This was one of the first wines I made, and actually made it by accident, as originally I put in almost twice the amount of cranberry, raisins and sugar and ended up having to diluting it. As I had put too much sugar in, not all of it had fermented. I then added it to bottles, and it went fizzy with the rest of the sugar fermenting. It turned out to be the nicest wine I have ever made, but due to all the diluting down etc, which was done very, un-scientifically, I was unable to replicate the wine again!
Following loads of trial and error, and pushing my mathematical skills to their limits, I have finally been able to replicate it! This time, I wanted to be so sure of recording the recipe, I have photographed the step by step process for making it, and put it up here and on my page (
www.facebook.com/HomeBrewBottleSwap) so I could make it whenever I wanted.
NOTE that I am following the 2 gallon recipe here! I used general purpose wine yeast, but I think this could be improved by using Lalvin EC-118.
I havent shown everything being sterilised, but of course, you need to ensure this. I hope anyone who makes this enjoys it as much as I do!
Equipment
Primary Fermenter Food grade bucket with lid and airlock
Secondary Fermenter 5 litre / gallon glass or plastic demijohn and airlock
Fine Muslin (Straining Bag)
Funnel
500ml to 1 litre bottles
Heat Pad if room below 20C
Siphon
Weighing Scales
Hydrometer for SG (Standard Gravity) readings & 250ml measuring cylinder
Sterilisation Powder / Tablets
Pectic Enzyme Powder
Finings
Chop raisins into small pieces. Add the raisins and the sugar to saucepan and cover with water. Boil for a bit to dissolve the sugar, sterilise the ingredients and get some of the flavour out of the raisins. Add the cranberry juice and raisin syrup to your primary fermenter
Add the pectic enzyme, 1 teaspoon of yeast and yeast nutrient,
Fix lid and fit air lock,
After 2 weeks, strain through fine muslin to remove pulp then pour into demijohn,
Top up to the neck with cool boiled / bottled water, fit airlock and leave to ferment for 6 weeks, siphoning from sediment every few weeks when sediment builds,
Add fining agent,
When fermentation has stopped and SG is at 1.000, siphon and add 60g dissolved sugar and then bottle in strong Champagne / Grolsch / plastic bottles, and leave for a further month until wine is ready.
The mesh bag was KEY to making that project a success. Being able to contain the pulp and let it drain out meant I could pack the strawberries and give them a good mashing.
