# Raspberry Wine



## silverbullet07 (Oct 31, 2020)

@hounddawg @Scooter68 
I received the Raspberry Concentrate from Brownwood Acres . It is 65 brix. and average brix for Raspberry is 10.5. I believe I will get a 1:5.5 - 1 qt to 1.75 gal water ratio to get full strength juice. If I want a strong berry flavor. I should not add any additional Water should I? Keep it full strength?


----------



## jgmillr1 (Oct 31, 2020)

Yes, I would keep it full strength for the most flavor. You'll want to check the pH and TA to be sure they are where you want. You may need to add some calcium carbonate or potassium bicarbonate to get the pH over 3.1 and while lowering the TA.


----------



## hounddawg (Oct 31, 2020)

silverbullet07 said:


> @hounddawg @Scooter68
> I received the Raspberry Concentrate from Brownwood Acres . It is 65 brix. and average brix for Raspberry is 10.5. I believe I will get a 1:5.5 - 1 qt to 1.75 gal water ratio to get full strength juice. If I want a strong berry flavor. I should not add any additional Water should I? Keep it full strength?


I'm planning on adding 1qt, to 1 gallon fluid. except for elderberry 1 qt. concentrate to 1.5 gal fluid, I've dome black raspberry and i'd mix black raspberry same as black elderberry, i have no clue about red raspberry,,, I've yet to make red raspberry,,,
Dawg


----------



## silverbullet07 (Oct 31, 2020)

Maybe I should do a taste test. 1oz to 4 oz ; 1oz to 5 ; 1 oz to 5.5

if I get the juice the flavor I like, will it carry through to the wine


----------



## Rice_Guy (Oct 31, 2020)

Typical raspberry is run at 4 pounds per gallon which gets the TA in line. ,,, some examples
Raspberry: red 2018 pH 3.04/ TA 2.26%/ gravity 1.037 . . . 2019 pH 3.19/ TA 2.18%/ gravity 1.035 . . . 2020 pH 3.46/ TA 2.26%/ gravity 1.034
raspberry: black 2018 pH 3.58/ TA 1.49%/ gravity 1.039 . . . 2019 pH 3.48/ TA 1.81%/ gravity 1.036 . . . 2020 pH 3.87/ TA 2.08%/ gravity 1.028

I can see running reconstituted straight juice but you may have to adjust the TA. I like high fruit and will push the TA up to 1 or even 1.25% and back sweeten to 1.015 to balance the finished wine, but then I grow em and i size the batch for which size carboy I am racking into.


----------



## silverbullet07 (Oct 31, 2020)

Rice_Guy said:


> I can see running reconstituted straight juice but you may have to adjust the TA. I like high fruit and will push the TA up to 1 or even 1.25% and back sweeten to 1.015 to balance the finished wine, but then I grow em and i size the batch for which size carboy I am racking into.



I do not understand the TA that low. i thought wine should have 5-6 %. The lowest TA I’ve seen has been 3%. The PH was around 3.65. PH would have have to be close to 4 to see TA 1% wouldn’t it? seems as I lower the PH the higher the TA. Your numbers are Lower PH and low TA. 
So you have finished wine at 1.25%. This is just lower then I’ve been reading about so i do not quite understand. I’ve been told to try to keep ph around 3.4 -3.6. TA 5-6%.


----------



## Rice_Guy (Oct 31, 2020)

Five to seven grams per liter (1000 ml) or 0.5 to 0.7% (100 ml). You need to to decide how you look at the units.
12.5 grams per liter (1.25%) is enough that it will draw ones attention in a finished wine. I like to keep the pH between 3.2 and 3.4 due to better SO2 generation, ,,, and normally the more acid the lower the pH.


----------



## silverbullet07 (Oct 31, 2020)

I think I understand. Your 1-1.25% is 10 g/l - 12.5 g/l. So driving up in this range you get a little tingle on your tongue? My blueberry finished is 5 g/l. When I bottle would increasing it with citric acid a touch improve it and make it pop some?


----------



## Rice_Guy (Nov 1, 2020)

depends, ,,, how sweet will you make it?


silverbullet07 said:


> I think I understand. Your 1-1.25% is 10 g/l - 12.5 g/l. So driving up in this range you get a little tingle on your tongue? My blueberry finished is 5 g/l. When I bottle would increasing it with citric acid a touch improve it and make it pop some?


.


Rice_Guy said:


> Low TA produces what is called a flabby wine. . . Aug 2020 . : 766650 . . looking for balance . .
> 
> View attachment 64995
> 
> the key is TA is a tool which is useful in producing acceptable product


----------



## silverbullet07 (Nov 1, 2020)

I cannot say how sweet I will be going yet. We will pull some and create some samples with different levels of sweetness. We are normally dry to semi Range. 

I’m thinking adding blueberry concentrate as a back sweetener. This may add some more fruitiness flavor too As well as increasing the TA.

i’ll just have to experiment with all this. Thanks for making me think about it.


----------



## hounddawg (Nov 1, 2020)

that 2018 black raspberry SG of 1.045 sounds killer to me, hey uncle rice, lol\
Dawg///

so far i take SG, ALL THE WAY THROUGH and PH, I've yet to ever take TA,, as well i taste test at all levels 
Dawg


----------



## G259 (Nov 1, 2020)

BTW everyone, Dawg is a sugar MANIAC! I'm not laughing, he likes a LOT of sugar, lol!
I taste test at all levels too, usually I say 'Let's try that . . . again. Hey, there's none left!
I recently had a wine at 1.005, that was called 'sweet' by my testers, I'll add acid to the rest.

Sorry Dawg, I know about the circumstances, but it's way too high for most.


----------



## hounddawg (Nov 1, 2020)

G259 said:


> BTW everyone, Dawg is a sugar MANIAC! I'm not laughing, he likes a LOT of sugar, lol!
> I taste test at all levels too, usually I say 'Let's try that . . . again. Hey, there's none left!
> I recently had a wine at 1.005, that was called 'sweet' by my testers, I'll add acid to the rest.
> 
> Sorry Dawg, I know about the circumstances, but it's way too high for most.


with my trach it takes more of everything for me to taste, i am very happy that you drink like you like, oh i like to tease some, i respect all the levels that each craft, but since i'm not to bright i like teasing, life's short, i figure every smile i cause is a good thing, you never have to tell me your sorry,


----------



## silverbullet07 (Nov 3, 2020)

@hounddawg @Rice_Guy 
I started working with the Red Raspberry concentrate today. I did a couple taste tests and I really like the 1:4 ratio over the 1:4.5. I like the bold fruit taste I get. this will reduce to 1gal water to every quart. The BRIX at 1:4 reduced to 17. PH 3.31 TA 26.6 g/L. or 2.66% Added Sugar to get to SG 1.093

Red Raspberry - PH 3.31 TA 26.6 g/L. or 2.66% 

Do you think I will be fine to pitch yeast with a PH 3.31 or should I up it to 3.4? Seems like the PH is higher then I would expect with the TA being 2.66% What say you?

I've already have the SG adjusted to 1.093 and have added campden taps and will add pectic enzyme tonight.


----------



## hounddawg (Nov 3, 2020)

silverbullet07 said:


> @hounddawg @Rice_Guy
> I started working with the Red Raspberry concentrate today. I did a couple taste tests and I really like the 1:4 ratio over the 1:4.5. I like the bold fruit taste I get. this will reduce to 1gal water to every quart. The BRIX at 1:4 reduced to 17. PH 3.31 TA 26.6 g/L. or 2.66% Added Sugar to get to SG 1.093
> 
> Red Raspberry - PH 3.31 TA 26.6 g/L. or 2.66%
> ...


PITCH IT, i would,
Dawg


----------



## Rice_Guy (Nov 3, 2020)

metabisulphite is more active at pH 3.2 or 3.1, ,,, I go for shelf life so I _NEVER _aim above 3.4.
yup like @hounddawg says run with it.


silverbullet07 said:


> Do you think I will be fine to pitch yeast with a PH 3.31 or should I up it to 3.4? Seems like the PH is higher then I would expect with the TA being 2.66% What say you?


* looking at what the accuracy of meters and probes is you may already be at 3.3999, ,,, you are asking to change 0.09 unit which will be technically be hard to do since it is so small
* I think you are saying the TA is either 0.26% or 2.7 grams per liter. If I had a TA of 2.66% (26.6 grams per liter) I would be tempted to keep that fruit in the freezer and use it as a “natural” food that I could use instead of chemical acid blend. ,,, If the TA is 0.27% and it tastes fairly acid I would rerun the test with new sodium hydroxide. ,,, If the taste is weak, sugar syrupy, I would consider adding acid to get the TA up to 0.5% (5.0 grams per liter) or to drop the pH to 3.20, which is safe for a fermentation, ,,, and expect that when it is bottle time I’d decide the wine is flabby and then add more acid blend to get the taste correct.


----------



## silverbullet07 (Nov 3, 2020)

@Rice_Guy the sodium hydroxide is fairly new. I purchased it in Aug and have been using it the last few months. I believe it is 26.6 g/l. My calculation is (75*35.5ml*.1naoh)/10ml = 26.62 g/l.

this is concentrate. 65 brix that I reduced 1:4. 1 gal water to 32oz concentrate. It taste strong Which I like. I do have another bottle I can try.


----------



## silverbullet07 (Nov 4, 2020)

Did another TA test this morning. Used a new bottle of sodium hydroxide with a .2 normal
(75*16.2ml *.2n)/10ml = 24.3 g/L Looks like TA came down a little over night but not much.
My Starting numbers PH 3.34 / TA 2.43% SG 1.092

@Rice_Guy
It looks like I am in line with what you posted above.
Raspberry: red 2018 pH 3.04/ TA 2.26%/ gravity 1.037 . . . 2019 pH 3.19/ TA 2.18%/ gravity 1.035 . . . 2020 pH 3.46/ TA 2.26%/ gravity 1.034


----------



## Rice_Guy (Nov 4, 2020)

lots of flavor 

high TA, good pH, it will be an interesting wine


----------



## silverbullet07 (Nov 11, 2020)

Well my fermentation stopped at 1.010. No activity in primary. I had stirred every day - two times. And after it hit 1.010 and slowed I added a teaspoon of yeast energizer and stirred with nothing happening. I was afraid that there was not enough happening, so I have moved it into a carboy.

This was my first that stopped this early. Started 1.092 and it has been 1.010 for a few days. Should i just let it ride for now in the carboy?


----------



## Rice_Guy (Nov 11, 2020)

I like sweet therefore would say “excellent, won’t have to back sweeten this one” ,,, but then again might push it up to 1.015. 
A few days isn’t much time,


----------



## silverbullet07 (Nov 11, 2020)

I was thinking the same but I would have liked the ABV to be a little higher but I can live with it what ever it ends up as.


----------



## Scooter68 (Nov 11, 2020)

Well your ABV is certainly in the acceptable/safe range at 10.76% so, I'd just rack to carboy if not already there or perhaps rack off the lees and give it a couple of days before adding any K-meta. As long as it's under airlock, a couple of days isn't going to hurt anything and if it drops a little more... CO2 off-gassing should protect the wine for several days to a week - especially if you can see any fine bubbles or a slow rise in the airlock. Otherwise - If you are happy with 10.76%ABV hit it with K-meta and start the aging. 1.010 shouldn't be really sweet I would expect - depending on personal preferences.


----------



## silverbullet07 (Nov 11, 2020)

Thanks. I have it in a carboy now Under airlock. I’ll rack agiaim in a few days when a lot of the Lee’s drop down. Then I’ll rack and add k-meta. the raspberry flavor is strong and It is very dark. It is a little bitter but when I add just a little simple syrup to a sample it was Pretty darn good. The TA was high so the little sweet helps I guess.


----------



## Arne (Nov 12, 2020)

You might be aware it is getting to the time of year when things cool off a bit. Tends to slow the ferments down if it gets a little cooler in the winery. Now rack it off the lees and take most but not all the yeast out of the ferment. It can slow way down and look like it is stuck. Sometimes if you warm it up a bit it will take back off again. Sometimes it just takes time before it takes off again. Just so you know you might be in for a suprise down the road. THis is one time you can probably stabalize and be all right. Time will tell. Good luck with it, Arne.


----------



## Scooter68 (Nov 12, 2020)

I had a couple of batches that experienced a drop in SG over the aging process. No evidence of fermentation in the airlocks but the SG did drop about .010 over 8-9 months time. That was too much to be just a minor error in reading the Hydrometer so I just marched on and at the end stabilized with K-Meta and K-Sorbate, back-sweetened and bottled. At 1.010 you aren't looking at an overly sweet wine so as Arne said just roll with it.


----------



## silverbullet07 (Nov 12, 2020)

Thanks for the input. I am rolling forward.


----------



## silverbullet07 (Mar 25, 2021)

My Raspberry is getting to the stage to be bottled soon and I was doing a few bench trials back sweetening it. It seems to cut the tartness level to make it very nice, I have to add 20ml simple syrup to 100 ml wine. This takes the sg to 1.050. I purchased a couple Raspberry wines from two different vineyards and this seems to be in the range they were in. It seems to be the most pleasant range for us. If you remember when I made it, I used three qts of Concentrate for a little over 3 gals of finished wine. Next time I'll start with 4.5 gal for the 3 qts. Maybe the TA will not be so high.


----------



## silverbullet07 (Apr 1, 2021)

So doing some more research on how to handle my raspberry wine. I need to back sweeten it quite a bit to smooth out the tartness. Since I have to add so much volume my abv goes from 10% to 8%. So my thoughts are to add everclear 151 to the wine to bump up the abv from 10% to 15%. Then when I backsweeten the abv would round out about 12.5%. 

My raspberry is really bold, dark and strong and I think it will handle the extra volume fine. I just want to make sure I can't taste the everclear. Never tried it before. I would have to add 30oz to 3 gals of wine. What are some thoughts on this?


----------



## Scooter68 (Apr 1, 2021)

Didn't read the posts in detail but is this a black or red raspberry wine. Red normally is not tart at all, black raspberry, that's just the nature of the berry. I would not try to cover it up too much. AND if you will age the wine at least 1 year the edge will be a lot less detectable.

As for everclear, most comments I've heard are that you should use vodka instead. I've used both and unless you are really using a lot of it, there should not be a great impact on the taste after all most at 190 proof you are not going to have much else other than alcohol to taste.

Not sure if you have seen this site: Winemaking Calculations
It provides a very easy to use online calculator to figure out how much to add to achieve a specific ABV. VERY easy to use.

Also, I'd stick to an ABV of 11% +/- .5% to keep the added everclear qty low. 
Trying to raise the ABV much above that will start to smother the taste.

To backsweeten there are several options:
1) Standard "Simple Syrup" (SS) 2:1 sugar : water simple syrup (I normally microwave 1 cup for 3 mins, add the sugar, stir, and microwave for 1 min then a little more stirring
2) Heavy 3:1 sugar : water simple syrup (May require boiling the water a bit more and stirring, reheating the mix
3) Direct addition of sugar to the wine. Requires a lot more stirrin but the volume rise is a lot less. (My 2:1 simple syrup usually ends up raising the volume about 2 1/2 to 2 3/4 cups) So direct adding sugar would reduce the additional volume by 8 ounces.

In the end the only two things that matter are:

- Is the ABV at least 10% (To preserve the wine)
- Do YOU like the results - MOST important part.


----------



## silverbullet07 (Apr 1, 2021)

The red Raspberry was concentrate. I used 3 qts of raspberry to 4 gals of water in primary so it is quite strong in flavor. It did not ferment dry and stopped at 1.010. making 10% ABV. Right now it will make you pucker so it is quite tart. 

It is real nice adding 20ml of simple syrup. to 100ml of wine. For simple syrup I use 1 cup water to 1 cup sugar 1:1 ratio, Usually if I go 1 cup water to 2 cups sugar it starts getting to thick and crystalized. I will try it again with 2:1 which would help. OR maybe pulling off wine and using it to dissolve the sugar. 

I'll keep working on it. I went out and got the evergrain to try. Any I do have the calculation site to make my fortified alc additions.


----------



## Scooter68 (Apr 1, 2021)

Just for info - Typically when most folk on here folks talk about a simple syrup (SS) addition, they are referring to a 2 parts sugar to 1 part water. It is thick but I keep 12-16 oz in the fridge most of the time and it has only crystalized on me once in 5 years. A 3:1 is not hard to do, it just takes a bit more time, and reheating, and stirring.

Your 1:1 ration explains why it took 20ml to get the sweetness up enough. Take a bit more time and make that SS a 2:1 and you won't have near the watering down issue to contend with.

Most times after I re-heat the mix once all the sugar is in there, I stir it and let it sit for 5-10 mins and it nice and clear with no sugar on the bottom.


----------



## silverbullet07 (Apr 1, 2021)

Great. I just put together a 3:1 and going to give this a try. It seemed to come out good. Should I raise ABV with everclear first or add simple syrup first then adjust ABV from there to reach 12%


----------



## Scooter68 (Apr 1, 2021)

That's one I will let some one else tackle I think in scientific terms.

My personal approach would be to figure as you have done what you need to get the ABV where you want it. Then sweeten it up as needed. I suspect that a variation in the ABV is going to bother you much less than the change in sweetness from adding more alcohol. Losing 1 - 1.5% of the ABV is not a big deal as long as the ending ABV will be above 10% (Pretty much considered the lowest you want with a wine.) 

So if you get the ABV to 13% and the back-sweetening lowers it to 11.5% no big deal.


----------



## silverbullet07 (Apr 1, 2021)

For my bench trials. I had 50ml of wine. I added 3ml of ever clear that takes it from 10% to 15%.
I then added 5 ml of my syrup and the taste is perfect.

can not taste any alcohol and flavor is great. This will have a finish 13.0 - 13.5 abv.


----------



## Scooter68 (Apr 1, 2021)

silverbullet07 said:


> For my bench trials. I had 50ml of wine. I added 3ml of ever clear that takes it from 10% to 15%.
> I then added 5 ml of my syrup and the taste is perfect.
> 
> can not taste any alcohol and flavor is great. This will have a finish 13.0 - 13.5 abv.



Sounds like a win all the way around!!!


----------



## Rice_Guy (Apr 1, 2021)

Syrup by definition contains water. I tend to sweeten with weighed quantity of sugar. You also can mix sugar into a small portion of the wine.
In the scheme of things 8% alcohol will resist micro spoilage if you are clean and properly sulphites.
I put black raspberry at 1.010 to 1.015 with a must made of 100% juice/ no water,, TA is high from memory 1.0% to 1.1%


----------



## silverbullet07 (Apr 1, 2021)

This 3 gal batch will be split into two 1 1/2 gal batches. One will be a chocolate raspberry and the other plain raspberry. I made the simple syrup out of torani chocolate syrup and sugar For the chocolate raspberry. From the taste test it is pretty nice.


----------



## RickD (Apr 6, 2021)

Rice_Guy said:


> Typical raspberry is run at 4 pounds per gallon which gets the TA in line. ,,, some examples
> Raspberry: red 2018 pH 3.04/ TA 2.26%/ gravity 1.037 . . . 2019 pH 3.19/ TA 2.18%/ gravity 1.035 . . . 2020 pH 3.46/ TA 2.26%/ gravity 1.034
> raspberry: black 2018 pH 3.58/ TA 1.49%/ gravity 1.039 . . . 2019 pH 3.48/ TA 1.81%/ gravity 1.036 . . . 2020 pH 3.87/ TA 2.08%/ gravity 1.028
> 
> I can see running reconstituted straight juice but you may have to adjust the TA. I like high fruit and will push the TA up to 1 or even 1.25% and back sweeten to 1.015 to balance the finished wine, but then I grow em and i size the batch for which size carboy I am racking into.



I wish I had paid more attention to this thread before I pitched my red raspberry. I flinch sometimes when the technical discussions get so far over my head. I used six 12oz bags of frozen berries (4.5lbs), so I got lucky in that regard. I added 1/2 tsp acid blend. I was able to test pH prior to yeast (3.68) (unable to run TA - no NaOH). Final SG 1.098. Racked at 0.994 this morning. Do you guys think It will be OK?


----------



## Rice_Guy (Apr 6, 2021)

TA translated “how much wholup does the acid do on the tongue?”. You have diluted to a normal range therefore it is OK. I grow berries so can run 100% juice (more impact) and I fix it by back sweetening after fermentation.
I like pH less than 3.5, high pH means it takes more meta to do the same job. You can’t read what it is and change this easily after it is fermented and still has CO2.
Gravity is high but OK simply translates to a bit more alcohol.

Yes it will be OK, wine is forgiving. As this ages I would assume meta has reacted and it is zero at every transfer.


RickD said:


> of frozen berries (4.5lbs), so I got lucky in that regard. I added 1/2 tsp acid blend. I was able to test pH prior to yeast (3.68) (unable to run TA - no NaOH). Final SG 1.098. Racked at 0.994 this morning. Do you guys think It will be OK?


nice color


----------



## silverbullet07 (Apr 18, 2021)

The chocolate Raspberry wine is deliciou!


----------



## Khristyjeff (Apr 20, 2021)

silverbullet07 said:


> The chocolate Raspberry wine is deliciou!
> View attachment 73566
> 
> View attachment 73567


Oh boy. My wife and I want some of that! Could you elaborate on what you added to get the chocolate flavor? Really have enjoyed this thread. Thanks.


----------



## silverbullet07 (Apr 20, 2021)

Khristyjeff said:


> Oh boy. My wife and I want some of that! Could you elaborate on what you added to get the chocolate flavor? Really have enjoyed this thread. Thanks.


I ended up using Torani Chocolate Milano Syrup, since I needed to back sweeten the wine anyway. I am really pleased how it turned out. You can really smell and taste the chocolate. I think it infused it with just the right amount.


----------



## Chuck-crisler (Sep 7, 2021)

I like to grow most of my own fruit. I am planning to plant a dedicated row of raspberries specifically for wine. I want to grow floracanes because the harvest will be early enough to miss the peach and grape harvests. There are only 3 of me (me, myself and I) and it can be busy, so spreading harvests out helps. What variety of raspberry do people recommend?


----------

