Cranberry Wine

[derunner]

I froze 6 1bs of cranberries in December when you could get them. I just picked up 6 gals of cranberry juice and thought I would make some wine. I'm interested in what you would think I should do with this. 6 lbs of cranberries would not make a lot of wine, so that is why I bought the juice and thought adding the fruit might just add some more flavor and richness to an all juice wine.

I know from working with cranberries before that if you grind them and then heat them on low heat with about 6 cups of sugar it pulls the juice out of the fruit. Would you do that for wine making with cranberries?

Add all this to a strainer bag and add to the juice.

Add sugar syrup to reach 1.075 SG (probably about 7-8 1bs total)

Add 1 tsp tannin
6 tps yeast nutrient
3 tsp yeast energizer
3 tsp pectine enzyme

Would or should I add anything else?

 

[salcoco]

if you crush the cranberries mix with sugar and add pectic enzyme it will pull out the juice without heating. do this for a day in primary. then add cranberry juice measure sg add other elements and yeast . cranberry will ferment very slowly, I had a batch that took a month to finish. be patient. I would add yeast nutrient after ferment starts about one day. split dose in half add remainder once 1/3 sugar is fermented.

 

[derunner]

if you crush the cranberries mix with sugar and add pectic enzyme it will pull out the juice without heating. do this for a day in primary. then add cranberry juice measure sg add other elements and yeast . cranberry will ferment very slowly, I had a batch that took a month to finish. be patient. I would add yeast nutrient after ferment starts about one day. split dose in half add remainder once 1/3 sugar is fermented.

Thank you.

 

[Winorick]

I think that one pound of fruit per gallon is too light even with the juice. I usually make cranberry with 4-5 pounds per gallon, so I might suggest another 2 lbs per gallon. If cranberries are too expensive at this time of year, you could try 2 or 3, 14 oz cans of whole cranberry sauce. Believe it! They do a great job. I, also, would get the initial SG up to 1.085 - 1.100; but, if you stick with a lighter wine with no added fruit, the 1.075 might be fine.

 

[FTC Wines]

I use 2 lbs of cranberries & ocean spray juice, no water to make a gallon. I wouldn't use less. Also top off with cranberry juice. We have tried more but it wasn't to our taste. We make it every Thanksgiving for the following year. It's a great present & drinker. Roy

 

[derunner]

I'm going to check tomorrow and see if they have anymore cranberries at the store to see if I can get 2lbs per gal of juice. If not are Craisins an option?

One thing I forgot to ask, would you use bentonite in the primary for this wine? And would you clear with sparkolloid or isinglass?

 

[FTC Wines]

I don't use bentonite, or clearing agents. It stays in the carboy 10 months & then the bottle 1-2 months before Thanksgiving. Never had a problem clearing, we have made it 4 yrs in a row. Also the lees from Cranberry wine make a great starter for skeeter pee! The girls love it, back sweeten it with frozen cranberry juice to give it more cranberry flavor. Roy