# Cranberry Wine recipe



## PCharles

With Christmas not too far off, I'm getting the urge to make a cranberry wine. There is a family recipe for a killer cranberry sauce that includes lemon zest, orange juice, and triplesec. I've spent a few minutes searching the net for cranberry wine recipies. Here is what I've found.

http://scorpius.spaceports.com/~goodwine/cranberrywine.htm

http://makinghomemadewineandbeer.blogspot.com/2007/01/cranberry-wine-recipe.html

http://www.defalcos.com/tutorials/102-cranberry-wine-recipe.html

http://www.wine-making-guides.com/cranberry_wine.html

All these appear to be a variation of the same recipe. I hope to come up with a new one. 

Any cranberry wine suggestions are appreciated. 

Cheers, 
Paul


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## FTC Wines

Thanks Paul, I too have been wanting to make a Cranberry Wine for next year, so your post & links were greatly appreciated. looks like I'll try 2 lbs. cranberries, 1+ lb. golden raisins, & F-Pac it with some kind of Cranberry juice. May even blend it with my Apple Or Spiced Apple wine, Roy


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## PCharles

*Thanks Roy*

Roy, I'm going to try something different. The cranberry sauce recipe that we've used for years is out of this world (if you like cranberries). I need to work out a few details such as getting the actual recipe for the cranberry sauce from my wife. The just of it is this.

Add cranberries and OJ to pot simmer until the berries break open. That can take several hours of cooking. Once the berries open up (sort of like melting), they release the most wonderful flavors. I need to check to see if the lemon zest is heated with the berries. I may substitute concentrated lemon juice for the zest. Then I plan to add sugar to raise the SG to 1.095. I'll add acid blend as needed to adjust the pH to 3.5-3.6 (caution, pH will be low on its own... acid blend should not be needed). Also I'll add pectin and k-meta.

On day two I'll add yeast (likely 1118) and ferment until SG is 1.000 at which point I'd rack to a carboy under air lock. I expect to rack gross lees of fairly quickly, perhaps in 2-5 days followed by a second racking at 1 month. 

Add sulfite and store for another 3-4 months. Perhaps at this point I'd look at back sweetening with additional cranberry syrup (heat sugar with cranberries for several hours, stain, and add). Rack and Clear for several months. 

Finally I'd look at adding about 5% by volume of triplesec. After clearing, bottle and keep tight until the following Thanksgiving/Christmas/Holidays. 

I need to work out the volumes of each component. I figure I'll make about 4 gallons up front expecting to finish with 3 gallons of wine. 

I usually like dry wines. I can see how someone might add a good bit of back sweetening. I figure I'll add triplesec instead of sugar. 

Cheers, 

Paul


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## greyday

I've got one going from concentrate that fermented a lot faster than I thought it would. It's in secondary currently and I'm about to rack it; tastes pretty nice fermented to dry...

I haven't tried fresh yet as my cranberry plant is too young, it'll probably be a year or two.


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## PCharles

Here is the recipe I've put together. I expect to start this in another week or two. 

Cranberry Wine Recipe
Developed by Paul Braynard
November 17, 2011
I’ll expect to make a 3 gallon batch, but the volumes are for 1 gallon.

Ingredients

Cranberries – 64 oz fresh berries
Sugar – Add to bring SG to 1.100 (about 2 lbs) *Edit reduce SG to 1.090*
Orange Juice – 2 cups
Grated Orange Peel – 3 Tsp
Chopped seeded peeled orange – 1 Cup
orange liqueur – Used to Top Off Edit-*Use EverClear also to avoid dilution*
Water – Spring Water (Chlorine Free) QS to 1 gallon of liquid with other ingredients
Yeast – Lalvin EC-1118 1 pack for 1-6 US Gallon
Pectin – 0.5 tsp
Acid Blend – Used to adjust pH to 3.5 (about 0.5 tsp) *Edit- No acid blend should be required with the natural low pH of cranberries*
Yeast Nutrient – 1 tsp
Yeast Energizer – 0.25 tsp
K-Meta (1/4 tsp per 6 gallons of must)

*Make sure to see my edits at the bottom of this post dated Dec 18* 
Directions
Add coarsely chop fresh cranberries , grated orange peel, and chopped seeded peeled orange to a pot. Add about ¾ gallon of water. Simmer at a medium heat until the berries become soft and mushy. This will take about 60-90 minutes. Place straining bag over fermenter. Add cooked berry liquid to fermenter. Add orange juice. Add acid blend and adjust pH. Add K-meta. Add sugar and water bringing SG to 1.100 with a final volume of 1 gallon. Stir and let must sit for 24 hrs. Add hydrated yeast (suggest using yeast starter). Put rag over fermenter and let mix ferment until SG is 1.000. Remove strainer bag gently squeezing juice into fermenter. Rack fermenter liquid into primary carboy and cover with air lock. After 2 days, rack again to remove wine off coarse lees. Rack again in two weeks. Top off wine with Triplesec or other orange liquor. Continue to rack and top off with Triplesec. After 4 months, stabilize with sulfite. Using clearing agent if necessary. If necessary, continue to rack until wine is clear. Bottle and age to 1 year before tasting if you can wait.

(Edit) Dec 18, 2001 - After trying this recipe, I most certainly would make some changes. Starting fermentation was a real problem due to the really low pH. I found the natural acid level was real high without adding any acid blend. In fact I had to add carbonate to raise the pH. Perhaps adding some apple cider at the start. This would help to raise the pH. I'd also make sure to have a real yeast starter going. I'd also consider starting with a lower SG reading, perhaps 1.085-1.090. I'd also add some Ever Clear along with the TripleSec. This will avoid excessive dilution. (End of Edit)


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## janzz

What is the reason for cooking the cranberries? I like your recipe, but I've been making cranberry wine for many years now and never thought of cooking them.
janzz


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## PCharles

*Cooking Cranberries*

Hi, when we make the cranberry relish, we've always cooked it. It takes quite a long time to simmer the berries to get them break down and open up. Knowing how long it takes for them to brea down under heat, I figured not heating them would loose lots of flavor. After cooking the berries, the color of the berries is nice and dark. I thought I'd give this a try. I figure you might call this an extended heat extraction. To assist the process, I figured I would partially cut the berries up before heating. I've been gone for the weekend and postponed getting started as I didn't want to leave the ferment unattended. 

I hope to get started soon now that we are back.

Cheers, 
Paul


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## janzz

Let us know how it turns out. I freeze the cranberries, then use a food processor to break them down. I also add some pectic enzyme to help extract the juice. I ferment the pulp for at least a week, after that there is not much left, mostly skins and seeds. I was always afraid that cooking will remove a lot of nutrients from the fruit.
I just rack the 5 gallon batch of cranapple to the secondary, I still have another 15 lbs of cranberries in the freezer. I might try cranberry orange recipe.
All the best,
janzz


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## docanddeb

I started cranberry last night. Free frozen berries from a local marsh. Used the blender for small amounts to chop. Bagged. Added some frozen apple juice and sugar to SG 1.090. I used 17.5# for a 3 gal batch.
I make homemade cranberries all the time and I've never had them take more than 30-40 min to cook... why would it take hours?? Remember, cranberries have a LOT of natural pectin, it's why they gel so easily. You'll be "setting" that gel if you cook it. You could have a great deal of trouble clearing this. With wine, it's always best to avoid heating the fruits.
By the way... homemade cranberry sauce with raspberries is fantastic too!!

Debbie

PS why would anyone ADD acid blend to a cranberry wine? Baffles me!!!


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## PCharles

Debbie, 

You are right about the pH. I've edited my recipe to caution about the natural low pH of cranberries. 

In regards to the cook time, I made the cranberry sauce about 5 years ago and was going by memory. I was using whole berries and it seemed to take a long time for them to break up. Putting them through the food processer did speed up the process of cooking. 

I had the hardest time getting my cranberry wine to start fermenting. The low pH was likely the biggest problem. I've made some suggestions/edits to my recipe. 

I so glad that my bach finally took off and is now sitting happily in the secondary. 

Best of luck with your cranberry wine and Merry Christmas.

Paul


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