These are the cranberries that took so long to be marked down after Thanksgiving and Christmas but that I finally got for a dollar a bag. I saved these so that I could try wine making and I put it of and put it off but this week there was no room in the freezer for these, so I had to do something with them and I still wanted that wine.
I am using the recipe here even though these aren't highbush cranberries and I have changed it a bit as I boiled the cranberries and golden raisins first:
Boiled the cranberries then let them cool some and put them in the bucket with a crushed campden tablet.
I did use the lid on the bucket as I don't like the idea of how many bugs I could attract with a bucket with just a cloth on top. It has cooled quite a bit an I will soon add the sugar, yeast nutrient and pectic enzyme.
I think I may need a few more things before I am through. I have one airlock and bung but I only have gallon jugs to use as "secondaries" (so far) so may need another bung and airlock for this much.
I am very interested to see how this turns out. I have wanted to try wine making for a long time. It seems complicated at first since I have never done it but last year bacon and sausage making were a mystery too so I am sure...eventually, I will at least turn out a product that is drinkable. I wouldn't know a good wine from a bad one though so I guess "drinkable" is the best I can do....well, alcoholic would be nice too.
I made my first (and only) batch of wine at age 16 and it turned out passable. You'll do fine.
ReplyDeleteThanks Gorges! I really do hope so. Now why did you never make any more?
DeleteHey Becky, you really are pushing the boundaries this time! You'll be a wine connoisseur before you know it. Maybe Cranberry wine goes well with roast pork?
ReplyDeleteLOL, here anything alcoholic goes with.. anything. We are not real picky. We'll be having some of the ribs tonight. If I had room in the freezer we would have 5 more chickens in there and 15 quail, all of which are ready to be butchered and just waiting on freezer space.
DeleteI'll be curious to see how this batch turns out. Typically you don't boil your fruit. Your recipe said to boil the water and pour it over the cranberries and raisins. Can't wait to hear of your first taste test!
ReplyDeleteOh, did you drill a hole and put the air lock in the lid of your bucket? You'll want to make sure you give the gases a way out of your bucket, too. I'm not telling you something you probably already know, though.
ReplyDeleteYou may also want to acquire a food grade bucket next time. I ask at the bakery counter for the food grade buckets that their frosting comes in. Or someplace like Subway (or a local sandwich shop) who uses large amounts of pickles or sundry. Sometimes they give them away, sometimes they sell them to you for $1 or some small amount. They usually come with lids, too.
The bucket was food grade. Most of them are now. I know what the recipe said but I read several recipe where they boiled it first so I am not worried. A lot of recipes just used store bought juice which, of course, is heated as well.
DeleteI see no reason to put an airlock on the bucket since I have to open it every day to stir it anyway. I am sure the gases can get out then, don't you think?
It depends on how long you leave the mixture in your primary. Once you put the yeast in (the yeast will do much better if you proof it in a little water before adding it to your primary, just like when baking), it will take two to three days before it starts to "work". By that time, it really produces a lot of gas. My brew bucket has a hole in the top with a rubber grommet that keeps it airtight when the airlock is inserted. That airlock definitely gets to bubbling pretty hard. I might be worried that it would blow the lid off your bucket, if you snap it down tight. If you're just sitting the lid on the bucket, then it should allow the gases to escape, but it will also allow wild yeast to get into your wine, causing some off flavors. (Lambic beer is brewed using wild yeast from the air, leaving a sour aftertaste.)
ReplyDeleteOk, but the original recipe called for just putting a cloth over it which in our house would mean bugs or ants coming to it so I thought the lid would be better. Maybe I can get him to drill a hole in it for me. I'll see. I believe it is supposed to be in the primary 14 days.
DeleteSo when you proof the yeast does the water have to be warm?
Appreciate all your help!
Ok, got him to drill me the hole and sterilized and got the airlock on. Thanks again!
DeleteI started out by putting a cloth over my canner (that was a batch of raspberry wine and I used bread yeast.) After getting advice from a wine & beer making business, I got the brew bucket and used wine yeast. It turned out pretty good, even after a rocky start. So, you're way ahead of where I was!
DeleteThe wine/beer guy told me that sprinkling the yeast in your primary without proofing it can cause up to half of the yeast to die. So, just like when you're making bread, I put the yeast in a little bowl or cup with about 1/4 cup warm water. It has been said that yeast does best when the water is approx 110 degrees F. The water from your hot faucet should be OK, but you can check it make sure, if you want. When it's warmer than that, it could possibly kill the yeast before you add it to your ingredients. It will still soften if put in cold water, but takes longer for it to become active.
I'm thinking the rubber grommet on my bucket lid got old, so used some putty to seal the crack between the airlock and the lid. It worked really well. Have fun with this!
I had heard you could do that, use bread yeast, lol, but I just never wanted to waste all that fruit in case it didn't turn out right.
DeleteDo you have posts about your wine making on your blog? I used the search on your blog but got a post about pigs and sheep, lol.
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DeleteMy father was always an experimenter. He made wine and soap, canned, smoked meat, baked bread.... I'm sure that's where I get my experimenting nature. I think the very first time I made wine I was living at home with my folks... cherry? It wasn't awful, that's all I remember. I used bread yeast then, too, not realizing there was any real difference in yeasts (bread, wine, beer, etc). But after my visit to the beer/wine making store where I carried my canner full of elderberry wine in with me and asked what else I could do to make it better, that's when I started learning. I bought a little booklet with wine recipes and I was off and running. I could never drink all the wine I made. There's just something about having a bucket of something bubbling away in the corner of your kitchen that's exciting, isn't there? If you're interested, I have a recipe for Corn Wine. You use sweet corn and oranges. There's a lot of alcohol in that one... It'll knock your socks off!
DeleteAt the beginning of my blog it was more about animals and such. I've branched out and started talking about all of the other things that happen here! LOL Thanks for the idea .. stay tuned for some of the more interesting things that have happened in the past.
Yup, I would definitely love to see any recipes that you have! Before I started looking into winemaking I never knew you could use all these different things. I thought you had to use fruit. Was just looking at one for wisteria flowers! Geez the stuff grows everywhere here in the spring!
DeleteThat's so awesome! Thank you for showing us the journey (the beginning at least). Keep us posted, I've ALWAYS wanted to try my hand at this and I have heard of dewberry wine and so next Spring when we have more dewberries than we know what to do with, I'd love to try this. It does seem intimidating but as always, you'll break down the mystery for us, I know it!
ReplyDeleteThank you.
Well thanks. I hope I eventually get it right anyway. If not at least you'll know what not to do.
DeleteLove this thread - will be watching with interest!
ReplyDelete"BURP" Oops, excuse me.
ReplyDeleteI'm going to try this with some dewberries I have in the freezer, but need to find a wine store for the rest of the supplies. I'm excited to try this. There is always some kind of fruit available.
ReplyDeleteI don't have a wine store here. I bought everything off eBay or Amazon.
DeleteBecky
ReplyDeleteGoogle up wine supplies. You'll get lots of Wine supply shops, and they all do mail order business. Although we have a beer/wine supply store in Anchorage (Alaska) Rather than a 120 mile round trip drive to buy supplies, I find it much more convenient to order a lot of my supplies on-line from various suppliers in the Lower 48 and have them mailed to me. It's only 6 miles to the Post office. I've been making Rhubarb as well as Raspberry wine for a few years now. They both grow quite proficiently here in South Central Alaska. This year we had a bumper crop of wild blueberries, so I've got a batch of blueberries going in a primary right now. Regards John