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:
> 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
>
> "DAve Allison" > wrote in message
> . ..
>
>>ah. Good information. With 6 1/2 gallons of cranberry wine using Jack's
>>recipe (modified w/ 2 cans of cranberry fruit wine base from Homebrew
>>Heaven (www.homebrewheaven.com) which has real cranberries in it), if I
>>might want to wait 12-18 months, maybe i should bulk store it for more of
>>that time. I started it in late september. This last racking has been for
>>2 months, I had planned on stablizing it in January.
>>Would you say leaving it in the carboy after stablizing for another 12
>>months is good for it? then bottle and wait another 6+?
>>Or if it doesn't matter, i'd just as soon bottle and reuse the carboy.
>>smile.
>>DAve
>>
>>Ray Calvert wrote:
>>
>>>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 ofyes, if 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
>>>
>>>"Adam Preble" > wrote in message
.. .
>>>
>>>
>>>>DAve Allison wrote:
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>>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.
>>>>
>>>>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.
>>>
>>>
>