Ocean Spray 100% Cranberry, Need Recipe Sugg.

[bover907]

I was wondering if someone could help me out. I couldn't find exactly what I was looking for via search.

For my second wine batch, I wanted to make a 3Gal batch of Cranberry wine from store bought juice. I got 5 1Gallon jugs of Ocean Spray 100% Cranberry (which is actually Cranberry, Grape, Apple and Pear juices with the only other ingredient being Vitamin-C)

I've read that with other bottled juices (not frozen concentrate), the result can be a 'thin' wine. Does thin mean light bodied? That wouldn't be too much of a problem as my wife likes sweet light bodied wines, while I'm a fan of bolder dry reds.

Even though I'm making 3 gallons, I did buy 5 gallons of juice. Should I reduce some of it, to get the concentration higher? If I do end up with extra juice, I know the kids will drink it, so wasting it isn't a problem.

I did think of just winging it as there are a lot of juice recipes floating around, but not sure if I should use some acid blend or not. I'm just getting started and I don't have any acid testing equipment yet. Also, I have a box of white raisins. Would those help?

Any help with a recipe or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Dokki]

5 gallons is probably a little too much if you are targeting a 3 gallon batch. I would maybe use 3.5 - 4 and anything that doesn't fit into your carboy is a bonus and can be racked into a half gallon. I've made Cran-Apple wine before using said 100% Cranberry Juice and similar 100% Apple Juice, turned out pretty good. I did have to back-sweeten and we added some Apple and Cranberry "Brewer's Best" flavorings to up the flavor profile as it is fairly light in body. One thing that I've had pretty good results with to up the flavor and body, is to add some cans of frozen concentrate juice mix. Could maybe pick up some cranberry frozen concentrate to get more flavor without the hassle of trying to reduce 2 gallons of juice.

 

[AKsarben]

Don't make wine from cranberries. Believe me, there are way better ways. Make yourself a nice white wine, very clean and unobtrusive, and after it is nice and clear, add Cranberry juice or concentrate to it along with sugar and K-Sorbate. Settle and filter if you have one.

When I started at Fenn Valley Vineyards, they were making Cranberry wine from stripped white wine, (3lb/thousand gal carbon) and then adding Cranberry concentrate (65deg brix) of about 2.5% and too much sugar. Tasted a lot like kool-aid. So I tweaked the formula just a bit, upped the cranberry concnetrate to 3.75% lowered the sugar to about 14% and now it is the most bottled wine we make at the winery. We sell it to outside wineries and associates, and label just a small amount for us under "Orchard Valley" label. From 1 drum of 55 gal concentrate every 1.5 years to 14 drums per year as of this year. Has become a popular wine, it, and the Red Currant wine, made a similar way.

Believe me, it will be a much better finished product. We made real cranberry wine one year and that was the first and last time we'll do that.

 

[roadwarriorsvt]

Make yourself a nice white wine, very clean and unobtrusive, and after it is nice and clear, add Cranberry juice or concentrate

Now that seems to be a good idea! A little bit outside the box, at least for me!

 

[bover907]

Thanks Very much for the replies. I guess what I should do is taste the juice itself, and see If I need to use any other juices or just use it the way it is. I've never tasted the 100% juice, just the cocktails. When I think up the concoction I want to go with, I'll post it up and see what people think.

 

[bover907]

Wondering if I could solicit opinions on this, This is what I came up with. Could anyone suggest the amount (if any) for acid blend and Tannin? I have Lav EC1118 here, so that's what I'm going to use. Think a starter is necessary, or just activate and pour over must?

3½ gallon recipe:

2 Gallons Ocean Spray 100% Juice Cranberry
5 Cans Welch's white grape concentrate
Water to make 3.5 gallons
Sugar to SG 1.090
3½ tsp Yeast Nutrient
10 drops liquid Pectic Enzyme
Acid Blend?
1½ tsp Tannin?
15oz. box of golden raisins

 

[saramc]

Wondering if I could solicit opinions on this, This is what I came up with. Could anyone suggest the amount (if any) for acid blend and Tannin? I have Lav EC1118 here, so that's what I'm going to use. Think a starter is necessary, or just activate and pour over must?

3½ gallon recipe:

2 Gallons Ocean Spray 100% Juice Cranberry
5 Cans Welch's white grape concentrate
Water to make 3.5 gallons
Sugar to SG 1.090
3½ tsp Yeast Nutrient
10 drops liquid Pectic Enzyme
Acid Blend?
1½ tsp Tannin?
15oz. box of golden raisins

Plan on heating some of water and soaking the raisins and then chopping them? For the tannin I used 1/8 tsp per gallon and personally would recommend holding any acid addition until after the ferment is done and you prepare for bottling. I made a recipe very close to yours, same O.G., same yeast-- though it used 4 cans 100% white grape juice/gallon. A friend made the same recipe but purposely deviated and added acid blend at 1 1/4 tsp per gallon and used 2 cans of concentrate/gallon---everyone liked my version, said it was better balanced and the body was so much more pronounced. We purposely wanted to compare on these two points (acid and concentrate). Oh, and we used one pound of golden raisins, but one ounce difference--no biggie!

Remember you are going to lose some volume due to racking, so while you add water "to 3.5 gallons" this may end up at 3 gallons when all is said and done--or a little over.

With cranberry, I would recommend making a nice starter...and actually think about step-feeding your first gallon (1 cup every 15 minutes) of must into your starter and then the larger volume "starter" into the remaining must. Cranberry can be persnickety, but EC-1118 is a workhorse (and K1-V1116 does well with cranberry)

Sara

 

[bover907]

Thanks, Sara!

That's why I'm making somewhere between 3.5 to 4 gallons. This is going to be in a 3gal better bottle after the primary, so, I want a top-off bottle going side by side with it for racking loss (something I didn't do on my first batch of Red).

That's kind of what I did with the raisins for my welch's batch. I simmered them in a saucepan with some water, and took a potato masher to them. I was actually going to chop on, then simmer them this time.

Thanks so much for the advice!

 

[bover907]

I have to tell you, the yeast starter has got to be the neatest thing I've ever seen, lol! As I kept adding the must a couple, then a few tablespoons at a time, The way yeast kept swirling around, and rising and sinking throughout the cup was fascinating to me. I think I really need to get a life!

Anyway, I brought the starter from the initial 3/4 cup of water and yeast up to a quart over the course of about 3½ hours, then added it to the must. Hopefully all goes well.