# Cranberry



## K&GB (Apr 5, 2008)

I have several quart jars of fresh cranberry juice and a few bags of sweetened dried cranberries, no preservatives in either. I plan to make a 1-gal batch. Can anyone suggest a recipe? Not sure if I should even use the dried cranberries.


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## Wade E (Apr 5, 2008)

This is Jack Kellars' recipe for dried Cranberry wine which you will have to modify to use the juice. I would add everything but the sugar, yeast, and acid and wait till the next day and adjust sugar then. Then I check acid and if in range I would pitch yeast and adjust acid better later.

<center>*DRIED CRANBERRY WINE</font>*</center>

<ul>[*]*1 lb dried, unsulfited cranberries
*[*]*2-1/2 lbs granulated sugar
*[*]*1 tsp pectic enzyme
*[*]*1 tsp yeast nutrient
*[*]*1/8 tsp tannin
*[*]*1 crushed Campden tablet
*[*]*water to one gallon
*[*]*1 pkt Lalvin RC212 (Bourgovin) wine yeast
*[/list]



*Chop the cranberries or run them through a mincer. Place in
primary and add one quart warm water. Stir in crushed Campden tablet.
Cover and set aside 12 hours. Add pectic enzyme, recover primary and
set aside another 12 hours. Meanwhile, bring remainder of water to boil
and stir in sugar until completely dissolved. Cover sugar and allow to
cool to room temperature. When 12-hour pectic enzyme treatment is
complete, combine remaining ingredients in primary and add sugar water.
Stir well and cover primary. Stir twice daily for 7 days. Strain out
cranberries, rack liquid into secondary and fit airlock. Rack every 60
days for 6 months, topping up and refitting airlock each time.
Stabilize, sweeten to taste, wait 10-14 days, and rack into bottles.
Store in cool, dark place for additional 6 months.
[Author's own recipe]*

*Edited by: wade *


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## K&GB (Apr 5, 2008)

Thanks Wade! I don't have Lalvin RC212, but here's what I do have: Lalvin EC-118, Lalvin 71B-112, Red Star Montrachet, and Red Star Cote des Blancs. Does anyone have a recommendation?


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## Wade E (Apr 5, 2008)

I would go with the Montrachet or 71B-1122. Cotes Des Blanc is fine too but might hide the Plum flavor a little more. My plum will get back sweetened tomorrow and 5 g's will get force carbed and the other 3g's will be still wine.
*Edited by: wade *


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## K&GB (Apr 6, 2008)

After a little yeast research, I've decided to go with the old standby, EC-1118. Jack Keller's site specifically mentions this strain for Cranberry. He says that 71B-1122 is good for fruits with high malic acid content, but I don't think cranberry is one of those. Finally, considering all the posts on this site about slow-to-start cranberry fermentations, I feel more comfortable with the 1118's reliability. 
So on to my next concern- Acid. I haven't diluted the juice yet, and boy is it tart! I checked it out, and the PH read 2.74. I couldn't even do a good acid test on it because after adding 10cc of sodium hydroxide to my 15cc sample, the PH only rose to 4.80. Looks like I really need to dilute this or consider adding calcium carbonate. Recommendations anyone?


The dried cranberries are in a strainer bag soaking in the juice along with the campden tablet and pectic enzyme. I'm in no hurry to pitch the yeast and am considering making a starter solution instead of sprinkling it on top as I normally do.


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## Wade E (Apr 6, 2008)

Thats funny then since that recipe I copied for you was 1 of Jack Kellers' own! Either way I dont think it really makes a big difference with wine as yeast does for beer.


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## K&GB (Apr 6, 2008)

I wondered about that too, but I found the info on his page about yeast strains. 


This morning I dissolved 2 cups of sugar in 4 cups boiling water and added to the juice. Checked SG and continued adding sugar until it reached 1.086. Total of5-1/2 cups of sugar. I started with 4 quarts of unsweetened juice. With the additional water and volume from the sugar, I expect to have much more than a gallon, so I saved some of the sweetened juice for back-sweetening later. 


I tried the acid test again thinking the water might have diluted it enough, but it didn't. I even added another cup of water, total of 5, but the PH was stillbelow 3, and I used another 10cc of sodium hydroxide without getting close to a PH of 8.2 for the acid test. Finally I decided to try 1 tsp of calcium carbonate. I mixed it in, along with the tannin and yeast nutrient, and I'll test itagain this evening. 


For the yeast starter, I used 1 cup of the unsweetened juice and a cup of warm water. I'll see how that's coming along when I get home.


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## Wade E (Apr 6, 2008)

Good luck, I have never had a problem yet with Ph and acid being out of whack so I am not experienced in fixing that. I need the experience but dont want it if you know what I mean!


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## K&GB (Apr 7, 2008)

The calcium carbonate brought the PH up to 3.11. The yeast starter solution had foamed up well, so I poured it in yesterday, and it's fizzing noisily this morning. Go yeasties go!







So the final recipe turned out to be- 








12 oz dried sweetened cranberries
4 quarts unsweetened cranberry juice
5-1/2 cups sugar
1 tsp pectic enzyme
1 tsp yeast nutrient
1 tsp calcium carbonate
1/4 tsp tannin
1 crushed campden tablet
6cups water
Lalvin EC-1118 yeast


Hopefully this will turn into something enjoyable. I'll keep you posted.*Edited by: K&GB *


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## grapeman (Apr 7, 2008)

Sorry I wasn't around yesterday to help you with this Ken-busy with vineyard stuff all weekend. It sounds like you got it set now. Good going. The calcium carbonate was probably unnecessary after you got it diluted with the added water. Using both cranberries and juice, you could expect that low a a pH. Wade's recipe is for only cranberries- with water added to bring to a gallon. That would lower the TA and raise the pH to desireable levels. Using both made it very acid. The yeast will work a little below pH 3.0, but it was a good thing to get it higher anyways. You probably have enough cranberries and juice there that you could have gone to a 2 gallon batch and still have plenty of flavor.


Keep us posted on this one. It should be getting very good by Thanksgiving.


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## K&GB (Apr 7, 2008)

Here's afew more pics of the juice and my "fermenter"...


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## Joanie (Apr 7, 2008)

It looks so patriotic!!


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## K&GB (Apr 7, 2008)

I never thought about it, but you're right. I'll have to salute next time I pass by.... *Edited by: K&GB *


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## K&GB (Apr 7, 2008)

appleman said:


> Sorry I wasn't around yesterday to help you with this Ken-busy with vineyard stuff all weekend.




No worries Appleman. Vineyard stuffALWAYS takes priority.In fact, working in my own vineyardsounds like the perfect weekend to me.



Of course, I'm sure it's nothing like the romantic images I have in my mind, but someday I plan to find out.






Has spring finally sprung there? Best of luck!


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## K&GB (Nov 29, 2008)

Well, I can't seem to locate my cranberry thread, so I guess I'll start a new one.






Anyway, I started a 2 plus-gal batch of cranberry back on 4-5-08 using 4 qts of unsweetened cranberry juice,12 oz dried chopped cranberries, 8 cups water, and 5-1/2 cups of sugar. I racked this wine4 times over 6 months and had considerable sediment each time. I also had to use calcium carbonate prior to fermentation to bring down the high acid and dilute with water at each racking after fermentation. It was just way too tart.



Iracked a 5th time andused Super Kleer on 9-12-08 and then racked one final time on 10-3-08. I bottled it last month on 10-16-08. Today I looked at one of the clear 375 ml bottles and it was full of cloudy sediment that got stirred up when I picked up the bottle.



I guess this wine takes a long long time to clear. If I ever make it again, I'll wait a year before bottling.





*Edited by: K&GB *


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## grapeman (Nov 29, 2008)

Here is your cranberry post Ken. Do you want me to bring over the new thread into this one or keep that one going? 


***Edit- when you search, put your name in the name section (K&amp;GB) and make sure to select any date, then what you want to search for*Edited by: appleman *


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## K&GB (Nov 29, 2008)

Appleman, yes please if you can do that. Thanks!


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## grapeman (Nov 29, 2008)

Well it looks like somebody got it moved over here - wasn't me. Did you figure out how Ken?


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## Wade E (Nov 29, 2008)




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## grapeman (Nov 29, 2008)

wade said:


>




I had a feeling it might be you Wade. I had gone back out in the vineyard to get another 250 cuttings.


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## K&GB (Dec 13, 2008)

I chilled and decanted a small bottle of this today to have with lunch. Despite the disappointing cloudiness, it turned out very good. Excellent cranberry flavor and just enough sweetness to balance the tart.All the bottles have a fine sediment that sticks to the side and clouds up the wine when the bottle is disturbed. Too bad. I was going to send them to the family as Christmas gifts. But not with that gunk in there. Guess I'll have to drink all these myself...


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## vcasey (Dec 14, 2008)

Ken if you like the Cranberry Wine try a Cranberry Melomel. Follow the same recipe but use Orange Blossom Honey instead of sugar. I've been begging one of our local wineries to make this but finally decided to make my own and the honey and cranberries are a fantastic combination. I found another recipe I'm going to try this year from here: http://www.utahpagans.org/MeadLinks.html. This is the site that also has the Chocolate Cherry Melomel I'm sort of following. 
VPC


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## K&GB (Dec 14, 2008)

vcasey, I checked out that site. Wow, those recipes use a lot of honey for the size of the batch. I assume they finish sweet??? Anyway, they all sound great. Depending on how my cherry melomel eventually turns out, I may try some of these recipes.


Witch Creek Winery in Carlsbad, CA used to sell fruit-honey wines under the Honey Run label. These were low alcohol, super sweet wines that had a definite honey taste. I remember the cranberry was particularly good.


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## Wade E (Dec 14, 2008)

Bookmarked that and thanks fr the link, Black Currant melomel huh!


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## vcasey (Dec 14, 2008)

Happy to share the site and yes they all seem to finish sweet. I tend to adjust so mine are a little dryer. He has a lot of very good info on there as well so I tend to keep checking back. He has lead several group brews which are very interesting to follow. Wade I've got a can of Black Currant and its been a toss up between the mead and the wine. I am leaning towards the wine but until its been made ........ That caramel mead looks interesting as well but maybe only a gallon.
VPC


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## Wade E (Dec 14, 2008)

i dont think you could go wrong either way with the Black currant!


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