Cherry Wine Base

[dcbrown73]

All my six gallon carboys are in use, but I have five three gallon carboys that seem extremely bored doing nothing. Time for smaller batch wines!

I've ordered a Vinter's Harvest cherry wine base. It says it makes five gallons of wine which is more than I wanted to make, but figured I would just use a second three gallon carboy and use this headspace eliminator I purchased, but haven't yet had a reason to use on the second carboy.

After doing some reading, I heard that there is a second recipe on the product that makes a three gallon cherry wine with more body. Sounds like product I wanted to make!

So, I was looking for any recommendations on making this wine, great tweaks, gotcha's, etc.

How long does these types of wines require for aging?

@joeswine should write a book. I would buy it!

 

[BernardSmith]

Are you certain that it says that it makes 5 gallons or that it CAN make 5 gallons and that at 3 gallons it makes a richer flavored wine?

 

[Jericurl]

I've used several of those (though not cherry) and would recommend that you just make the 3 gallon version for a more full bodied wine.

For tweaks, how about a 1/2 tsp of mahlab (seriously, if you use it go easy. A little goes a long way but it is sooo good), and 3 T of oak powder in primary.

Then after racking, 1 scraped vanilla bean.

I would age at least 6 months, taste again, and see if you want to finish it off with some oak.
Then I would put them to bed for another 4 or 5 months before bottling.

You could probably drink it before this but they will be so much better with some age.

eta: I don't know how you feel about mead, but if you can get your hands on some honey, this one would be an excellent recipe to get your feet wet. Just skip the sugar and buy about 10 lbs of honey so that you will have plenty. I would probably start this one SG @ 1.10, everything else follow as normal winemaking. Also, for yeast (regardless of if you go with wine or mead) I would probably use RC 212 or 71B.

 

[Jericurl]

Are you certain that it says that it makes 5 gallons or that it CAN make 5 gallons and that at 3 gallons it makes a richer flavored wine?

I think the wording is something along the lines of 5 gallons for a lighter wine, 3 gallons for a full bodied wine.

 

[hounddawg]

yup they be right, them cans are only good for 3 gallons or 2 cans for 6 gallons regardless of what the can says, if you want a richer flavor try www.homewinery.com

Dawg

All my six gallon carboys are in use, but I have five three gallon carboys that seem extremely bored doing nothing. Time for smaller batch wines!

I've ordered a Vinter's Harvest cherry wine base. It says it makes five gallons of wine which is more than I wanted to make, but figured I would just use a second three gallon carboy and use this headspace eliminator I purchased, but haven't yet had a reason to use on the second carboy.

After doing some reading, I heard that there is a second recipe on the product that makes a three gallon cherry wine with more body. Sounds like product I wanted to make!

So, I was looking for any recommendations on making this wine, great tweaks, gotcha's, etc.

How long does these types of wines require for aging?

@joeswine should write a book. I would buy it!

 

[dcbrown73]

Okay, so the base came in today. I guess I was incorrect. This isn't Vinter's Harvest, it's Vinter's Best and from Label Peelers. It's not a 96oz can, it's a 128oz bottle (32 extra oz) and doesn't have a recipe for only a 3 gallon batch. It only lists a 5 gallon batch and I realize this is a bigger bottle and could possibly make a decent strength 5 gallon batch.

ie not this

but this

I'm not sure what I should do at this point. Should I still just try to make a 3 gallon batch? Just add this and two gallons of water? I was thinking about dropping some raspberries in it too, but now I'm not so sure that this might make things worse.

Any ideas? Has anyone used these 1 gallon fruit bases that can give me an idea of what to expect?

 

[Arne]

Think I would put it in the fermenting bucket, add 3 gal. water, If I wanted raspberry flavor, dump some of them in ( I would bag them so they are easy to remove later) and add whatever else I wanted in there. This will make 4 gal. or so and leave you with some leftover to use when you rack. I have done one wine with the can of fruit juice and was kind of disappointed with a rather weak flavor. Havn't tried the bottle and it was a different flavor of fruit I used so the cherry might be much more flavorful, but I would stick with not over 4 gal. total. Arne.

 

[Troll]

I havent made this yet but I believe theese are sweetened and balanced just add yeast and water. 4 gallon batch might make the ABV too high. Container says diluted gravity 1.077.

 

[ceeaton]

David, I used one of those for a blueberry and a raspberry batch, 6 gallons worth, but I added about 10 lbs of fruit in each case, and a 1L Red Grape Concentrate (also LD Carlson).

For the Raspberry I ended up with SG 1.074, it is in the bottle, backsweetened to 1.002. Is gonna take a while to settle down and mellow (pH 2.95). For the Blueberry I also ended up dumping in and additional 2 lbs of sugar and some apple juice (50 oz) I had hanging around (I do that sometimes to clean up the fridge) to get a SG of 1.090. That one I backsweetened a whole lot more (for my wife) and just noticed I never wrote the FG down, so time to open one up and measure, but she loves it, nice blueberry flavor (she likes it better than the first batch I used the Homewinery concentrate in, though she still liked that wine (it's gone)).

Haven't used the Cherry, but I hope that helps.

 

[dcbrown73]

Okay, I made my plan and here is what I have.

(1) gallon of the Vinter's Best Cherry wine base (makes 5 gallons)
(4) gallons of water as required by the cherry base
(2) half gallon Welch's 100% juice Black Cherry Concord Grape juice (to make it a total of six gallons, mostly apple, grape and cherry juice)
(12) lbs of frozen cherries from Costco
(1) EC-1118 Yeast
(1) lbs 72% cacao belguim dark chocolate from Trader Joe's
As much sugar or corn syrup as needed (can you use corn syrup rather than sugar? I expect that would change the flavor from normal sugar

So, the plan is to ferment the base, gallon of grape juice, and frozen cherries and add sugar (if required) till I get it to 1.090 gravity.

Once fermentation is complete. Split the batch into (2) three gallon carboys. Make one straight cherry wine, and the other I want to add the 1 lbs of dark chocolate to make a cherry chocolate wine. The idea for 1lbs to three gallons came from a @Runningwolf post back in Nov, 15 2010.

One question I do have about the chocolate is, if I add it after the 28 days in secondary. Does it dissolve into the wine? Do I need to remove the chocolate after a certain amount of time like skins and wood cubes?

Also, do I need to add sorbate before adding the chocolate? I suppose I'm going to end up making the cherry chocolate wine into a desert wine.

Any thing I'm missing? Does it sound okay? This will be my first attempt at making my own sort of recipe.

 

[dcbrown73]

Okay, for now 86 the Welch's grape juice. 12lbs of cherries and five gallons of base / water fill my 7.9 gallon fermentor up.

Maybe when I pull the cherries, I can then add the grape juice. I suppose I just need to watch the gravity and then take a guessing game to keep it close to where I believe I want it.

....or I just leave it at 5 gallons and make the 2 gallons cherry chocolate wine. Not sure how much of that I would drink, I just wanted to make a run at it.

 

[dcbrown73]

The gravity is at about exactly what the bottle said. 1.077 The 12lbs of cherries are likely to raise that a bit. The temp is about 63F most certainly from the half frozen cherries. I will check and probably pitch the yeast tomorrow once it rises to around 72F. The cherries are in a 10" x 23" bag and there was only maybe 6" from the top. It's a lot tighter packed that I would have hoped. I prefer them to be able to move around freely in the bag, but I don't have much of a choice as that is the only bag I had.

I have to say, I'm surprised at how dark it is. It looks like a Pinot Noir! The dragons blood wasn't even remotely this dark even after the colors bled from the fruit.

This is pretty much where the must is when I have a full six gallons in it, yet this is only five.

 

[Arne]

Looks like you have a plan. One thing, you are fermenting over a decent floor. I would put the fermenting bucket on a tray, maybe in a large tote or get a big plastic bag and set it in. Just kinda pull the bag up around the sides a bit. Just something to catch any drips or spills especially with that dark color. Also if it gets to rock and rolling with the ferment and goes over the sides makes the cleanup much much easier. Good luck with it, Arne.

 

[dcbrown73]

Looks like you have a plan. One thing, you are fermenting over a decent floor. I would put the fermenting bucket on a tray, maybe in a large tote or get a big plastic bag and set it in. Just kinda pull the bag up around the sides a bit. Just something to catch any drips or spills especially with that dark color. Also if it gets to rock and rolling with the ferment and goes over the sides makes the cleanup much much easier. Good luck with it, Arne.

Actually, it is in a plastic bag as you can see the red ribbing where the draw string is. It's one of the clear recycle bags. Once I put it in the closet to ferment, I pull the bag up over the edges.

 

[dcbrown73]

If I wanted to add a walnut flavoring to the wine. Would I just add walnuts? Break them up?

Also, I just want to add some flavor, nothing over powering. How much would I add per gallon? I think I want the cherry chocolate wine to be cherry, chocolate, walnut wine. Those three flavors have a flavor affinity with each other.

 

[ceeaton]

Also, do I need to add sorbate before adding the chocolate? I suppose I'm going to end up making the cherry chocolate wine into a desert wine.

If you plan on having a sweetened wine (desert wine), I think you'll have to add sorbate or it will start fermenting again (especially with EC-1118, I think that one can withstand a pretty high ABV).

Not sure how to use the chocolate, but will follow along and see how it works from your experiences.

 

[Mismost]

If you plan on having a sweetened wine (desert wine), I think you'll have to add sorbate or it will start fermenting again (especially with EC-1118, I think that one can withstand a pretty high ABV).

Not sure how to use the chocolate, but will follow along and see how it works from your experiences.

I was wondering about the chocolate myself, never used it. I do know with beers they use those chocolate nibs...I've seen them in the LHBS... boil them in the wort?...I suppose you could bag them and run them through the primary and maybe into the secondary too depending on how flavor it picked up.

I've also read about PB powder...its like dried peanut butter...which stretched my brain to think of plain old cocoa powder...that might work as well. Frankly, I would eat that chocolate before throwing it into a fermenting bucket!

Now when he said walnut flavor I thought he meant like oak...put walnut shells in like oak?? I was using pecan hulls to smoke some briskets this week end...that little tidbit of info adds nothing of value to the discussion, but added a nice flavor to the beef.

If adding a walnut flavor make sure it is NOT OIL BASED...trust me, it is a foul mess...just don't go there.

 

[dcbrown73]

I was wondering about the chocolate myself, never used it. I do know with beers they use those chocolate nibs...I've seen them in the LHBS... boil them in the wort?...I suppose you could bag them and run them through the primary and maybe into the secondary too depending on how flavor it picked up.

I've also read about PB powder...its like dried peanut butter...which stretched my brain to think of plain old cocoa powder...that might work as well. Frankly, I would eat that chocolate before throwing it into a fermenting bucket!

Now when he said walnut flavor I thought he meant like oak...put walnut shells in like oak?? I was using pecan hulls to smoke some briskets this week end...that little tidbit of info adds nothing of value to the discussion, but added a nice flavor to the beef.

If adding a walnut flavor make sure it is NOT OIL BASED...trust me, it is a foul mess...just don't go there.

Based on this article, almonds and walnuts are okay. Its most other nuts that are a problem.

It's a big page, so here is the brief.

July 14th, 2007

I've now had three days to get back into the swing of things at work, but playing catch-up isn't my favorite game. My good intentions about staying an hour late each day to answer some of my email was a pipe dream. A lot has happened in five weeks and I have to get current. My apologies to all who are waiting answers from me, but I have to get caught up.

But a couple of emails did manage to catch my eye. One was an age-old plea for a walnut wine recipe. I get several of these a year. I always answer them the same: "I developed a walnut wine recipe many years ago, but misplaced it about five years ago and have never found another. Should I subsequently find one, I will post it on my site."

But this time, before I hit "Send," I decided to use a new search tool installed on my computer. I typed in one word - walnut - and hit "Search Entire System." This did not produce it, so I started searching old backup CDs from previous systems. A couple of minutes later I was looking at a document misfiled in a folder entitled "Receipts" - right next to the folder entitled "Recipes."

Walnut Wine

Pecans, hazelnuts, peanuts, brazil nuts, cashews, pistachio nuts, and most other nuts are inappropriate for making wine because their oils go rancid before the wine is finished, but almonds and walnuts can be used in making wine.

2 oz walnuts
12 oz raisins
1 lb 12 oz. granulated sugar
Rind and juice of 1 lemon, 1 orange, 1 grapefruit
7 pts water
1 tsp yeast nutrient
1 sachet wine yeast
Chop the walnuts and raisins and add to 1 quart water with citrus rinds (no pith). Bring to simmer, cover and hold simmer for 30 minutes. Strain and discard solids and dissolve sugar in liquid. Allow to cool and pour into primary with remaining water. Add citrus juice, yeast nutrient and yeast as an activated starter. Cover with sanitized cloth or lid and set in warm place. Ferment to specific gravity of 1.020, transfer to secondary and fit airlock. Ferment to dryness, wait 2 weeks, rack and add one crushed and dissolved Campden tablet. Reattach airlock and refrigerate or place in bucket of crushed ice until white beads of solidified oil form on surface. Gently strain through fine muslin cloth back into secondary to remove beads. Reattach airlock and age 6 months, racking every two months and adding crushed Campden at 4-month racking. Stabilize, sweeten slightly if desired, wait 30 days, and bottle. Age 2-3 additional months before tasting. Improves to two years. [Author's own recipe]

 

[Mismost]

i did run across a chocolate recipe...it did use cocoa powder. It was one of Jacks recipes i do believe.

 

[Arne]

If you p.m. @Julie or Dan @runningwolf bet they can help you with the chocolate. Think they have both made chocolate wines, been a long time ago since they talked about them, tho. To pm them, find one of their posts and click on their forum name. Should get you to a private message deal. Arne.