I was at the store earlier this week and noticed fresh cranberries so I picked up enough to experiment with a gallon or so of cranberry wine. I used the following recipe:
3 pounds cranberries (4 12 oz packages)
4 pounds of sugar
1 pound golden raisins
3 3/4 quarts water
1/4 teaspoon tanin
1/2 teaspoon acid blend
1 teaspoon yeast nutrient
1/2 teaspoon pectic enzyme
1 packet red wine yeast
I sanitized all my equipment, picked through the berries and cooked them just before boiling (they popped in the water). Put them in my straining bag and crushed them. Boiled 2 quarts water, sugar and chopped raisins (recipe suggested soaking raisins over night but I figured boiling them would do the same). Dumped water and raisins into straining bag and mashed the bag again for good measure. Added the rest of the water, tanin, acid blend and yeast nutrient. Let it cool over night and added the pectic enzyme. Waited 24 hours and added the yeast, however, I forgot to get my PA/SG reading prior to adding the yeast.
The PA/SG reading I did take after adding the yeast was extremely high! It was about 20%/1.150. A few notes to keep in mind...1) the original recipe called for 3 1/2 pounds of sugar but since it comes in a 4 pound bag I was thinking convenience and that it wouldn't knock it up that high anyways! 2) Do cranberries potentially have that much extra sugar in them? I tasted them and they didn't seem particularly sweet, somewhat tart in my opinion. and 3) Could the yeast have affected the reading that drastically?
I'm going to push on with the expirement and see what happens. I expect I may add some water after I remove the straining bag and fruit to adjust the PA/SG but would appreciate any guidance from those of you in the know! Thanks in advance!
3 pounds cranberries (4 12 oz packages)
4 pounds of sugar
1 pound golden raisins
3 3/4 quarts water
1/4 teaspoon tanin
1/2 teaspoon acid blend
1 teaspoon yeast nutrient
1/2 teaspoon pectic enzyme
1 packet red wine yeast
I sanitized all my equipment, picked through the berries and cooked them just before boiling (they popped in the water). Put them in my straining bag and crushed them. Boiled 2 quarts water, sugar and chopped raisins (recipe suggested soaking raisins over night but I figured boiling them would do the same). Dumped water and raisins into straining bag and mashed the bag again for good measure. Added the rest of the water, tanin, acid blend and yeast nutrient. Let it cool over night and added the pectic enzyme. Waited 24 hours and added the yeast, however, I forgot to get my PA/SG reading prior to adding the yeast.
The PA/SG reading I did take after adding the yeast was extremely high! It was about 20%/1.150. A few notes to keep in mind...1) the original recipe called for 3 1/2 pounds of sugar but since it comes in a 4 pound bag I was thinking convenience and that it wouldn't knock it up that high anyways! 2) Do cranberries potentially have that much extra sugar in them? I tasted them and they didn't seem particularly sweet, somewhat tart in my opinion. and 3) Could the yeast have affected the reading that drastically?
I'm going to push on with the expirement and see what happens. I expect I may add some water after I remove the straining bag and fruit to adjust the PA/SG but would appreciate any guidance from those of you in the know! Thanks in advance!