i have several quarts of canned chokecherry juice left over from jelly making and want to know some simple wine recipes for it

-- russell brown (rlb1469@enetis.net), September 10, 2000

Answers

A simple recipe is mix the juice with 1 lb sugar, 1 qt warm water, 2pkg bakers yeast in a 5 gal bucket. let ferment 5 days. Siphon into glass secondary, install airlock and pray. This will produce a low to medium strength wine. If you prefer a more suitable wine, one of the recipe books I have has 2 recipes. They are:

dinner wine

2 1/2 lb chokecherry 1/2 pt red grape concentrate or 1 lb raisins 7 pt water 2 1/4 lb sugar 1/2 tsp acid blend 1 tsp pectic enzyme 1 tsp nutrient 1 campden, crushed 1 pkg wine yeast

starting s.g. 1.090 to 1.095

dessert wine

8 lb chokecherry 7 pt water 2 3/4 lb sugar 1 tsp pectic enzyme 1/2 tsp energizer 1 campden, crush 1 pkg sherry yeast

Method:

Pick fruit fully ripe black-purple. Wash and remove stems,leaves and badly bruised fruit. Mash without breaking bitter pits. strain out juice into primary fermenter. Keeping all fruit pulp in strainer bag, tie top and place in primary. stir in all other ingredients, except yeast. Cover primary with cloth. After 24 hrs add yeast. Cover primary. Stir daily, squeeze pulp bag. When ferment reaches s.g. 1.030 (about 5 days) , strain juice from pulp bag and siphon ferment into glass jug secondary. Attach airlock and let work.When ferment is complete (s.g. has dropped to 1.000 - about 3 weeks) siphon wine off sediments into clean secondary, reinstall airlock and let it outgas until airlock levels (1 to 3 months). siphon off sediments to aid clearing. You can contact E.C. Kraus Winemaking Supply at 816-254-7448 for a free catalog that actually reads like an instruction manual. Also with first order, they give a free recipe book of over 100 different types. That is where the preceeding recipes were found.

-- Jay Blair (jayblair678@yahoo.com), September 11, 2000.

Hey there, Here is a link to my favorite brewing supply company. This is where quite a few of the brewers supply places get their stuff. lISTERMANN MANUFACTURING CO. They are also great for all sorts of brewing information, especially if you are close enough to get to their store.

Enjoy!

-- Connie (Connie@lunehaven.com), September 11, 2000.