# What do you think of this cranberry wine recipe



## NSwiner (Feb 20, 2010)

Cranberry juice wine 
Here is what you will need:
1 one-gallon glass jug
2 - 12 ounce cans of frozen cranberry juice concentrate or 2 - 64 ounce bottles of cranberry juice
1½ cups of sugar – adjust to taste but bottled juice is usually sweetened
¼ teaspoon of wine yeast (you can use dry baker's yeast, but it is better to go to a wine making supply store and purchase regular wine yeast)
¾ cup of warm (not hot) water
A rubber stopper with a glass tube through it or a air lock device for the gallon jug (I prefer the rubber stopper with the tube as it seems to work better) both of which can be obtained from a wine supply shop
12 – 18 inches of plastic tubing that will fit snugly over the glass tube (only need this if you are using the rubbers stopper method)
Container of water
1 funnel
Clean and sterilize glass jug by washing with warm, soapy water and rinsing thoroughly. Then run it through the dishwasher where the heat will sterilize it.
It is very important to make sure that the jug and all utensils used in the making of the wine have been sterilized by running through the dishwasher. This will kill any bacteria which will spoil the wine if it comes in contact with the wine.
If using frozen cranberry juice concentrate, thaw and mix in clean container that has recently been washed in dishwasher. You can use either tap water to mix the juice or distilled water (if you use distilled water you will avoid picking up any taste that the tap water might contain). Add sugar and stir until thoroughly dissolved.
If you use regular, rather than concentrate, cranberry juice, pour juice into clean container and mix sugar until thoroughly dissolved.
Dissolve a tablespoon of sugar and the yeast in the ¾ cup of warm water, stir until thoroughly dissolved, cover and set aside for a couple of hours to get fermentation started.
Pour juice, with sugar dissolved in it, into jug using funnel to avoid spilling. Add warm water and yeast mixture. Insert rubber stopper into top of jug. Attach plastic tubing securely over end of glass tube. Place jug on a shelf in a warm (about 70 degrees F) shelf in basement. Place container of water next to jug and place end of plastic tube in water. Make sure water level remains sufficient to keep end of tube under water. The tube will allow carbon dioxide gas, a by product of the fermentation process, to escape while the water will prevent air contaminated with bacteria from entering the jug with the wine.
After about a month you will notice that air bubbles are no longer entering the container of water from the wine jug and the juice becoming clear. There will be sediment on the bottom of the jug. At this point, get a two or three foot length of ½ to ¾ inch clear plastic tubing, remove the stopper and siphon juice into a second sterilized jug. Be careful not to disturb or transfer the sediment. The sediment can be poured down the drain while the jug with the wine should be securely capped with a screw-on cap or cork stopper. Store in a cool place for 6 to 12 months while it ages and then serve. If necessary add additional sugar to sweeten the wine. Serve chilled.
This process usually results in a nice clear and somewhat tart wine with the taste of cranberry.


I came across this recipe seems easy enough but wondered if I could start in a plastic bucket like I always do then which to carboy after the month and stablize & clear as I normally would rack a couple of times before I bottle ? Of course instead of the tubing part I would just put an airlock on . Any suggestions would be great .


----------



## arcticsid (Feb 20, 2010)

Darlene I have made lots of wine from concentrate. Use 3 cans of frozen and add enough water to MAKE a gallon. Sugar you'll probably be looking at more like 6 cups of sugar, to get around 1.085, of course only your hydrometer can tell you for sure, but other than that it looks good. Cranberry is notorious for being hard to ferment. I know first hand. It has natural benzoate in it. I strongly suggest you make a starter. I had a batch of cranberry/pomegranate that was a bear to start. Your bucket will be fine.


----------



## NSwiner (Feb 20, 2010)

Thanks I remembered you having that trouble so after I did the yeast in the sugar & water I added another small pinch of yeast to make sure things took off alright . I was thinking the SG should be 1.090 so that's what I went with , it will be ok won't it ? I'm keeping it nice & warm hoping it will take off better . Oh I went with bottled juice 1 bottle of cranberry/pomegranate and 1 of white grape/pear juice a little different then the recipe but thought it was close enough but I guess time will tell . It sure smelled good when I mkixed it up .


----------



## arcticsid (Feb 20, 2010)

Should be just fine D, when I needed a starter on a tough ferment, I actually grew it. Did what you did but let it grow for like 12 hours. Every hour add a cup of the wine must to the yeast starter, eventually it will grow and be quite vigurous.

!.090 is about 12% thats where you want to be.

Have you pitched the yest yet?

It may be stubborn, keeping it warm obviously is important. Personally I wouldn't ferment it under an airlock, just cover it with a cloth, or a loose fitting lid.

I would give it a good whip, not stirring round and round, like a slotted spponn or something just to give it a good shot of oxegen in the begining and then kida play it by ear.

I hope this takes off for you, if you have troubles, you know where to come!!!! LOL

Sound like a nice combination, I think you will find yourself pleased on this.

Troy


----------



## NSwiner (Feb 20, 2010)

I did put an airlock on it but there's lots of room in the bucket so i figured there would be lots of oxygen . I worry about our boxer and cat getting into it that's why I airlock them . Yes I put the yeast in I started like they suggested with water & sugar . I'll let you know when it starts to rock & roll .


----------



## Luc (Feb 21, 2010)

Darlene,

The air above the must will get dilluted more and more as more CO2 is formed during fermentation.
So the air above the must will in no time be without oxygen.

Like Troy told you indeed the best way to get oxygen in the first few days is to stir vigorously. That way CO2 is expelled from the wine and oxygen will be mingled/dissolved into the wine.

However if you have made a real strong yeast starter the lack of oxygen will not be a large issue.

Luc


----------



## NSwiner (Feb 21, 2010)

i checked it when I got home from work today and it seems to be starting fine so I'm crossing my fingers that it keeps going . i was lazy so I just picked the bucket up & gave it a good swirling around lots of bubbles came out when I did it so I took the airlock to let more air in for a minute .


----------



## NSwiner (Feb 26, 2010)

I checked the SG on it yesterday and it has dropped to around 1.045 I say around because I didn't have my glasses on just wanted to see if it had dropped at all .Just a little side note the same day I had some extra Raspberry white Zinfandel roughly 1/3 when I racked to carboy so I put it together with the white cranberry juice 3/4 I had bought but thought it wouldn't start because of sulphites being listed in ingredients .Started at SG 1.090 and it down around the same number so I'm assuming it's working also . Only did a really small batch 1 liter of this to see if it would work .


----------



## NSwiner (Mar 5, 2010)

Checked the cranberry/pom/white grape juice today and it was at SG - .992 so I put in the glass jug and added small amount of stabilizer & topped up with some liebfraumilch .


----------



## Wade E (Mar 5, 2010)

By stabilizer o you mean sulfite and sorbate?


----------



## NSwiner (Mar 6, 2010)

Yes , guess I should have said that It came per mixed from the store . Here's a question for you if it doesn't start to clear nicely on it's own would it hurt to take a tiny bit of isinglass from a kit I have already ? That way I wouldn't have have a part bag opened up sitting around .The other kit is a italian pinot grigio it's been a bugger to get low enough to take from the fermemting bucket to Carboy but I don't know if they are hard to clear since I haven't done a Pinot grigio before .Oh i forgot to add that I sweetened it with the cran/pom juice & sugar so it will take a little longer to clear anyways won't it ?


----------



## NSwiner (Apr 3, 2010)

well I didn't follow the recipe when it came to the time it should sit I put it through the filter yesterday after I did my other wines .Oh man did it turn out nice a little bit of a tart finish but not too much .When it smooths out more from aging it will be even better . Now I need to make some labels for the bottles .


----------

