Gmta
Well its that time of year. Since cranberries are in season I am starting to stock up. I made a one gal batch years ago and got great reviews on it. Any body have a good / favorite recipe they have used? I think I used jack kellers last time. But as I don't have any of those. Logs or recipes any more I'm open to suggestions our ideas.
Funny thing, I have been researching that very same thing the last few days.
From most of the stuff I have read the last few days I would recommend making a yeast starter because of the acid in the must.
Here are 3 recipes I came across. Hope it helps.
Ingredients: for each gallon to be made
3 1/2 lbs. fresh cranberries - chopped
1 lb. raisins - chopped
2 lbs. sugar (Specific Gravity - 1.090)
5 drops liquid Pectic Enzyme (or 1/2 tsp powder)
1 tsp. Super Ferment or 2 tsp. "regular" yeast nutrient
1 Campden Tablet (or 1/8 tsp. Sodium Metabisulfite)
1 Gallon Warm Water
All Purpose Wine Yeast
Procedure:
1. Wash the cranberries in lukewarm water and place in the primary fermenter. Add the remainder of the ingredients EXCEPT the wine yeast to the primary fermenter. Stir well to dissolve.
2. Allow to cool to 70 - 75° F. Add the wine yeast. Cover with lid or plastic sheet and tie down.
3. Allow to ferment 5 - 7 days. Stir daily to break up the pulp cap. Strain out the pulp and squeeze to extract all the juice. Discard pulp. Syphon into sterilized secondary fermenter and attach fermentation lock.
4. After 3 weeks, syphon into another sterilized jug and attach fermentation lock. Always fill the jug as full as possible (within an inch or so from the rubber stopper). Syphon again in about 1 month.
5. When wine is clear and stable, it may be bottled. The addition of 1/2 tsp. potassium sorbate stabilizer is recommended. If a sweeter wine is desired, add simple syrup to taste (2 parts fructose or sugar to 1 part boiling water).
6. Bottle and cork and lay on its side to age at least 4-6 months.
Ingredients
• 2 pounds cranberries, fresh or frozen
• 1 pound raisins
• 3 pounds granulated sugar (about 6 3/4 cups)
• 1 campden tablet
• 1 teaspoon nutrients
• 1/4 teaspoon pectic enzyme
• 1 1/4 teaspoon acid blend
• 1 package wine yeast
• 1 gallon water
Chop cranberries coarsely. The goal here is the break the skin on every berry to help the juice leach into the water. Place them in the primary fermentor. Add raisins, water, sugar, yeast nutrient, pectic enzyme, acid blend and crushed campden tablet. Stir well to dissolve sugar. Let sit over night.
The next day, check the specific gravity. It should be between 1.110 and 1.115. Add yeast and mix in well. Cover primary fermentor. Stir daily for five days.
Strain fruit, squeezing out as much juice as possible. Put into secondary fermentor and place airlock on the bottle.
For a dry wine, Rack in three weeks and return to secondary fermentor. Rack again in three months, and every three months until 1 year old. Bottle.
For a sweet wine, rack at three weeks. Add 1/2 cup sugar dissolved in 1 cup wine. Stir gently, and place back into secondary fermentor. Repeat process every six weeks until fermentation does not restart with the addition of sugar. Rack every three months until one year old. Bottle.
Ths wine is best if you can refrain from drinking it for a year and a half from the date it was started.
NOTE:
If you like a medium sweet wine, taste it at each racking to decide if it is sweet enough yet. Each addition of sugar starts the yeast working again. The result is that sweet wines have a higher alcohol content than a dry wine -- by up to 4 or 5 percent.
I haven't had a bottle of this any older than three years -- even a five gallon batch is too good to last this long. It has continued to improve over the course of three years. August 1999 I will be drinking a four year old bottle -- the last of the 1995 batch. I'll update my notes then.
-- Rox
How To Make Cranberry Wine
(Cranberry Wine Recipe)
Winemaking Ingredients: Cranberry Wine - Wine Making Guides
2 lbs / 900 grams cranberries (fresh or frozen)
1 lb / 450 grams raisins
3 lbs / 1,350 grams granulated sugar (about 6 3/4 cups)
1/4 teaspoon pectic enzyme
1 1/4 teaspoon acid blend
Wine yeast
1 teaspoon yeast nutrient / energiser
1 campden tablet
8 pints / 1 gallon cooled, boiled water
Winemaking Method: Cranberry Wine - Wine Making Guides
Wash and roughly chop cranberries to allow the juice to leave the fruit. Transfer crushed / chopped cranberries to clean winemaking fermentation container and add all of the other ingredients, except for the wine yeast. After allowing the cranberry wine mixture to stand for around 12 hours, add the activated wine yeast. Stir each morning and evening for five days. Stain and squeeze the solids, transferring the cranberry wine mixture into a demijohn, complete with winemaking airlock.
Rack after around one month, when the fermentation process will have slowed dramatically. Rack once more after three months, and then two more times until the cranberry wine is clear and approximately 12 months old. Bottle the cranberry wine and if possible, leave to stand for over 12 months.
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