Cranberry Apple Something

[K&GB]

The kids are coming for Christmas, and I thought we might start some wine together. Sooooo- while shopping today I picked up some cranberries (6 lbs), a couple bags of gala apples (7 lbs), and two gallons of apple juice. Wasn't sure which kind of apples made the best wine, and I sure don't know what a good ratio of cranberries to apples might be. But this is what I've got to work with. I would appreciate any recommendations.


Also, for those of you familiar with apples and cranberries (not me), should I throw them in the blender? Chop 'em up? Freeze 'em, thaw 'em,and smash 'em? What? I'm off to look up recipes now.

Hmmmmmm what should I do with these ???

 

[Wade E]

Definitely freeze the cranberries! Do you have ascorbic acid or fruit fresh, might want to use that on the apples.

 

[vcasey]

Freeze and then thaw and crush the cranberries, unless you have a steam juicer then freeze and steam them. I would make an apple cider or cyser and just add in the cranberries. Juice the apples or get more juice to make however much you are planning (3 or 5 gallons?), and add the crushed cranberries to the must, they'll add a beautiful color. Bottle it next year for everyone to enjoy.
To give you an idea about how many cranberries to use; I just made a cranberry cyser and used 2 12 oz. bags of cranberries per gallon (should have added another bag), but in my cranberry wine I used 3 lbs. per gallon and the mead I used 5 12 oz. bags per gallon. The mead and wine are fantastic, the cyser is still slowly fermenting away and I've just left it alone.
VPC

 

[K&GB]

Well thanks for the quick replies. The cranberries are in the freezer. As for the apples, according to Jack Keller, gala apples aren't the best for wine. He says I need sour apples like granny smith. Ooops.

Maybe I'll make another trip to the store in the next day or so. I don't have ascorbic acid, just acid blend, which I understand has some of that in it. I don't have a steamer either. I'm certainly open to any recommendations, especially with the apples. There were several varieties of both red and green apples available.Edited by: K&GB

 

[vcasey]

Honestly I'd just get more apple juice then you don't have to worry about browning. If you really want to add more fruit to the mix look into some blueberries. They'll help add a little deeper red (almost a Santa Claus red) to the wine.
VPC

 

[JWMINNESOTA]

I think most bottles apple juice is done with blends of different varieties, should have you covered. Appleman would probably know more than us on that, although Ive never really been disappointed in using bottlesofapple juice, and would probably throw the gala's in there too, just because. Ive never done cranberries,keep telling myself I should try one. If you look up some of Waldos old post on Muscadine, he had a good method of freezing and crushing the fruit in a freezer bag before use.

 

[Waldo]

Blends of apples definately make a etter wine than a single variety K&GB and for that blend I would definately add a few Granny smith. Her is a link that shows the freezing/processing JW was talking about


[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jFjgvRa1SmQ"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jFjgvRa1SmQ[/ame]

 

[Wade E]

I dont believe that acid blend has ascorbic in there, Im pretty sure its only Malic, Citric, and tartaric.

 

[grapeman]

I am always reluctant to give any advice on which varieties of apples to use for cider/wine/juice, etc because a good share of it is personnal preferences. It's like telling someone Merlot isn't good, you want to use nothing but Zinfandel. It is true Gala doesn't have as much acid to contribute as Cortland or MacIntosh, but then again it has more sugars in it and a wonderful flavor. That's the main reason why blends are best. Each has it's own contribiution to make. Use what you have on hand. You could get a second variety if you like.


As far as juicing, I'm not a good one here for this either- I just run mine through the press, but I'm sure you don't have one of those. Just look for a juice without a lot of preservatives and you will be good.

 

[K&GB]

Thanks to all of you for the great info. Waldo, that was some video. I'm certainly learning a lot about apples and all the things you can do with them. Apple wine, hard cider, cyser, etc. This is clearly a versatile fruit that I've completely ignored in my winemaking. For this batch, I plan to make a still cranapple wine and see how it turns out.


I think I'll head back to the store today and get a couple bags of another type apple and maybe some more juice. Oh btw, I made sureI got juice with no preservatives. I wanted to get some gallon jugs of apple cider, but it was preserved with sorbate.


The cranberries are frozen, and I plan to smash them in freezer bags when they thaw. I don't have ascorbic acid (you're right Wade- no ascorbic in acid blend) so I'm sure the apples willbrown a bit during processing. I don't have a press or a steamer, so I may just slice them and toss them into the blender for a couple of seconds. If that doesn't work out on the first few, I'll try smashing them with a rolling pin inside freezer bags like the cranberries.


My kids will only be here for a few days, probably just enough time to pitch the yeast. Oh btw, any recommendations there? I have Montrachet, Cotes Des Blancs, 71B-112, and EC-1118.

 

[NorthernWinos]

I saw a fellow called Luc Voder did a test on juicing apples...with out a press. He got the most juice by coring the apples then freezing them. The Pectic Enzyme will help you get the juice out when they thaw.

http://wijnmaker.blogspot.com/search?q=freezing+apples

http://wijnmaker.blogspot.com/search?q=apple+juice
[Scroll down for English version]

Once frozen I would just put them in a straining bag and add to the must]

*Be sure to have Pectic Enzyme to put in this wine.

I often add some frozen concentrate to boost the apple flavor from store bought juices. Many times bottles of juices are reconstituted concentrate.

Just my 2¢



Edited by: Northern Winos

 

[K&GB]

Thanks NW. With all your experience, I was definitely looking for your input. Unfortunately, my freezer is too full to hold the apples. But I do have pectic enzyme and will definitely include that. I'll also look for some concentrate at the store today. The juice I got says it's reconstituted from concentrate,and I see from your posts that you've used concentrate to boost the sugar level of your hard apple cider. What's a good target SG or ABV in an apple wine? Also, do you use bentonite during fermentation? What about oak? I know, I'm full of questions today.

 

[vcasey]

I love adding oak to my apple cysers and I saw that GrantLee adds it to his cider. As for how much well your taste may very, but I shoot for a medium oak addition. I added oak to my cranberry mead and that has turned out nice. Your target ABV for an apple wine should be about 11-12%. I can't answer about bentonite, but I would pick up some fruit fresh or something to help prevent browning.
VPC

 

[NorthernWinos]

I also would go for 11-12%....S.G. of about 1.085 is good....then it won't be too hot.

Oak sounds good....just racked our apple cider today....

Many add Bentonite to the primary and are well pleased doing that. I have only done that once and it cleared nicely....Whirl it up in the blender.

When you are at the store go to the section that might have canning/jelly making supplies...they should have Fruit Fresh around there...Maybe even in the produce area.

 

[K&GB]

Went back to the store and got a couple bags of granny smith apples and another gallon of juice. Also picked up 4 cans of concentrate. Looking to make a 5-gal batch.


Note- there were 7 different types of apples in the produce section. No macintosh though. Wow! I never even thought about the different types before. I just always bought red delicious to eat. Guess I need to do some apple tasting to figure out what all these different kinds taste like.


NW, I really enjoyed reading the wine blogs. Thanks. Thought about looking for fruit fresh, but what about k-meta? Can't I just spray the apple slices with k-meta? I use a spray bottle for my 20%sanitizing solution, and I thought, based on the results posted on that blog, that I might just mist a bit of K-meta onto the apple slices before they go into the blender.


Vcasey, thanks for all the input. I've decided to throw in some American oak in the primary with this batch and see how it turns out. I'm actually afraid of American oak since my experiance with a black currant wine.

I used two different spirals of American, light and medium plus, one week each, on that 3-gal batch, and I don't like the result. Gave it a coconut-butterscotch flavor that doesn't go well with the fruit. But I have 4 light toast American oak spirals left, and I think using oneduring primary fermentation only will minimize the effect.


Spoke to my son and daughter-in-law this afternoon about my idea for making wine together, and they sound as excited as me.

 

[vcasey]

I have been making wine & mead with my youngest for a while. He used all the leftover fruit from his HS graduation party and made a mead that he plans on enjoying for his 21st birthday. I tried to convince him to use a light oak because it will give the mead a coconut flavor and I thought with all the tropical fruits in the mead it would be nice. Don't know how that flavor would work with the apple and cranberry. I would add a medium oak with the apple. Here is a guide for the taste that each toast level will impart:




Heavy Toast
brings pronounced caramelized, carbonized and toast flavors very
quickly - it doesn't need much contact time. It is most often used in
big, bold red wines


Medium Plus Toast
is between Medium and Heavy Toast. It has aromas of honey, roasted nuts
and a hint of coffee and spices. It seems to be the ideal toast level
for red wines


Medium Toast has less
tannins but more bouquet, so will impart more aroma than flavor. It has
a warm, sweet character with strong vanilla overtones


Light Toast fresh oak, coconut and fruit flavors


French oak tends to be mellower than American which is more pronounced.I hope that helps.
VPC

 

[K&GB]

So we started the wine today, and I'm really happy with how this is turning out so far. We thawed the frozen cranberries and smashed them up in plastic bags using cans from the pantry as hammers.

We cored the apples and cut them up, smashing them in plastic bags also. I gave each bag a spray of sulphite solution before sealing, which prevented any of the fruit from browning. After adding the fruit, 3-gal of apple juice, and 4 cans of apple concentrate, I took initial SG readings and came up with 1.060. The must was light tan, but after six hours of soaking, it had turned a bright red from the cranberries.

The must smells and tastes great at this point. Tomorrow morning I'll check SG again and do an acid check as well. Based on the results, I'll adjust for 1.085 SG and .65g/L acid. Then we'll pitch the yeast.

 

[vcasey]

Looks like the whole family had fun. And I hope the wine is fantastic next year. Did you all start planning next years wine? We started our tradition kit wine yesterday, my hubby's 2009 Christmas wine for his office a White Grenache Blush. I'm bottling one of my cranberry meads today. It's a cranberry/blueberry mix with Christmas spices. The mead is a year old now and will need at least a couple of more before it starts to show well.
VPC

 

[grapeman]

It is looking good Ken. I thinkw it will have plenty of flavor, but I can see this oneswwetened later. A bit of sugar to bring those flavors back out and counter the semi-tartness of the apples and cranberries. Lots of color from the cranberries should give it a nice blush finished color.


I think someone was being threatened there with a carving knife............... any blind mice lurking around there with no tails?

 

[NorthernWinos]

The color will be beautiful.....

Pectic Enzyme should help break down the fruit and bring out even more color.

What else have you added???