Cranberry Blonde Homebrew Recipe – All Grain

February 8, 2023February 6, 2023 Mike

I was watching Flora Brewing’s Youtube Channel when I ran across this video of her brewing a Cranberry Blonde. Well, as it so happened, it was just before Thanksgiving, and I figured I might as well give it a shot, it sounded like a unique beer to celebrate the holidays.

She has the recipe in her show notes, and talks about the recipe during the video, but there was a little bit of difference between the two. I consolidated them, and this is what I ended up going with. The final beer was very tasty, it had the cranberry tartness, but more flavor of lime and lemon than cranberry. In any case, it was light and refreshing, and went over quite well. The lime flavor is contributed by the Motueka hops, which I had never brewed with before. I think the next time I brew it, I may try to use more cranberry in secondary, or maybe even cranberry cocktail, and cut down on the final hop addition.

A couple of notes, when boiling the cranberries, use a brew bag or something, otherwise you’re going to have a lot of trub to deal with. Also, I may not have added quite enough pectin enzyme, as the first couple of pints were pretty thick, and tasted like they had picked up much of the remaining hop particulate and cranberry skins, but after 2 or 3 pints, the beer was clear and very tasty.

If you brew this, let me know what you think!

Cheers!

Recipe Details

Batch Size	Boil Time	IBU	SRM	Est. OG	Est. FG	ABV
7 gal	90 min	32.3 IBUs	4.3915877	1.059	1.014	5.9 %

Fermentables

Name	Amount	%
Pale Ale Malt 2-Row (Briess)	6.253 lbs	45.45
Pilsner (2 Row) Ger	6.253 lbs	45.45
White Wheat Malt	1.251 lbs	9.09

Hops

Name	Amount	Time	Use	Form	Alpha %
Motueka	1.49 oz	60 min	Boil	Pellet	4.3
Motueka	4.46 oz	10 min	Boil	Pellet	4.3

Miscs

Name	Amount	Time	Use	Type
Calcium Chloride	5.04 g	60 min	Mash	Water Agent
Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate)	3.22 g	60 min	Mash	Water Agent
Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate)	3.22 g	60 min	Mash	Water Agent
Epsom Salt (MgSO4)	3.08 g	60 min	Mash	Water Agent
Lactic Acid	2.00 ml	60 min	Mash	Water Agent
Whirlfloc Tablet	1.40 Items	15 min	Boil	Fining
Lemon Zest	0.70 oz	5 min	Boil	Spice
Cranberries (Fresh and pureed)	4.20 lb	0 min	Boil	Other
Liquid Pectic Enzyme	0.35 tsp	0 min	Primary	Other
Yeast Nutrient	1.40 tsp	3 days	Primary	Other

Yeast

Name	Lab	Attenuation	Temperature
Dusseldorf Alt Yeast (WLP036)	White Labs	69%	65°F - 69°F

Mash

Step	Temperature	Time
Mash In	148°F	75 min

Notes

Use a brew bag for the cranberries, or something else to minimize trub or you're going to have a hell of a time getting the beer out. Add them for the last 15 minutes of boil.