Homebrewers usually welcome any opportunity to try a new recipe, and anyone already familiar with homebrewing might have some of the ingredients for this holiday ale perched on a shelf. If not (and for people who have never brewed beer at home), most of the necessary constituents can be found at the nearest beer- or wine-brewing outlet. The honey, cranberries, oranges, and apples that go into this delightful beer are readily available at any grocery store.
Although homebrewing may seem daunting to the uninitiated, once a novice has bottled his or her first batch of beer the process is far less intimidating. And, even though a good beer-making kit may initially cost from $100 - $200, the equipment can be reused for years.
One caveat that even experienced homebrewers heed: Always read a recipe in its entirety before beginning. Nothing changes the flavor of a batch – or ruins it entirely – like not having a vital ingredient on hand and then having to substitute or omit something important.
Aside from this admonition, the most important aspect of homebrewing is relaxation. Indeed, it often helps to open a brew from a previous run and enjoy it while brewing a fresh batch.
Equipment typically found in a kit (which also often includes an instruction manual):
- Two six-gallon glass carboys or two six-gallon plastic buckets (one with a lid that has a hole for an airlock [fermenting bucket]; another with a stopcock and valve [bottling bucket])
- Airlock and stopper
- Bottle filler (or hose clamp)
- 4 – 5 feet of polyethylene hose
- Bottle capper
- One gross (144) bottle caps
- Hydrometer (used by purists to measure alcohol content)
- Thermometer (another purist's tool used to duplicate uniform production temperatures from batch to batch)
Additional equipment:
- 3 – 5 gallon stock pot or kettle
- Long-handled spoon (wooden or steel)
- 50 – 55 12-ounce pry-off bottles (not screw-top)
- Large funnel
- Long bristle brush (for cleaning carboys)
Cranberry Bog Homemade Beer Recipe
Ingredients (makes 5 gallons):
- 5 lbs barley malt extract*
- 2 lbs clover honey
- 2 lbs whole cranberries
- 2 medium navel oranges (seedless)
- 2 medium apples (Fuji, Granny Smith, or Braeburn)
- 2 packages brewer’s yeast (Munton’s, Safale, etc.)*
- ¼ tsp yeast nutrient*
- ½ tsp pectic enzyme*
- 1 ounce pelleted or 23 grams whole Willamette hops (5% alpha acids)*
- 1 ¼ cups corn sugar (for priming)*
*Available at homebrewing outlets
Method:
- Sanitize fermenter (glass carboy or plastic bucket with lid) with warm water and 1 – 2 tablespoons bleach. Rinse repeatedly until the smell of bleach has been removed from the container. Place 3 ½ gallons of cold water in fermenter and set aside.
- Over low heat, warm one gallon of fresh water in a kettle. Add malt extract to kettle (slightly warming the malt container makes it easier to pour). Bring malt-water mixture to a gentle boil, stirring frequently.
- Add hops
- Continue boiling gently for 40 minutes, stirring frequently.
- Add honey.
- Boil an additional 20 minutes (1 hour total boiling time).
- Remove from heat and add yeast nutrient.
- Add wort (water-malt-honey-hops mixture) to water in fermenter. If using a glass carboy, a funnel will be necessary; elevate funnel slightly from neck of carboy to avoid dangerous venting and back-splashing of hot wort.
- Prepare yeast by adding it to ½ cup of boiled, then cooled, water; allow to settle for 10 -15 minutes, then pour into fermenter.
- Place airlock in neck of carboy or in hole in lid of plastic fermenter.
- Place fermenter on an old towel in a room-temperature location where it can be observed. Fermentation – evidenced by bubbling in airlock – should start within 24 – 36 hours.
- Highly active yeast cultures may cause airlock to bubble over; lightly placing a grocery bag over the top of the fermenter will prevent any messes caused by “burping.”
- Ferment for 7 days.
- Chop apples, oranges, and cranberries (seeds and all) in food processor.
- While stirring continuously, heat fruit mix to steaming, but do not boil.
- Place fruit in sanitized secondary carboy or plastic bucket; allow to cool.
- Using siphon hose, transfer wort from fermenter onto fruit mixture in secondary, leaving yeast sediment in fermenter. (If using a plastic bottling bucket with a stopcock at the bottom, it's better to siphon wort into bottling bucket, rinse fermenter, place fruit in fermenter, and return wort to fermenter. Otherwise, fruit at bottom of bottling bucket may clog stopcock).
- When siphoning, keep aside one or two cups of wort. Stir in pectic enzyme until it dissolves, then pour into secondary.
- Place airlock on secondary, and allow wort to ferment an additional 7 days.
- Just prior to bottling, add corn sugar to wort (necessary for production of CO2 that produces beer’s “head”).
- Siphon or drain beer into 12-ounce bottles and cap. Compost or discard fruit mix remaining at bottom of secondary.
- Allow bottled beer to age at room temperature 7 – 10 days; chill before drinking.
Enjoy!
Stephen Allen Christensen - Dr. Steve Christensen's writing has appeared in magazines, professional journals, poetry anthologies, and children's books since 1976.
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