had, but the red color and mixture of cranberry, champagne, and beer tastes (in that order) together make wonderful conversation pieces. A perfect treat for the holidays. The cranberry taste is quite dominating: I might try just 2 or 3 pounds of cranberries in the future. This recipe is based on Papazian's Cherries in the Snow.

Ingredients:

5 pounds, pale malt extract syrup
1 pound, corn sugar
2 ounces, Hallertauer hops (boil)
1/2 ounce, Hallertauer hops (finish)
6 pounds, cranberries
ale yeast
corn sugar (priming)

Procedure:

Crush cranberries. Boil wort. Add cranberries to wort at time finishing hops are added. Turn off heat and steep at least 15 minutes. Pour wort into fermenter with enough water to make 5 gallons. Pitch yeast. After about 5 days, strain into secondary fermenter, avoiding sediment. Bottle after about 1 more week. Age bottles about 2 weeks.

Specifics:

Primary Ferment: 5 days
Secondary Ferment: 1 week