Cranberry Wine (About five gallons)

10 # Sugar (Mixture of white and light brown)
4# Honey
4 Tea Yeast Nutrient
1 Tea Gypsum
1 Tea Energizer
6 Bay Leaves
5 Cinnamon Sticks
1 Tea White Pepper Corns
60 Oz. Cranberry (5 Bags)
6 Tea Bags soaked overnight
1 Package Pasteur Champagne Yeast
* Water


Steps required for this batch

  • Place about 2 Gallons of water in a large pot and bring to a simmer.
  • Grate cranberry to a mush.
  • Add all ingredients to simmering water except yeast and tea bags.
  • Let steep until the aroma of all ingredients is present and blended. The aroma of this mixture should resemble cranberry sauce.
  • Place one gallon of cold water into carboy.
  • Slowly pour liquid from the simmering pot though several large strainers into the carboy. Remove as much of the pulp as possible.
  • Top off carboy with cold/cool water up to top of the neck.
  • When mixture is less than 80 degrees (F) pitch in the yeast.
  • Stopper carboy and mix completely.
  • Pour off 1/2 gallon into a seperate one gallon jar and stopper with an air lock.
  • Top carboy off with cold water to just past the shoulder of the carboy.
  • Cover carboy with a towel held in place with a rubber band.
  • Move carboy and jar to an area that is about sixty degrees. Expect both the jar and carboy to foam heavily for the first 2 or 3 days.
  • Your S.G. reading should be approximately 1.103
  • After 12 hours press liquid from the tea bags and add to main carboy.


Log Notes

  • 1/5/98 Started.
  • 1/10/98 Add air lock to both.
  • 1/18/98 S.G. 1.016. Active ferment.
  • 2/1/98 S.G. 1.004. Racked to new carboy, had a very slight egg taste.
    Poured back into a clean carboy to air the wine. This eliminated the taste.
    Following racking down about 1.5 quarts. Added 4 Cups Orange Juice. Very nice cranberry taste.
  • 2/11/98 Ferment has stopped. Still lots of sugar. Rack to new carboy pitch in more champagne yeast and toasted oak chips.
  • 2/24/98 Ferment is not visually noticable. Added 1 Tab of Acid Blend and 1 1/4 Tea of Yeast Energizer. The S.G. is still 1.003. The cranberry flavor is still there but the sweetness is making it hard to predict how this one will taste. The oak chips are adding slight flavor.
  • 3/20/98 Recent hot weather has this one going again. Slow ferment S.G. 1.002. Add 1 Tea. Tannin.
  • 4/7/98 Still slow. S.G.1.001. Nice Taste, adding more oak chips.
  • 4/22/98 S.G. .996. Taste is exceptional. Tannin has improved the wine considerably.
  • 5/3/98 S.G. .994. Wow nice dry flavor. Still perking nicely.
  • 5/7/98 S.G. .992. Add 1 cup toasted oak chips. 1 Tea tannin.
  • 5/29/98 S.G. .990. Add cranberry extract amd place in fridge to filter.
  • 03/17/99 Settling nicely. Good cranberry/spice flavor. Strong.
  • 03/30/99 Racked to gallon bottles. Strong, needs some time to mellow. S.G. .990 Blended half a gallon of this with the apple wine.