salli4102
Active Member
Looking for a cranberry wine recipe suitable for a beginner. (Me.) Thanks!
Cranberry Wine
- Thread starter salli4102
- Start date
Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:
- Joined
- Sep 16, 2013
- Messages
- 443
- Reaction score
- 104
I just started a highbush cranberry wine a few days ago from Jack Keller's site, it's pretty simple. Can't imagine regular cranberries would make much difference. Smells really good so far.
salli4102
Active Member
Thank you. I'll check it out.
Rambunctious
Well-Known Member
Hi I just started a batch of cranberry wine. Only my fourth ever wine making.
Used 3 3/4 lbs frozen cranberrys 4 lbs table sugar I let the berries thaw mixed with the sugar and crushed them with a potato smasher the next day added 1gal. Of filtered water. Let sit over night smashed again added 1/2 gal cranberry juice and 2lbs confectioners sugar I had just to use up then added lalvin EC-1118. I will let you know how it is looking in a few weeks. I plan to rack it off the fruit at that time.
Note:O.G. 1.120 not sure of accuracy due to fruit bits floating around in sample but, I am guessing pretty close due to amount of sugar added and little actual water or fluids period volume with fruit shows just over 2.5 gal in fermenting bucket.
Used 3 3/4 lbs frozen cranberrys 4 lbs table sugar I let the berries thaw mixed with the sugar and crushed them with a potato smasher the next day added 1gal. Of filtered water. Let sit over night smashed again added 1/2 gal cranberry juice and 2lbs confectioners sugar I had just to use up then added lalvin EC-1118. I will let you know how it is looking in a few weeks. I plan to rack it off the fruit at that time.
Note:O.G. 1.120 not sure of accuracy due to fruit bits floating around in sample but, I am guessing pretty close due to amount of sugar added and little actual water or fluids period volume with fruit shows just over 2.5 gal in fermenting bucket.
- Joined
- Sep 16, 2013
- Messages
- 443
- Reaction score
- 104
I started Jack Keller's highbush cranberry about a month ago and had SG 1.122. Tried 71b on it, 4 days later it still couldn't get started with that much sugar. Added EC-1118 and it was going within hours. It's already clearing and smells great. I'd be interested in knowing how real cranberries work... Highbush cranberries taste horrible by themselves!
Rambunctious
Well-Known Member
I will let you know in a few weeks. Had some cranberry wine at Coopers Hawk resturant/winery and had to try to make it.
Don't use confectioners sugar. It typically has something like corn starch listed as the second ingredient. If you need to boost the gravity and don't have the particular sugar a recipe calls for, granulated table sugar is a better option.
Rambunctious
Well-Known Member
Well something went wrong and the batch never got started. Pitched the whole thing, starting over. No frozen berries this time just frozen juice concintrate. I made sure and read the label to make sure no preservatives. Using 8 11.5 oz frozen juice concentrate ~2gal filtered water. 1 apple sanitized and pealed cored and chopped.
Yeast lavlin EC-1118. I added the apple pieces as yeast nutrient. Most of my beers and wines are all natural ie I usually do not even use store bought yeasts, nutrients ect. but because I am kind of impatient to taste this stuff I cheated. Full volume ~3gal O.G. 1.125.
Yeast lavlin EC-1118. I added the apple pieces as yeast nutrient. Most of my beers and wines are all natural ie I usually do not even use store bought yeasts, nutrients ect. but because I am kind of impatient to taste this stuff I cheated. Full volume ~3gal O.G. 1.125.
Rambunctious
Well-Known Member
Silly app still learning how to use.
Don't use the apple. You don't need it, and it may ruin the wine. Raw fruit is tricky to use unless you are using sulfites and/or have experience with it.
Rambunctious
Well-Known Member
Yooper said:
I have had good success using raw fruits. Most wines and beers I make use only wild natural yeasts from the fruits.
Rambunctious
Well-Known Member
Well this batch is going but fermentation is really slow. This is going to take a while.
Rambunctious
Well-Known Member
Really slow hydro reads 1.105 from 1.125 going to need some real patients on this one.
Wheatmeister
Well-Known Member
Rambunctious - Funny to hear you say you are going for Coopers Hawk Cranberry wine......thats why i loggedo n today. Ive been brewing for 10 years abut havent made a wine.
My wife loves the Coopers Hawk cranberry wine, and i must admit, i think its pretty damn good myself. We're goingto give it a go...I'll research some recipes, but please keep the updates coming I want to know how it turned out.
My wife loves the Coopers Hawk cranberry wine, and i must admit, i think its pretty damn good myself. We're goingto give it a go...I'll research some recipes, but please keep the updates coming I want to know how it turned out.
Rambunctious
Well-Known Member
Still just letting it do its thing. No slower, no faster just a burp every 60-70 seconds. And a small layer of foamy bubbles on top.
Rambunctious
Well-Known Member
I have made meads and cysers before. So I do understand the befits of patients. I will keep you all posted but this may take a while.
Rambunctious
Well-Known Member
HELP!!! Ferment stuck? Checked and sampled today S.G. 1.070 it has cleared and yeast cake on the bottom is quite thick. Air lock activity 1 bubble every 2-3 min started this batch 11/24/13
Note: ferment temp only 68deg f days, 64deg f nights . It is kind of cold here in Wisconsin.
Sent from my iPad using Home Brew
Temp is fine. Sg was quite high to start with. 1118 should be able to handle it however. How does it taste? Did you end up adding any nutriants or enegizer? (The apple does not count.).
If you do not want to use nutriants, grape juice is a better option. Yeast love grapes. Its not a nutriant, more like candy. But sometimes we need that suger high!!
At this point I would rack it off the yeast cake. Let a little yeast slip threw. Just not all. Let it splash just a tiny bit. Add either nutriants, energizer or a can of thawed grape juice concentate. Airlock it. If it does not pick back up in a few weeks repitch a nice active yeast starter.
I find that the simple act of racking can wake up the yeast. Its like they ran out of air and needed one last gasp of it befor they could finnish. Or have been sitting at a desk for so long they needed the exersise of racking to wake them back up.
I've had cranberry sit for months with no fermentaion, just to have it start up again after a racking.
Sent from my iPod touch using Home Brew
Rambunctious
Well-Known Member
It tastes good just like slightly alcoholic cranberry juice. Just a thought would a fist full of raisins torn in half suffice as energizer/nutrient? Do not really want to change the flavor by using grape juice and trip to the home brew store would be out a couple of weeks.
Sent from my iPad using Home Brew
Sent from my iPad using Home Brew
One can of Grape juice will not change the flavor. Less mess then the raisons. Less perservatives then raisons, which are often sulfited. You can add the raisons if you prefure. A lot of people like to add them. I have always used the juice so thats what I recamend.
Your taste test sounds right on. No off flavors so you are good to hurry up and wait some more.
If you do not want to add anything I would at least rack it. You can save the sludge on bottom as a back up yeast cake. Put it under airlock.
A passing thought that I have not tried. Stir it up good, mixing the yeast sludge back into the wine. The air from stiring may reactiate the yeast. If not it should settle back down and clear up again.
Sent from my iPod touch using Home Brew
Your taste test sounds right on. No off flavors so you are good to hurry up and wait some more.
If you do not want to add anything I would at least rack it. You can save the sludge on bottom as a back up yeast cake. Put it under airlock.
A passing thought that I have not tried. Stir it up good, mixing the yeast sludge back into the wine. The air from stiring may reactiate the yeast. If not it should settle back down and clear up again.
Sent from my iPod touch using Home Brew
Rambunctious
Well-Known Member
Well I added a fist full of torn squished raisins and racked into another fermenter allowing some yeast to pass through and also some aireation hope this works. I also washed the yeast and will see if I can build a starter with it.
Now brewing up some ginger beer.
Sent from my iPad using Home Brew
Now brewing up some ginger beer.
Sent from my iPad using Home Brew
Rambunctious
Well-Known Member
Well apparently my batch is still stalled. I sampled and tested today S.G. STILL AT 1.070. I made a starter with EC-1118 and white grape juice will let that get going and slowly add cranberry wine i have going until I get a full gallon going then I will add that to the rest.
Sent from my iPad using Home Brew
Sent from my iPad using Home Brew
Texconsinite
Well-Known Member
I do agree cran wine is delicious, but It seems like alot if people have trouble with stalled or slow ferments with their cranberry wine. This was not my experience AT ALL with mine.
This was my first wine besides joes meads and skeeter pee, so I'd call it suitable for beginner. Here's recipe
All juices are 100% juice, bought at Walmart
6 cups of sugar dissolved in 1/3 gallon of hot water
4 x 101 oz Ocean Spray Cranberry juice
3 x half gallon Ocean Spray Cranberry Pomegranate Juice
3 lbs frozen Cranberries
1.5 lbs frozen mixed berries
3 tsp Yeast Nutrient
1 packet Lalvin EC1118 dry yeast
Backsweetening
1 can cran-apple juice concentrate
1 can cranberry juice concentrate
Thaw frozen cranberries and mixed berries, dump into clean 6.5 gallon fermenter.
Dissolve sugar in water to make invert sugar, dump over berries.
Dump in cranberry and cran-Pom juices into fermenter.
Add yeast nutrient And stir it up good.
When it gets under 80, take a hydrometer reading and stir in yeast.
Securely attach fermenter lid, and affix a blowoff tube in gromit (a length of tubing and one of the empty cranpom containers half-full of sani-water works). You will need it!!!
Periodically check gravity.
When SG reaches 1.020, skim the floating layer of fruit off the top and discard, then siphon into a clean fermenter.
Let the wine ferment dry (below 1.000) and rack into a clean fermenter. Add 1tsp kmeta and 3 tsp Sorbate to stabilize.
Let the wine clear, then transfer to a clean fermenter and backsweeten with the cranberry and cranapple concentrate to taste. Depending on how sweet you want it, you may want a second can of cranapple in there.
At this point you can let the wine sit an age as long as you can stand. I bottled mine after a week to free up space for next batch and it was fine
SWMBO and I both liked this wine right away, I'm sure it will improve with age.
My SG was 1.066 and I ended up w an 8.9% ABV, but I'd add more sugar if I was making this recipe again. I will also use a bag for the fruit next time, but you'll need a big one. With all the loose fruits, I was worried about haze and cloudiness, but this wine was crystal clear but the time it fermented dry, somehow.
It fermented explosively and fast. 11 days from pitching to dry, so it was a very quick batch.
Taste reminds me of a semi-dry red wine, but with that cran bite. The strange part is that tasting this and the cran juice side by side, the bite is smoothed out a bit in the wine. Very tasty on bottling day, will def make again with minor modifications
Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew
This was my first wine besides joes meads and skeeter pee, so I'd call it suitable for beginner. Here's recipe
All juices are 100% juice, bought at Walmart
6 cups of sugar dissolved in 1/3 gallon of hot water
4 x 101 oz Ocean Spray Cranberry juice
3 x half gallon Ocean Spray Cranberry Pomegranate Juice
3 lbs frozen Cranberries
1.5 lbs frozen mixed berries
3 tsp Yeast Nutrient
1 packet Lalvin EC1118 dry yeast
Backsweetening
1 can cran-apple juice concentrate
1 can cranberry juice concentrate
Thaw frozen cranberries and mixed berries, dump into clean 6.5 gallon fermenter.
Dissolve sugar in water to make invert sugar, dump over berries.
Dump in cranberry and cran-Pom juices into fermenter.
Add yeast nutrient And stir it up good.
When it gets under 80, take a hydrometer reading and stir in yeast.
Securely attach fermenter lid, and affix a blowoff tube in gromit (a length of tubing and one of the empty cranpom containers half-full of sani-water works). You will need it!!!
Periodically check gravity.
When SG reaches 1.020, skim the floating layer of fruit off the top and discard, then siphon into a clean fermenter.
Let the wine ferment dry (below 1.000) and rack into a clean fermenter. Add 1tsp kmeta and 3 tsp Sorbate to stabilize.
Let the wine clear, then transfer to a clean fermenter and backsweeten with the cranberry and cranapple concentrate to taste. Depending on how sweet you want it, you may want a second can of cranapple in there.
At this point you can let the wine sit an age as long as you can stand. I bottled mine after a week to free up space for next batch and it was fine
SWMBO and I both liked this wine right away, I'm sure it will improve with age.
My SG was 1.066 and I ended up w an 8.9% ABV, but I'd add more sugar if I was making this recipe again. I will also use a bag for the fruit next time, but you'll need a big one. With all the loose fruits, I was worried about haze and cloudiness, but this wine was crystal clear but the time it fermented dry, somehow.
It fermented explosively and fast. 11 days from pitching to dry, so it was a very quick batch.
Taste reminds me of a semi-dry red wine, but with that cran bite. The strange part is that tasting this and the cran juice side by side, the bite is smoothed out a bit in the wine. Very tasty on bottling day, will def make again with minor modifications
Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew
Totally not trying to be a party pooper here, but I don't know that I'd call that a cranberry wine. It's more like a cran-apple-pom-berry mash up wine. Tasty, no doubt. I'd gladly have a glass right now if you were serving it. But not cranberry wine.
My thought is that cranberry wine should be predominantly, if not all, cranberries. The only purely cranberry ingredient I see listed is the cranberries themselves. Everything else is a mixture of cranberry juice and other juices to make the cranberry juice sweet enough to drink. Most likely grape juice is the supplemental sweetener.
salli4102
Active Member
Thanks for the recipie. I suspect the extra berries are yeast nutrient? What modifications do you plan to make with this recipie next time? I think I will try this one, with a modification of my own. I'd like to do this with white cranberry and white grape, with maybe a bit more sugar. What do you think? Wanted to make a frozen juice concentrate wine but the selection at my local grocery store is sparse.
Texconsinite
Well-Known Member
Yeah, the selection if frozen juices is sparse at my local grocery stores too.
Next time, I would add more sugar. I realized after it started going that 1.066 is low. I did it at SWMBOs request to have something less that 10%abv. So I left it weak.
Also, I realized after I started dumping the fruit into my mesh bag that...I don't have a mesh bag that fits that much fruit :-(. Thats why the fruit went in loose. i have since bought a larger mesh bag, so next time the fruit will be bagged and easier to dispose of.
Other that that I would do it the same , because of how well it turned out.
As for the white cran-white grape recipe, it sounds interesting. Should be much milder than mine. And u could easily control the size of the cran bite by back sweetening w a can or two if cran concentrate,
Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew
Next time, I would add more sugar. I realized after it started going that 1.066 is low. I did it at SWMBOs request to have something less that 10%abv. So I left it weak.
Also, I realized after I started dumping the fruit into my mesh bag that...I don't have a mesh bag that fits that much fruit :-(. Thats why the fruit went in loose. i have since bought a larger mesh bag, so next time the fruit will be bagged and easier to dispose of.
Other that that I would do it the same , because of how well it turned out.
As for the white cran-white grape recipe, it sounds interesting. Should be much milder than mine. And u could easily control the size of the cran bite by back sweetening w a can or two if cran concentrate,
Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew
Texconsinite
Well-Known Member
How did the white cran grape turn out?
Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew
Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew
salli4102
Active Member
Ended up doing just regular cranberry juice cocktail (about 12 liters) and a can of white grape concentrate and 10# sugar. Topped off to 5 gallons with spring water. Racked into secondary today. I had too much in the primary fermenter to fit into the demi-jon I used for the secondary, so we drank it. It was interesting. It was sweet, kinda gassy, so we drank it over ice with a jigger of burbon. It was good. I am going to call it a BBC. That is, a Brandenburg Burbon Cranberry. This would make a good punch for a party. The hydrometer read at 1.060. I would actually like it to ferment to about 1.010. So now, I wait. P.S. No trouble with stalled ferment.
salli4102
Active Member
I couldn't find any white cranberry juice anywhere out here in central kentucky, by the way. So I gave up on that idea. If I ever find any though, I will make some white cran wine, I went to a wine tasting festival a while back and one of the local wineries was selling white cranberry wine and I bought some. It was delicious. Wine festivals are great. I love to taste all the locals, and chat with the makers and such. Free samples are a plus.
Texconsinite
Well-Known Member
Can you find regular cran juice or cran-pomegranate in your area?
I prefer to use 100% juice, cocktails r mainly sugar and most have preservatives
Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew
I prefer to use 100% juice, cocktails r mainly sugar and most have preservatives
Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew
White cranberry juice is from unrippened cranberries. At harvest time there is always a few that are not red. When you pick them by the ton you end up with a lot of white berries. The flavore is still good. Just no pretty red color. Just in case you were wondering...
Sent from my iPod touch using Home Brew
Sent from my iPod touch using Home Brew
salli4102
Active Member
I was, actually.
Rambunctious
Well-Known Member
Still going but really slow o.g. Was 1.125 today after racking into gal jugs for secondary at 1.048 will just have to give them more time. Starting to warm up around here so maybe will help to get going better. Wold like to get down to at least 1.020 lower if it will go there. Tastes great just a little sweet yet.
Sent from my iPad using Home Brew
Sent from my iPad using Home Brew
