Cranberry Christmas Ale

On the heels of my root beer adventure, there was a jar of ginger bug on my hands awaiting a purpose. It just so happened, about that time, my mom dropped off some cranberries. Straight-up cranberry pop did not seem at all appealing, so I started experimenting with ways to take things up a notch.

I got lucky, and the very first batch turned out great! The only problem was, I had just winged it and didn’t remember enough of the specifics to share. This second batch, I paid closer attention to what I was doing, and here you have the recipe for what Darren has dubbed, Christmas Ale.

4 cups cranberries, fresh or frozen

1 orange, zest and squeeze

1 vanilla bean, halved lengthwise

2 quarts water

1 ½ cups raw cane sugar

1 cup ginger bug

Learn how to make a ginger bug here.

In a large pan add cranberries, orange zest, orange juice, and vanilla bean. Boil gently until the cranberries are exploded and mushy.

Strain the liquid into a large bowl. I use my Pampered Chef batter bowl. Do not throw away the strained fruit. Put it in a sealable jar, mix in 1 Tbsp of sugar, and you have a pint of refrigerator jam. Just make sure to remove the vanilla bean!

While the cranberry liquid, wort, is still warm, stir in the sugar. It will dissolve more easily. Now, let the wort sit until it is room temperature. Too hot, and it will kill the ginger bug. I test it with my wrist. Once cool, add the ginger bug and stir. Using a fine mesh strainer and a funnel, bottle your pop. I have tried using coffee filters in the funnel, and they are just too fine and plug up before the first bottle is filled. Using the mesh strainer is nice, because it can be rinsed out if it gets too full.

From this recipe, I get five, 16 oz. bottles filled to the base of the neck, but, like I mentioned before, these EZ Cap bottles are not generally recommended. A safer alternative I have seen mentioned is reusing apple cider vinegar bottles. Having a screw top also makes it easier to check how the carbonation is coming.

Let the cranberry ale sit for 1-2 days at room temperature, so the ginger bug can do it’s job of carbonating the pop. There should be little bubbles rising to the top. Then, move the ale to the refrigerator. The flavor will improve with time, but it should be consumed within five weeks. Don’t worry, it won’t last that long! Enjoy over ice.

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