Cranberry - How to prepare berries

[tgoose55]

Hello Everyone,

Last year I made a 6 gallon batch of cranberry wine. I bought 18 lbs of frozen cranberries for this wine and chopped them up using my wife's pampered chef chopper. It took a long time to chop-up all of the cranberries. I don't want to do want to chop these again.

This year I bought another 18 lbs of fresh cranberries. How should I go about preparing my must?

1. I have a steam juicer, how well would this work on the cranberries?
2. Should I freeze the cranberries and run them through a blender?
3. Any other recommended methods for extracting juice?

Thanks,
Rob

 

[PCharles]

Hello Everyone,

Last year I made a 6 gallon batch of cranberry wine. I bought 18 lbs of frozen cranberries for this wine and chopped them up using my wife's pampered chef chopper. It took a long time to chop-up all of the cranberries. I don't want to do want to chop these again.

This year I bought another 18 lbs of fresh cranberries. How should I go about preparing my must?

1. I have a steam juicer, how well would this work on the cranberries?
2. Should I freeze the cranberries and run them through a blender?
3. Any other recommended methods for extracting juice?

Thanks,
Rob

Hi Rob,

I started my cranberry about three weeks ago. It is now in a carboy under an airlock. Here is a link to my thread here. It discusses problems I had with stuck fermentation. You know the natural pH of cranberries is rather low.
I thought you might find this helpful.
http://www.winemakingtalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=16637

Freezing will not hurt them and may help. I used a food processor to chop up the berries. I followed this with some slow cooking. Your steamer might do a good job... not sure as I don't have one.

What do you think about adding several gallons of apple cider to your must. This would help bring up the low pH of the cranberries. Also, make sure you have a real stong yeast starter. Gradually add some must to the yeast starter so it can adjust to the low pH environment.

Good luck,
Paul

 

[arcticsid]

It is recommended to freeze all fruits and berries first. It will help break down the cell structure ensuring a better ferment.

Be careful with cranberries. They have a natural benzoate that can make or produce a stuck ferment.

 

[tgoose55]

Hi Rob,

What do you think about adding several gallons of apple cider to your must. This would help bring up the low pH of the cranberries. Also, make sure you have a real stong yeast starter. Gradually add some must to the yeast starter so it can adjust to the low pH environment.

Good luck,
Paul

Paul,

My batch of cranberry wine turned out great last year. I was thinking about an apple/cranberry blend. However, I think I will use concentrate for this mixture. I am not concerned about the pH as I am concerned about flavor.

Rob

 

[arcticsid]

I would definitely use a concentrate as a base for this wine and absolutely make a starter, a large batch of starter!

There are those who find apple juice or white grape juice are excellent "bases" for wine. They are neutral in the sense they wont impart an extremely strong flavor to anything.

Wine takes a while anyway, so why not spend the extra day or so to make an agressive starter? Sure beats fighting with it when it gets stuck or doesn't want to start to begin with.


As I said, I would freeze them first for sure. Nothing wrong with a blender or food proceeser to "smash" them up. A good old potato masher works fine!

I would also use a ferment bag!

Anyone?