Candy Cane wine Recipe

[Love_in_Texas]

So im REALLY curious about the blueberry candy cane wine.....sounds yummy!

 

[Julie]

Bumping this up, how is everyone doing with their candy cane wine?

I racked my candy cane last weekend. I am currently melting some candy canes for an f-pac. I tasted this and I think this is going to come out pretty good. Has a decent mouthfeel, nice pepperment taste even though it is dry. Acid level seems to be ok but I do need to test that. I stablized and will now backsweeten and rack to three 1 gallon carboys. One gallon I am going to add chocolate to make a peppermint patti wine.

Ok, everyone else fess up.

 

[djrockinsteve]

My second batch I added extract and should check it, back sweeten and see how it turned out. Another thing to the list

 

[Tom]

I am ready to bottle soon. One thing I did is added peppermint flavoring. I did not like the CC f-pac. not enough peppermint.
I got a bottle od unsweetened Dolce peppermint 25oz bottle. This is the same bottle you see @ 7-11 stores that you squirt flavors into the coffee. I got it at a restaurant supply store. What a difference.

 

[BigBend]

When it was time to backsweeten I could not find that candy canes I had set aside, so I went to the grocey store and found Pepperment flavoring in the spice section next to the vanilla. Used 1/2 od the small bottle and now it just sits in the carboy waiting. Smells and the sips taste pretty good. Still trying to figure out a way to get the stipes, LOL!!!
P.s. I just found the lost candy canes last week in the garage where I put them to freeze.

 

[djrockinsteve]

I think I did 1 teaspoon extract for a gallon. Recipe for candy canes is 1/2 teaspoon for a dozen. It does smell really good. Hope the extract hangs in there.

You always find stuff after you no longer need them.

 

[Julie]

BigBend,

Add them anyway, it will bring out the color. I tasted mine last night and the f-pac really didn't help it much but boy is it a nice pink color again. I'll be adding extract to mine.

 

[Julie]

I think I am going to like this. Ok, to refresh everyone's memory here is my recipe:

for a 3 gallon batch
54 candy canes, 6 cans of Welch's white grape concentrate, 1 tsp of nutrient, 1 tsp of energizer, one banana. sg 1.080, fermented to .995. stabilized, left it sit a day, added 24 candy canes as an fpac. The color prior to backsweetening was a faded pink, it is now a deep pink color, very pretty. The 24 canes brought the sg to 1.002, added 2 cups of sugar, sg is now 1.010. The flavor came out some more but still not as strong as I wanted, so I added .25 oz of McCormick's peppermint extract. OMG, this stuff is like eating a candy cane! I need to check the acid in it and it is a little on the thin side. I'll check acid first and adjust if needed, then taste and if still on the thin side, I'll add a bottle of corn syrup.

Once I get this all done and liking where the wine is at, I will then divide into 3 one gallon batches, one batch is going to get chocolate. The other two will just sit to see how the chocolate one comes out and just maybe one or both will get that.

LOL, Dan talked me into this and he is the one who is not really liking his!

 

[Runningwolf]

+1 on what julie said. Candy Cane f-pack does nothing for flavor but it does help with color. I think Tom is right on (almost) using unsweetened Dolce peppermint 25oz bottle commonly used as a flavoring syrup for coffee.

 

[Tom]

YEP! it does taste good. I should be bottling soom

 

[Runningwolf]

I racked my 6 gallons just now and added 1/2 pound of chocolate. Not overly impressed at this time although a few that tasted it liked it. The Candy Cane is on the right. I resized this picture three times in photo bucket and it still didn't shrink here even though I put the new IMG code in.

 

[Julie]

Update!

Jsut checked my candy cane wine. I ended up keeping in a 3 gallon carboy and added 1 tsp of McCormick's peppermint extract and 6 oz. Ghirardelli 86% caco. I'm thinking mabye another 3 oz. of chocolate and this should be great. The chocolate is starting to come thru and it is strating to taste like a peppermint patty. I am going to like this come Christmas.

And to think Dan had to talk me into this.

 

[Runningwolf]

Julie I got busted last night at the party when someone saw the kool aid package on my wine table. The candy cane wine lost most of its red stripe so I added (3) packages of unsweetened cherry kool aid to it. I got the red strip back but now the white one disappeared. Good job measuring those ingredients out also. I just keep throwing in handfuls of chocolate and long squirts of peppermint extract when I feel it needs more.

 

[Redtrk]

Candy Cane Wine

Ingredients
60 candy canes (or more) - regular size
7.5 lbs sugar
3 gallons water
Lalvin EC-1118 yeast


Bring about 1 gal water to boil
Add candy canes till dissolved
Boil another 45 - 60 minutes
Pour into remaining water
add sugar
rack after a week and again in two months

Sorry I must have missed the update request from a while back, but the candy canes will be on sale soon:

The wine turned out actually very good. The only problem I had was clearing it. It just refused to get clear, something in the candy canes was either charged or just stubborn. I tried gelatin finings, sparkalloid, and finally super kleer. The last two really cleaned it up, and after 9 months of racking, I finally felt like it was clear. But after bottling I still ended up with a very small amount of fine white sediment in the bottom. Did not seem to affect the wine, it tasted pretty good. But if I decided to do something like this again, I'd probably use either mint leaves or something else and just make a peppermint wine.

I gave all of mine away this season, and seemed like everyone was happy.

Here is the recipe I used:

3 gallon recipe

96 candy canes
6 cans niagara grape concentrate (Welch's frozen white grape concentrate).

1/8 tsp k-meta
5 tsp yeast nutrient (high because this is hard to get yeast started)
3 tsp acid blend (should check acid level and modify accordingly)
Starting SG 1.090 (You may need to add additional sugar)

3/4 tsp Wine Tannin
1 1/2 tsp pectic enzyme

Boil candy canes in 1 gallon water until dissolved
put grape concentrate in primary (after thawing)
Pour candy cane solution into primary
Add water to make total 3 1/2 gallons (1/2 gallon for top up later)

After 24 hours:
Yeast lalvin EC-1118 (chosen for it's ability to ferment just about anything)
Make yeast starter - rehydrate yeast, add some must and let it start. Add more and let it start. Add this to primary.


After a few rackings and clearing, add potassium sorbate to stabilize. Then at next racking add candy cane flavor pack.

Candy Cane Flavor pac (f-pac) for sweetening:

24 candy canes
1 1/4 cup water

Boil water, add candy canes and dissolve. Allow to boil down to approximately 1 cup. Cool and use to sweeten wine.
My personal preference is that if it has to be sweet then it's semi-sweet. Adjust the amount of sugar to your preference. 2 cups may be more to your liking, and you may have to use more candy canes or add sugar.

With these two recipes I see differences. From what you all made in the past which is better?
I did the math from what I found online for the weight of candy canes vs Starlight mints and 60 canes are equal to just under 4 lbs of mints so that's what i'm using for a three gallon batch + white grape juice.
About how much sugar should I add?

 

[Tom]

Sugar to 1.085
Never add sugar blindly because a receipe said so
Use WineCalc which will tell you how much needed to 1.085.

http://mpesgens.home.xs4all.nl/thwp/winecalc.html

 

[Runningwolf]

Tom what was the syrup you used called? I wish I had found it earlier. Do you have a strong peppermint flavor or is it more like medicine?

Mine was more like medicine so I added a lot more extract and another 1/2 pound of chocolate. Looking for the peppermint pattie that Julie says she is getting.

 

[Tom]

Dolce or DiVinci. Both used for flavoring coffee like at a 7-11.
No, not mecidine tasting. Very Peppermint (that the flavor I got)

 

[Redtrk]

Dolce or DiVinci. Both used for flavoring coffee like at a 7-11.
No, not mecidine tasting. Very Peppermint (that the flavor I got)

Would peppermint extract that you buy in the baking aisle of the grocery store work?

 

[Runningwolf]

Dolce or DiVinci. Both used for flavoring coffee like at a 7-11.
No, not mecidine tasting. Very Peppermint (that the flavor I got)

Thanks Tom and the DiVinci I imagine helps add body also. Is that correct.

Rick, I would start looking for some of this now if you can.

 

[Julie]

Would peppermint extract that you buy in the baking aisle of the grocery store work?

Rick, That is what I used and it is very tasty. I had a few friends taste it for me now I have to put them on my Christmas list!