Cranberry and orange?

[Wannabe]

Still a newbie without a successful batch but I think the one I have set up now is going to be good and I'm already planning my next batch. I absolutely love the atmosphere and information on this forum. It's wonderful

I am hoping to start a batch of cranberry wine since I have a lot of frozen berries on hand. Cranberry and orange is one of my favorite food combinations and I've searched many websites looking for a for a cranberry orange wine recipe without success. Another thread mentioned adding orange zest to the secondary fermation and I wondered if that might work for me. Does anyone know if there is a particular reason that cranberries and orange can't be combined in wine? And, do you think adding the zest would work? I intend using the cranberry wine recipe in the recipe section of this website but cut it in half. Thoughts anyone? Thanks

 

[Dirtydog420]

I would make equal batches of both cranberry and orange wine, let age in carboys for at least 6 months, then experiment blending the two before bottling.. That way if it sucks, nothing lost.. Try small amounts til the blend is right.. bottle the extra of whatever is left as is.. I hear orange wine is good and ill soon find out about cranberry..

 

[djrockinsteve]

D.D. my thoughts exactly. Another option would be blend the two and drink them. Experiment with 1-5, 1-4, 1-3 etc. until you find a taste you like. Then mix up a batch and ferment it.

Start off with a gallon if you like then after it has cleared you should be able to tell if this is one worthy of a larger batch even though it hadn't aged fully. You should get an idea.

Always keep good records so we can help you if need be and to help you with future batches. Watch your acid range and try your best to use fully ripe fruit.

 

[Wannabe]

Excellent suggestions. Great idea actually because I had my eye on orange wine recipes too and was considering a batch of that. That's why I had the zest on my mind in the first place. So many suggestions on here that I would never even have dreamed of!

 

[Wiz]

Going without a successful batch to date could be discouraging. Why don't you bring the group up to date what didn't work. Perhaps some imput could have turned those unsuccessful batches around.

 

[Wannabe]

You're very kind to suggest it but I suspect some of it is beyond help. I did a typical me and jumped in with both feet before knowing what I was doing. I've learned a tremendous amount just by reading on here. For the 3 batches that I have already bottled, I suspect decanting and sweetening before serving is the only option. I did that with a bottle yesterday and it made a huge difference. But I may post a question on the current batch that I have going. There may be things I could do to improve it's chances. It's a little embarrassing to admit how nievely I went about it all!