Wine from cranberries at home: cooking features and recipes

Cranberries by their characteristics - not quite suitable for winemaking berry. Due to high acidity (3.25%) and low sugar content (3.6%), its juice must be diluted during cooking. This significantly reduces the activity of raw materials and gives the finished beverage some wateriness. Nevertheless, many northern regions of Russia have long been preparing cranberry wine, using a variety of ways and secrets for this. For example, consider some of the most interesting options.

Natural product

To make the wine from cranberries turn out not so sour, it is better to use the berries collected after the first frost. At this time, they contain the maximum amount of sugar, which positively affects the quality of the raw materials. To work, you need to take 5 kilograms of fresh cranberries, sugar and clean water.

The preparation process takes place in several stages:

1. First, the berries need to be sorted out, removing all the garbage and rotten fruits from them.
2. Then they must be grinded, turning into a homogeneous mass.
3. Shredded product mixed with water, add a half kilo of sugar and put in a deep container. To prevent mechanical impurities from getting into it, it is best to cover the surface with gauze.
4. Capacity to put in a dark warm place for five days. In this case, the contents should be mixed daily with a hand or with a wooden spoon.
5. At the end of time, a dense "cap" consisting of pulp will appear on the surface. Then the liquid must be gently drained into another clean container. It is better to use a glass bottle for this. So it will be easier to control the process. You do not need to throw out the mash. It should be squeezed a couple of times through several layers of gauze and also added to the fermentation tank.
6. In the resulting wort, add 2 kg of sugar and mix the contents. From above on a neck of a bottle to stretch a rubber glove, nakolov preliminary each finger a needle. It will play the role of a water seal. The container should be put in a dark place and kept there at room temperature (25 degrees).
7. After 4 days a part of the liquid must be drained, add to it one and a half kilograms of sugar and the resulting solution is put back in the bottle.
8. After waiting 3-4 days, the procedure must be repeated. At this stage, the remaining sugar (1 kilogram) is consumed.
9. After this, the product must be left alone. The process of fermentation lasts, as a rule, from 3 to 4.5 weeks. By the end of the period, a dense deposit should appear on the bottom, and the rubber glove will settle. This indicates the end of fermentation.
10. Then the pure wine should be carefully drained into cans and put them in a cool dark place for a period of 3 to 6 months. This time is required for product aging.

At the end of the process, a precipitate may appear again. A clean product must also be drained through a tube. So it turns out real wine from cranberries. Now the finished product can be poured over ordinary glass bottles and stored for several years in a cool place, periodically taking it out to enjoy a pleasant taste and delicate aroma.

Without the use of starter

In principle, a good wine of cranberries can be made without leaven. For this, the products will need to be taken in the following ratio: 4.1 liters of cranberry juice 3.6 kilograms of sugar and 1.4 liters of water.

The process technology will also change:

1. First, a well-washed raw material should be placed for 50 minutes in clean, cold water.
2. After this, the berries should be thoroughly crushed. The resulting cake together with the juice leave to wander for 13 days.
3. Add sugar, mix and place the contents in a bottle. On the neck pull a rubber glove with punctured fingers. In this situation, the mixture should wander for another 29 days.
4. At the last stage, the ready-made drink must be cleaned of impurities. For this you can use gauze. The procedure can be repeated several times.

After this, the product should be poured into special containers (bottles) and put in a cool place for ripening. In a month and a half, the wine will be completely ready for consumption.

Fortified drink

Anyone who prefers stronger drinks can try to make homemade cranberry wine with the addition of alcohol. This method has recently been used quite often. For work, you will need: 1 kilogram of berries, a liter of water, 425 grams of sugar and a liter of pure alcohol (96%).

In this case, you must perform the following actions:

1. The washed and well-dried berries must first be crushed. To do this, you can use a blender or a meat grinder.
2. Puree spread on cans, pour alcohol and leave for 7 days to allow the product to stand well.
3. Pour the required amount of water and leave the mixture to ripen for another week.
4. Metered amount of sugar diluted in two liters of water and the resulting solution added to the tincture.
5. The mixture is poured into a saucepan, put it on a fire and heat up to 70 degrees.
6. After the mass has cooled, it must be filtered.
7. Ready-made wine can only be bottled and allowed to stand for at least another 24 hours.

It turns out a fortified drink with a pleasant cranberry taste and aroma.

Home recipes

Not everyone has the opportunity in everyday life to get clean alcohol. Therefore, people usually use products that are easy to find in the store. Good fortified wine from cranberries at home can be done, for example, with the addition of ordinary vodka. At the same time, the taste of the drink remains practically unchanged. For this method, the following ingredients will be needed: for every 500 grams of berries for 1 liter of vodka and water, as well as 1 kilogram of sugar.

Prepare the drink as follows:

1. First, fresh berries must be sorted, washed, and then poured into a colander, so that all water can drain. This will take some time.
2. Cranberries are transferred to a deep container and sprinkled with sugar. Previously, each berry must be pricked with a needle.
3. Half an hour later the juice will appear on the surface. During this time you need to have time to boil the water and let it cool.
4. Pour the contents of the container into a three-liter jar. Add vodka and prepared water, mix, and then cover tightly with a lid.
5. Bank put in a dark place and keep it there for at least a month. The temperature in the room should be approximately 20 degrees. The product can be kept longer. The taste of this will only get better.

After this, the mixture must be gently filtered through the tissue. On the table, it is better to serve such a drink in a faceted decanter in order to better emphasize its unusual color.

Sweet wine

Despite the increased acidity of berries, you can make a very tasty sweet homemade cranberry wine. The recipe for this product can be selected for both men and women. In the first case, you will need: 1 bottle (0.5 liters) of vodka, a glass of sugar and a half cup of berries.

The way of preparation of a drink is extremely simple:

1. Pure berries need to be kneaded first, and then mixed with sugar.
2. The resulting mass is transferred to a liter jar, pour vodka and leave for two weeks, tightly covering it with a plastic lid. During the entire time the composition must be periodically shaken.
3. After that, the jar should be put in the refrigerator for a day, and then filter twice through several layers of gauze. A sharp temperature drop is needed to ensure that the finished product does not have an unpleasant gelatinous precipitate.

Women are known to like sweeter wines. Therefore, before the tasting in the finished product, you need to add a syrup, prepared from two glasses of water and sugar.

This addition will positively affect the shade of the drink. It will become more pronounced. If the wine seems all the same too strong, then a similar procedure can be repeated several more times to achieve the desired result.

Wasteless production

The disadvantage of all the previous ways of making wine is that the berries have to be discarded after the treatment. This is very wasteful considering the huge use of cranberries. Economical housewives should like an interesting option, as a result of which you can also make very delicious wine from cranberries at home. The recipe is good in that it excludes all fermentation, which requires a lot of time. For work you will need:

Sugar, fresh berries of cranberries and vodka (you can also take alcohol or moonshine).

The cooking process consists of three stages:

1. First of all, clean berries must be folded into a basin and covered with sugar. In this state, the cranberries should last for 24 hours. Similarly, the housewives do when they prepare the jam.
2. The next day, you can see that a large amount of juice forms in the basin. It must be drained.
3. Sweet product to connect with vodka in the right amount. Everything will depend on personal taste preferences.

And from the remaining berries you can cook a great jam.