Wine Cooler , bringing back the 80’s

[Drunken Monkey]

So, I decided to experiment a little for fun and a surprise for my wife. She, brought up one day how she missed the wine coolers that were all the rage in the 80’s and can not be found today.

I decided to do 2 small batch low ABV fruit wines. Wanted to make it a simple and fairly quick process. So, I choose to use Ocean Spray Cran-Raspberry, and Cran-Pineapple 100% juice (2 x 64oz for 1 gal ea batch). I warmed up about 1cup of juice to melt my sugar in. About 3/4 cup got me a target 1.050 sg. Finished @ 1.000 for an estimated 6.5.% ABV.

Then I racked into a secondary and cold crashed for a week. I then primed ea with 1oz sugar and racked directly into mini keg/growler.

After about 3 weeks I attached the Co2 canister and brought up to serve pressure. And, the end result was as close as I can remember to a carbonated wine cooler that I remember. The cran-pineapple was both our favorite. And, the cran-raspberry was a close 2nd.
We tend to prefer a little on the dryer side. And, for us it came out nice. But, it could be back sweetened a little for those who want more sweetness.

 

[fluketamer]

juice wines are rediculously easy and surprisingly good. just because yours are only 5 percent doesnt mean they wont benefit form a few things that makes all juice wines better.

1) tannins - supermarket juice lacks tannins. a strong cup of black tea per gallon of juice wine adds a good amount of tannin without tasting the tea.
2) citric acid ( juice of half o a lemon or lately i have used limes and find it adds a little something the lemon lack) or acid blend
3 ) yeast nutrient. - your yeast will be happier with nutrients a lot of juice especially supermarket juice lacks needed nutrients
4) pectinase makes a clearer wine if using pulpy juices which i dont reccomend as they take longer to settle out. likewise bentonite makes beautiful wines when your are ready to go to the next level.
5) start with the best juice. and make sure its 100 percent . the ones with less than 100 percent often have hfcs.
6 ) tart fruits are hard to make really good quafable wines with,. some fruit juice taste tart and the must starts out tart regardless of the staring gravity. black currant, sour cherry (duh) , and cranberry are very tart juices the pineapple one prolly tasted better casue its sweeter than rasberry. which can be a llittle tart. btw cranberrys are one of the most sour fruit on the planet. it takes the most sugar to make cranberry juice tolerable. more than almost all other fruit juices. ocean spray dont want you to know that,
7) try to keep at least 1 liter of white grape juice (for light colored or light fruit wines - like mango pineapple pear peach - damn that sounds good.) or red grape juice ( for dark colored wines or fruit like plum, blueberry, mulberry etc) in you juice wines.
i like to think of it this way. most people have only really had wine made from grapes. they will recognise a bit of that in your juice wines. and so will you. some fruit fermented wihtout that grape base can have an odd flavor that no one is used to or may take time to get use to more so than grape based wines. or wines with a little grape in them . just my two cents

lots of different yeasts are good but i like kv116 and montrachet for juice wines.

good luck

 

[bernardsmith]

I have decided to make 2024 the year I focus on making fruit "ciders" (your coolers) at around 5-7% ABV. Certainly, you can find bottled juices at your local supermarket, but frozen fruit is also a way to go. And then there are Winexpert Island Mist wine kits that are labelled as "coolers". Never tried these and have no idea of the ingredients but some appear to include Zinfandel juice.

 

[fluketamer]

https://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/threads/supermarket-juice-wine-how-to-guide-and-recipes.49462/
i reccomend the above thread a lot.
its the basic instructions on how to make delicious juice wines from sueprmarket juice.
i did this for prolly 2 years when the price of hops skyrocketed.
its too easy to go to almost any store that sells supermarket goods and get a variety of juices. i never used bread yeast but some have i wouldnt reccomend it. all the recipes above have added 500gm to 1 kilo of sugar making about a 12 percent wine. my math might be off. if you leave out the sugar you should be around 6 percent or so maybe a little more . again math.

that thread has hundreds of proven recipes. try one you will be amazed.

.

some of my juice wines. oak chips do a lot for juice wines btw.

 

[Drunken Monkey]

juice wines are rediculously easy and surprisingly good. just because yours are only 5 percent doesnt mean they wont benefit form a few things that makes all juice wines better.

1) tannins - supermarket juice lacks tannins. a strong cup of black tea per gallon of juice wine adds a good amount of tannin without tasting the tea.
2) citric acid ( juice of half o a lemon or lately i have used limes and find it adds a little something the lemon lack) or acid blend
3 ) yeast nutrient. - your yeast will be happier with nutrients a lot of juice especially supermarket juice lacks needed nutrients
4) pectinase makes a clearer wine if using pulpy juices which i dont reccomend as they take longer to settle out. likewise bentonite makes beautiful wines when your are ready to go to the next level.
5) start with the best juice. and make sure its 100 percent . the ones with less than 100 percent often have hfcs.
6 ) tart fruits are hard to make really good quafable wines with,. some fruit juice taste tart and the must starts out tart regardless of the staring gravity. black currant, sour cherry (duh) , and cranberry are very tart juices the pineapple one prolly tasted better casue its sweeter than rasberry. which can be a llittle tart. btw cranberrys are one of the most sour fruit on the planet. it takes the most sugar to make cranberry juice tolerable. more than almost all other fruit juices. ocean spray dont want you to know that,
7) try to keep at least 1 liter of white grape juice (for light colored or light fruit wines - like mango pineapple pear peach - damn that sounds good.) or red grape juice ( for dark colored wines or fruit like plum, blueberry, mulberry etc) in you juice wines.
i like to think of it this way. most people have only really had wine made from grapes. they will recognise a bit of that in your juice wines. and so will you. some fruit fermented wihtout that grape base can have an odd flavor that no one is used to or may take time to get use to more so than grape based wines. or wines with a little grape in them . just my two cents

lots of different yeasts are good but i like kv116 and montrachet for juice wines.

good luck

Great feedback Gluke !

Yes, I have used and have black tea on hand. Also, French and American oak strips when possibly needed. I am also lucky to have 9 different fruit trees on my property. I have used my lemons to add a bit of acid. And, mango juice for a little smooth sweetness.

Sometimes I back sweeten with lactose before priming these simple “fruit coolers”. Seems to work well for a simple store bought juice.

I like to mix up my brewing/batches. Some to age out fast, some to wait on. Keeps me busy

 

[Drunken Monkey]

I have decided to make 2024 the year I focus on making fruit "ciders" (your coolers) at around 5-7% ABV. Certainly, you can find bottled juices at your local supermarket, but frozen fruit is also a way to go. And then there are Winexpert Island Mist wine kits that are labelled as "coolers". Never tried these and have no idea of the ingredients but some appear to include Zinfandel juice.

Yes, frozen fruit works too. But, I found it takes longer because of the lees and racking. When already processed juice has little to no lees and is clear with just one rack.

 

[Drunken Monkey]

https://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/threads/supermarket-juice-wine-how-to-guide-and-recipes.49462/
i reccomend the above thread a lot.
its the basic instructions on how to make delicious juice wines from sueprmarket juice.
i did this for prolly 2 years when the price of hops skyrocketed.
its too easy to go to almost any store that sells supermarket goods and get a variety of juices. i never used bread yeast but some have i wouldnt reccomend it. all the recipes above have added 500gm to 1 kilo of sugar making about a 12 percent wine. my math might be off. if you leave out the sugar you should be around 6 percent or so maybe a little more . again math.

that thread has hundreds of proven recipes. try one you will be amazed.

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some of my juice wines. oak chips do a lot for juice wines btw.

Thanks for the input. And, yes you need to look at the sugar content label. If making a simple “wine cooler” you want to be inline beer abv. So, sometimes no sugar needs to be added. If 28gm sugar per 64oz bottle. You should land around 6% with no added sugars.