PET carboys and steeping

Good to know. And the tip on soaking upside-down hadn't occurred to me.

However, when I did the cranberry wine from Jack's recipes, I did the hot water over the fruit into a primary plastic bucket, not the carboy.

BTW, my 6 gallons of cranberry will be bottled in January and hopefully ready to sip by next Thanksgiving. You on the same calendar? At this point, mine is real clear. I bought some cranberry flavoring, since it is rather dry.

DAve

Adam Preble wrote:

Jack's recipe assumes the hot soak and primary is done in a bucket. By doing it this way and then pressing the wine a week or so and putting only the juice in the secondary I think you will have less crud stick to the carboy as well.

I have a few of the BB carboys. My only complaint about them is that if I move them while sealed with an airlock, they flex so much that a lot of air is drawn into the carboy. They are OK if you do not move them but then I got them because they were lighter and easier to move.

Ray

Coincidentally, Jack himself was reminding me he was using a bucket during some email traffic we've been sharing. It seems he doesn't know about the PET carboys either. I won't be in a hurry to reuse the carboys right after they're cleared out, so I will likely just soak the whole mess over Christmas.

I have noticed my BB carboy flexes during movement as well. I figured using the PET equivalent of a carboy carrier will circumvent the problem. However, I wouldn't just use a glass carboy one on that thing since I imagine it'll screw it up. I guess fundamentally, squeezing it from the sides during movement has to be avoided somehow.

I don't have a bucket yet, but it's come up with everybody that I've mentioned my procedure to, including Jack Keller himself. I guess if I continue to play with real fruit, I'll have to buy one.

I'm not in a hurry to bottle this wine. Well, I can see myself getting impatient, but I'm pretty sure I can wait this time around. I'm still in primary fermentation, 9 days into it. I will have to transfer the must soon.

The plan was to do a little bit of bulk aging before bottling, especially since I expect I'll have higher than average crud--this is my first attempt at using fruit itself. I figured I'd transfer soon, have it finish off primary fermentation, and rack it into secondary right before Christmas. Somewhere in the process I plan to stick it in the kegerator at 45 degrees to settle out most of the big junk.

Thanks for the heads up on the dryness. I'll probably look for frozen cranberry juice to add more flavor if I have the same problem.

Just a few comments on Jack's cranberry wine. Nice balanced wine but very strong cranberry taste. I found it takes at least 12 to 18 months to become worth drinking and improves beyond that. The cranberry flavor is a bit strong for most men but it seems women to really like it. If possible, I like to open a white grape wine at the same time and splash a bit of each in the glass as a bend. But that is me. ;o) Next time I make it I plan to cut back on the cranberries and add some Welch's Niagara.

Ray

Ray Calvert wrote "The cranberry flavor is a bit strong for most men but it seems women to really like it."

Ray - I agree. I made a cranberry wine in 2003 out of grocery store berries...ended up blending it 50/50 with Sauvignon Blanc. The TA was 0.9 % so I added about 5% sugar, K sorbate and proper sulfite. My Thanksgiving crowd is a beer drinking group but I always have a bottle of white and cranberry open for those soles that can muster up the nerve to drink wine.

This year was a real surprise...Several of the women were seen drinking cranberry wine. Next day my daughter-in-law came for dinner and asked..."where is the cranberry wine?"

After a couple of years in the bottle it's a nice wine. Make some now for next year.

Bill Frazier Olathe, Kansas USA

It sounds like the highbrush cranberry wine on Jack Keller's site is very strong when applied to regular cranberries, particularly to men. I find that kind of interesting. However, I'm generally a "girly man" so I should find it perfect.

It was suggested to me to make it a sparkling dessert wine like a spumante. It sounds like I'll want to sweeten it too. Aren't there little tablets you can get to introduce CO2? If so, I'd use Splenda to sweeten it and the tablets to provide reliable carbonation. I imagine the taste is friendlier if it's bubbling.

I believe I posted a recipe on here for making cranberry wine from a gallon of Ocean Spray cranberry juice. After about a month and half, you get a pretty good blush -- a lot of the red settles out. My big lesson from that is this didn't need much acid blend. In fact, I doubt it needs any at all. I'll add it here if there's a request.

If you don't mind some sediment in the bottom of your bottle, you can make you wine sparkling by just not adding much sulfite when you rack and then adding about 1/2 cup of sugar as a simple syrup per 5 gallons of wine before bottling into champagne bottles (buy the plastic plugs and wire cages at the homebrew store). You can also add a tiny bit of wine yeast and yeast nutrient. Six months later, you'll have sparkling wine, with just a little sediment that you want to be careful not to distrub when your pour (which works pretty well since the wine is usually chilled upright in the fridge before serving anyways). Be careful not to add too much sugar -- just to avoid any exploding bottles.

Jon [Check out my winemaking homepage

The highbush cranberry is not a cranberry at all so perhaps the recipe for a real cranberry wine is or should be different. I have never made a highbush cranberry wine but I planted a couple of them so maybe some year I can get enought o make a little wine.

It certainly would not hurt anything to bulk age for longer, but with 6+ gallons, why not go ahead and rack 5 gallons for bulk aging and bottle the rest for sampling. Heck you might like it young where I do not.

Ray

I've got (2) 5 gallon BB carboys I purchased a few months ago. I agree with your comments and have placed each in a plastic milk crate. I even bought (5) gallons of fresh unpasteurized apple cide in one and transported it about 40 miles in the trunk of my car using the milk crate method. No spills...

To the original poster, you're luck that the hot water was place in the BB carboy, glass could likely shatter under these conditions.

Steve

Good idea, Ray, however, I don't have a 5 gallon carboy. Guess I will get one since that sounds best. I am 2-3 years from "downsizing" my house (after 5 kids) and the next one will have a basement and 3car garage, I need the space, not for kids, but for this hobby/obsession. :* )

DAve

Ray Calvert wrote:

Man, you call THAT "downsizing"?! Tell that to us condo/appartment dwellers.

Pp

You're right, Pp. This hobby is a challenge for everyone except for the houses of the Beverly Hillbillies. smile. OK, now I'm dating myself, too. sigh.

So, I started this hobby in August 2005. I'm up to 2 six & 1/2 gallon carboys, 2 primaries (6 and 7 gallon), 2 three gallon carboys, and 4 one gallon carboys. Is this average, or am I way behind in getting the basics?

I map out all my "starts" so I can have primaries and carboys available

- like a carboy mgmt system. smile. I currently have all carboys filled. Phew. I'm sure this hobby will help me move FROM a type A personality. smile.

DAve

pp wrote:

DAve,

You are doing very well for only being in the hobby for 4 months! I am 15 years into home winemaking and continue to enjoy it immensely. You have the right idea - keep all carboys full. Once you empty one into bottles, start fermenting a new one. That way you keep your "pipleline" full and have a continuous supply of wine.

From my own experience, I encourage you to consider your own backyard vineyard. Growing your own grapes is a great experience. It is so gratifying to make wine from your own grapes, being involved in the entire process. Aside from the work that it requires, it is very relaxing to spend time in the vineyard.

I hope to continue this hobby well into my "downsizing" years.

Regards,

Gary

Right you are. I am retired and have 112 vines in my backyard - I have a double in town lot. There is definately a "connectedness" with our ancestry when growing your own wine. This connectedness predates Christianity.

Just a bit of trivia after viewing your web link;

Did you know that the Greek god of wine, Dionysus, was fathered by a God (Zeus) and was reborn after his death.

It is interesting to note that grape vines seem to die and are "reborn" or resurrected in the spring - around mid April - which usually coincides with Easter.

This is just one of many links on the internet about Dionysus:

Regardless of your particular brand or flavor of religion, winegrowing represents birth, death and resurrection and a continuance of life. No wonder wine growing and drinking is mentioned so often in the Bible.

Dave

I'm sort of in the same boat. Started late this summer with my grandma's muscadine bush. She wanted to retire from making jelly. I look forward to the 30# of muscadines it produces each year. Any way I bought a starter kit but found myself wanting to start filling that Pipeline Gary mentioned. I've opted for a pretty cheap route. I've been buying my water in 3 gallon jugs used for those water coolers. They fit a #10 stopper pretty good. So I use the water and then get to use the jug. Yes, I've experienced all those problems mentioned with them flexing. Worse than just air, the first time I picked one up it sucked most of the water out of my air lock into the wine. I'm a little worried about contamination on that batch. With a couple of online orders for chemicals and supplies I think I'm set now for a little while. I opted for the 3 gallon because since I'm new to the hobby I'm kind of in experiment mode. I've only got a couple of batches going now, got a pretty good delay from Hurricane Katrina. But I just kicked off an apple the other day and look forward to start filling that pipe some more.

Hap

I suspected this, and I emailed Jack Keller specifically for a cranberry wine recipe. He referred me to that recipe. I'll have to wait and see.

Fundametally, I don't think the recipe will be flawed even if they don't match up. It looks like a pretty standard mix of fruit w/ raisins and sugar on top of it all. Still, I feel I should give it a good taste before I start aging it.