The Cran Plan

[Brian Feeder Of Fish]

Joining this forum has reminded me that on the internet just as much as in real life, I'm the quiet guy in the corner of the room that likes to listen to the conversation but doesn't say anything. There's always something interesting being discussed to read about, but I don't think I've posted anything since I was starting a batch of blueberry last year. However, the feedback I received on that recipe was helpful and that wine is now pretty tasty so I figured I would throw my plan for a cranberry wine up against the wall of winemaking wisdom and see what sticks, so to speak. See below:

One day before pitching yeast

1. Prepare yeast starter with 1 cup warm water, 1 (8g) packet K1-V1116 yeast, 1/2 tsp sugar, 2 tsp GoFerm. After 8-12 hours add a bit of cranberry must to help with acclimatization.
2. Chop 35 lbs previously frozen cranberries with a food processer and put them in mesh bags in the must bucket.
3. Add ~6 lbs sugar
4. Add 2-3 gallons apple juice to top up to 7 gallons total must volume.
5. Add ¼ tsp K-meta, 1oz packet pectinase and 0.8g packet Lallezyme EX.
6. Check pH for excessively acidic conditions.
7. Stir must bucket vigorously, let sit overnight.

Day of pitching yeast

1. Check SG and add sugar to increase to SG 1.085.
2. Add yeast starter and 6g Fermaid O; cover must bucket with a towel.

After pitching yeast

1. Punch cap and stir 2x daily.
2. At SG 1.060 add 6 g Fermaid O.
3. At SG <1.020 rack into 6 gallon carboy with airlock. Squeeze bags to extract juice from fruit, maybe use some sort of DIY 5 gallon bucket pressing rig for better yield. Discontinue daily stirring

After fermentation is complete

1. When dry (SG <1.000 and constant 3 days) rack into 5 gallon carboy with airlock. Add ¼ tsp K-meta.
2. If necessary, rack again after a week or two to remove gross lees.
3. Wait many months until I forget I’m making wine and the carboy becomes just some random heavy thing that’s in my way every time I want to get something out of the closet. Add ¼ tsp K-meta every 3 months or so.
4. After 8-10 months or more, backsweeten to taste, add ¼ tsp K-meta and 1 tsp K-sorbate.
5. Wait 2 weeks after backsweetening and bottle.

 

[wood1954]

Are you adding any tannin?

 

[Hazelemere]

A-type proanthocyanidins or condensed tannins
Cranberries contain unique phytonutrients known as A-type proanthocyanidins or condensed tannins2. These tannins have notable antimicrobial benefits, helping to prevent the adhesion of bacteria to the urinary tract and reducing the risk of infections23. Unlike other berries, cranberries lack tannins but provide a wide range of antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and antibacterial benefits1.

 

[Rice_Guy]

a few cranberry pH, 2.69, 2.67, 2.70; a few TA numbers, 3.26%, 2.84%, 2.89%; a few SG, 1.038, 1.040, 1.032. This is high acid fruit. Yeast don’t like pH under 2.8 so tricks like adjusting a starter need to be done. For TA you could run one part berry with four parts water.

35 pounds in seven gallons. You will have very strong cranberry notes. You could get away with less
Topping off with apple, If I use commercial juice like Langers the pH is 3.62 so it will help or an Old Orchard at pH 3.4 good but still fighting pH. ,,, There is a lot of variation in apple. Apple will hide in the background so I like to use it. The TA of apple can be on target like 0.5%, ie you won’t gain drinkability by putting in make up volume of apple.
Cranberry has nice astringent notes like chestnut tannin, again at 35 pounds per 7 gallons it will dominate the must so you could get away with less.

TA as proposed is likely to be high which cascades into a high level of back sweetening. ex a TA of 1% tastes good at about 1.010 or a TA of 1.5% tastes good at 1.025. ? How sweet do you want the finished wine?

 

[BernardSmith]

Rice_Guy is implying something that I would like to explicitly mention. If you have never made a cranberry wine before or have tasted one for which you have the recipe, you might find that the TA of this wine is off the charts - it's so acidic that it is not a pleasure to drink. If I were you, I would make a gallon batch to see how drinkable your recipe is. Seven gallons is about 35 bottles - so almost 3 cases of wine. I have made cranberry wine before, and it is not a wine that I would happily open for friends and family. Of course, if your intention to use this medicinally, that's another story. It's possibly indicated for UTI, but not for every table. You may want to see if you can balance the acidity with say, agave syrup or honey or even maple syrup but, again, as Rice_Guy suggets, you may want to really focus on backsweetening this wine -

 

[Hazelemere]

use 71B yeast. It will drop some of the malic acid in the cranberries. Bernard above has a smart idea for you. Try a small batch first.

https://www.bing.com/videos/rivervi...id=F6F59F7FF05E4A77B7E5A791C2D51935&FORM=VIRE

 

[Raptor99]

I have made cranberry wine before, and it is not a wine that I would happily open for friends and family.

It is possible to make a very good cranberry wine, but it has its challenges. My cranberry wine is a family favorite at Thanksgiving dinner. The key is to adjust the acidity to a reasonable level, e.g. pH 3.1 or 3.2 (it will start lower than that!), and to provide sufficient backsweetening to offset the acid. I also add a little glycerin for body. Cranberry is a strong flavor, so it is the one wine for which I would go lighter on the amount of fruit. I think that 3-4 lbs. of cranberries for each gallon of total volume of must would be about right.

use 71B yeast. It will drop some of the malic acid in the cranberries.

Cranberries contain some malic acid, but 70% of the acid in cranberries is citric acid, which won't be affected by 71B. So don't think that 71B would reduce the acidity by very much. Reference: https://liquidinsider.com/why-is-cranberry-juice-acidic/

 

[winemaker81]

The key is to adjust the acidity to a reasonable level, e.g. pH 3.1 or 3.2 (it will start lower than that!), and to provide sufficient backsweetening to offset the acid.

My thought is to add 4 lbs cranberries to 1 gallon apple juice. While I don't need to start another batch right now ... that may be worth making a small batch.

 

[Fencepost]

After Fermentation, Step 4, potassium sorbate recommended dosage is 1/2 tsp per gallon... that would be 2.5 tsp for a 5 gallon batch. Maybe letting it sit for 8 months may help drop all the yeast, and you can use less k-sorbate, but I would not chance it. Others may have more to add on that...

 

[Jan]

A-type proanthocyanidins or condensed tannins
Cranberries contain unique phytonutrients known as A-type proanthocyanidins or condensed tannins2. These tannins have notable antimicrobial benefits, helping to prevent the adhesion of bacteria to the urinary tract and reducing the risk of infections23. Unlike other berries, cranberries lack tannins but provide a wide range of antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and antibacterial benefits1.

View attachment 118614

Nice, thanks for sharing.

 

[BernardSmith]

It is possible to make a very good cranberry wine, but it has its challenges. My cranberry wine is a family favorite at Thanksgiving dinner. The key is to adjust the acidity to a reasonable level, e.g. pH 3.1 or 3.2 (it will start lower than that!), and to provide sufficient backsweetening to offset the acid. I also add a little glycerin for body. Cranberry is a strong flavor, so it is the one wine for which I would go lighter on the amount of fruit. I think that 3-4 lbs. of cranberries for each gallon of total volume of must would be about right.

Cranberries contain some malic acid, but 70% of the acid in cranberries is citric acid, which won't be affected by 71B. So don't think that 71B would reduce the acidity by very much. Reference: https://liquidinsider.com/why-is-cranberry-juice-acidic/

But the problem is not the pH. That is merely the strength of the acids. You can have a very little of a very strong acid or you can have a lot of a very weak acid. The AMOUNT of the acids , not their strength is what determines the TA which is why TA increases in number the more acid there is in solution. You could INCREASE the pH but that does not mean you have LOWERED the TA. The problem with cranberries is the TA.

Apologies - just edited to correct my text. The strength of acids is measured by pH. The amount of acid (g/L) is measured by the TA. We cannot taste pH (though some acids taste more sharp than others) but we do taste TA and a TA of more than about 8g/L is not pleasant to drink (0.8%)

 

[Raptor99]

But the problem is not the pH. That is merely the strength of the acids. You can have a very little of a very strong acid or you can have a lot of a very weak acid. The AMOUNT of the acids , not their strength is what determines the pH which is why TA increases in number the more acid there is in solution. You could INCREASE the pH but that does not mean you have LOWERED the TA. The problem with cranberries is the TA.

The TA is important for flavor, but pH is important for wine chemistry. They are both important, but for different reasons. If the pH is too low, the yeast will have a difficult time fermenting. pH also affects how much free SO2 is necessary to protect the wine from oxidation. If the TA is too high, the wine will taste very acidic.

Usually I adjust pH before fermentation to a value that is good for the wine chemistry. After fermentation is finished, I adjust the amount of acid (TA) if necessary for the best flavor. I adjust that by taste, but you can also do it by measuring TA.

 

[Brian Feeder Of Fish]

Thanks for all the feedback.

It sounds like I definitely don't need nearly as many cranberries as I planned on. I guess I paid lots of attention to the threads encouraging people not to skimp on the fruit, and then went out of my way to find the exception.

From all the discussion, my revised plan is looking like around 3.5 lbs of cranberries per gallon of total must volume, with the remaining volume made up of half water (to help dilute the acid) and half apple juice (to add some 'not water' flavor). I also have some calcium carbonate on hand if the pH still looks too low for yeast after diluting.

I do expect to backsweeten the wine; my skeeter pee and blueberry were sweetened to 42g/L and 21g/L respectively which I believe is on the sweeter side.

 

[Rice_Guy]

There are lots of exceptions. Skeeter Pee is a good example. You could basically follow this kind of process where you ferment the sugar in a weak pH and then add more juice. ex, I have run apple till dry and then added a slug of acid with the intent of killing wild fermentation before it starts.
Others; rhubarb, cornelian cherry, wild grape, haskap, grapefruit, gooseberry, currant, sumach . . . . .etc

 

[StimVino]

My 2 cents is to step feed the yeast nutrients to avoid a stuck ferment. Cranberry is notorious for being difficult to complete fermentation. I also like the idea of using an apple juice base, or a least a blend to reduce some of the acid. If I was going to try a grape juice base, i think syrah would be an interesting choice.

 

[Brian Feeder Of Fish]

I had planned two nutrient additions, one when pitching yeast and one at 1/3 sugar depletion. Would you do more than that? If so, would you suggest a similar total amount of nutrients spread over more additions, or more additions resulting in more total nutrients?

 

[winemaker81]

I had planned two nutrient additions, one when pitching yeast and one at 1/3 sugar depletion. Would you do more than that? If so, would you suggest a similar total amount of nutrients spread over more additions, or more additions resulting in more total nutrients?

In the past few years I've been adding 2/3 of the nutrient just prior to inoculation, and the remaining 1/3 at 1/3 depletion OR after 48 hours.

I've been making overnight starters for 3 years, and those kick the ferment off a lot faster than simple yeast hydration. I've had a few batches that were at 1/2 depletion in 48 hours.

The amount of nutrient depends on the yeast. If using a strain with high nutrient requirements, I use 50% more nutrient than the package directions. Yeast stressed by lack of nutrients produces H2S. Even strains that don't produce H2S do better with a good level of nutrients.

If the strain has average or low nutrient requirements, I follow the package directions regarding amount.