By "PET" I don't mean "meow meow," but rather the Better Bottle, plastic
carboys that have been brought up before. I bought one a few months ago
and found it much more manageable than a glass carboy. I haven't
noticed any problems in using plastic, other than it being slightly
fussy to clean dried crud from the very top of it--soaking it
upside-down tends to loosen things up. The only problem has been heat.

I was following one of Jack Keller's recipes for making cranberry wine,
which required introducing hot water into the container. The water was
to be poured over the fruit and sugar. Unfortunately, this heat caused
the carboy to implode a little bit. It was like microwaving cheap
tupperware with the lid sealed. The container isn't what I'd consider
damaged, but I wouldn't be doing that again with the container either.

This wasn't mentioned last time these carboys were brought up, so I
thought I'd contribute it as the only downside I see in using them over
glass carboys.

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:
> By "PET" I don't mean "meow meow," but rather the Better Bottle, plastic
> carboys that have been brought up before. I bought one a few months ago
> and found it much more manageable than a glass carboy. I haven't
> noticed any problems in using plastic, other than it being slightly
> fussy to clean dried crud from the very top of it--soaking it
> upside-down tends to loosen things up. The only problem has been heat.
>
> I was following one of Jack Keller's recipes for making cranberry wine,
> which required introducing hot water into the container. The water was
> to be poured over the fruit and sugar. Unfortunately, this heat caused
> the carboy to implode a little bit. It was like microwaving cheap
> tupperware with the lid sealed. The container isn't what I'd consider
> damaged, but I wouldn't be doing that again with the container either.
>
> This wasn't mentioned last time these carboys were brought up, so I
> thought I'd contribute it as the only downside I see in using them over
> glass carboys.

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.

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

"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.

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.
>
>
>

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.
>>
>>

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

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

"Adam Preble" > wrote in message
...
> By "PET" I don't mean "meow meow," but rather the Better Bottle, plastic
> carboys that have been brought up before. I bought one a few months ago
> and found it much more manageable than a glass carboy. I haven't noticed
> any problems in using plastic, other than it being slightly fussy to clean
> dried crud from the very top of it--soaking it upside-down tends to loosen
> things up. The only problem has been heat.
>
> I was following one of Jack Keller's recipes for making cranberry wine,
> which required introducing hot water into the container. The water was to
> be poured over the fruit and sugar. Unfortunately, this heat caused the
> carboy to implode a little bit. It was like microwaving cheap tupperware
> with the lid sealed. The container isn't what I'd consider damaged, but I
> wouldn't be doing that again with the container either.
>
> This wasn't mentioned last time these carboys were brought up, so I
> thought I'd contribute it as the only downside I see in using them over
> glass carboys.

Ray Calvert 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.

"Ray Calvert" > wrote in message
. net...
> 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.

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

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
http://users.rcn.com/jcgilliam/Southeast_PA_Winemaker/!]

"Adam Preble" > wrote in message
...

> 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.

"Adam Preble" > wrote in message
...
> 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.

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.

Paul E. Lehmann wrote:
> 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.
>

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.

Adam Preble wrote:
> By "PET" I don't mean "meow meow," but rather the Better Bottle, plastic
> carboys that have been brought up before. I bought one a few months ago
> and found it much more manageable than a glass carboy. I haven't
> noticed any problems in using plastic, other than it being slightly
> fussy to clean dried crud from the very top of it--soaking it
> upside-down tends to loosen things up. The only problem has been heat.

And if anyone needs a source... http://tinyurl.com/9amst
I just ordered some drum plugs and a drum wrench and they delivered in 3
days.

Steve