Pick the chokecherries early when they are red, just
turning ripe
Heat in warm water to soften
Crush and
place in a crock with a gallon of warm water
Add 1
pound of sugar and a yeast cake
Decant the juice after
a day and put the juice in a 5-gallon keg
Add 1 pound
of sugar to the keg, mix, cork lightly, and cover with a
clean, damp burlap bag
After another day, add 1 gallon
of water to the berries, 1 pound of sugar, and let work
another day.
Press out the juice, discard the berries
Add the juice
to that already in the keg, stir in the remainder of the 8
pounds of sugar, fill with water to the 4-1 /2 gallon point,
cork lightly, cover as before, and allow to work for sever-
al days.
Keep close watch and when the fermentation starts to
subside but the wine is still sweet, add brandy or alcohol
in sufficient quantity to kill the fermentation
Cork
tightly and leave for about 6 weeks
In that time the
wine should be a clear scarlet and have the marked fla-
vor of maraschino cherries
Recask, filling the keg to the
cork with a 20 percent mixture of alcohol and water, per-
haps in the form of brandy or vodka mixed with water
one-for-one
A cupful of cracked chokecheriy stones will
increase the cherry flavor.
