High abv cranberry

[bearclaw215]

I have some cranberry juice left over from a party and I'm thinking about trying to push 1118 to its max of about 18%. Now I'm still pretty new at this and any advice is appreciated greatly.
I'm wondering if the cranberry will be able to be balanced at that abv? I haven't really put a lot of thought into it yet but im thinking stepped additions of sugar till around 15% then switch to a concentrate to help bring the flavor back in line with the abv.
Thanks in advance for any advice even if it's telling me it's a bad idea or I'm going about it in a hard way. Id just like to learn more before I make something that's not going to turn out well.

 

[Tom_S]

I think it would be a very harsh wine. Cranberry is high in acid as it is, then add a high alcohol content and you'll likely end up with something hard to drink. I'd probably shoot for more like 11% or so, and then backsweeten with sugar or concentrate.

 

[bearclaw215]

That'd make sense, guess ill pass on that idea then. Thanks for the quick response. I already have a cranberry going at 11-12% so it would've been just to see what it's like. What kinds of fruits would you think would make something drinkable at 18%? Im finding scattered info but that may be its just a bad idea or beyond my skills right now

 

[djrockinsteve]

You will mask the flavor with that high abv. If you really want that star at about 12-14% then when it's almost finished add more sugar. Repeat until fermentation is stopped.

I'm guessing you won't like the end result. I shoot for 10% for fruit wines like that. More enjoyable.

 

[Tom_S]

Honestly I don't know what fruit would be best for a high alcohol wine. The high alcohol level will affect the taste of whatever fruit you use. On another wine forum it seemed like we always had newbies asking how to make high alcohol wine. My standard answer was that wine is much better at 10-13%. I once made a high alcohol wine. Once. Didn't care for it and never tried it again.

 

[bearclaw215]

This would've been just to try it and learn endeavor. But it's seems like it's not the greatest of ideas. All my stuff in doing now is in the 9-12% so I guess ill be sticking around there. Thanks for the info its appreciated

 

[Tom_S]

The thing about the batch of high alcohol wine I made, which ended up at 17% ABV, was that it was so harsh that it took a year of aging before it mellowed out enough to be drinkable. After that it wasn't too bad but you could tell it was pretty strong stuff, and didn't compare at all in quality to some of the other white wines I made at 10-11%.

That being said, right now I'm nursing a batch of Concord wine up to close to 17%, but only because it will end up being my first batch of port. I'll need to alcohol level to get up there so when I add the brandy the port will have the proper alcohol level.