# The Blueberry



## Johnd (Aug 21, 2016)

54 quart cooler, nearly full, with blueberries. My in laws picked and froze these for me, and I'm about to get em going. 50# including the cooler, I'll weigh it once it's empty to see what the starting weight is.


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## ceeaton (Aug 21, 2016)

Pictures please!


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## Scooter68 (Aug 21, 2016)

Sounds close to 10 gallons once juiced. One recommendation - Personal experience acidity of those blueberries will push your pH/TA. Got a 1 gallon batch with 8 pounds of blueberries from my patch and it's going to have to mellow out a lot - right now it's got a hard bite to it. Flavor is good but you have to get through that bite.


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## Johnd (Aug 21, 2016)

@ceeaton @scooter68

Yes, I'll take pics as I go and post them. 

Got the berries in my 20 gallon fermenter, they're still frozen and I've added no water at all, but it's full to the 10 gallon mark with berries. Knowing their typical acidity, I'm prepared to handle pH and TA adjustments as needed. The in laws were very accommodating in my request to wait until the berries were very ripe before picking. I heated a couple in the micro just to taste them, they're nice and sweet with good flavor. 

Haven't decided just yet how much, if any, water to add. I'm a purist when it comes to fruit wine, the more fruit the merrier, so I may not add any, just need to see what they look like thawed. 

Below, berries in the fermenter, looks like red wine grapes!


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## Johnd (Aug 21, 2016)

Expect the unexpected. I decided I'd add just enough water to fill in the air gaps between the berries, ended up adding three gallons, which just got up to where I could see it through the berries, decided that was enough. Planned to add some so2, pectic enzyme, adjust the Brix, and let em sit a couple days, working on pH/TA tomorrow evening. 

Threw out the empty jugs, sanitized my long spoon and commenced to stirring.....not. The berries had frozen the water, solid block, broke my long spoon trying to break it up a bit. Plans all on hold til tomorrow night, hopefully.


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## Scooter68 (Aug 21, 2016)

Think you will do well with the water amount. I normally work with smaller amounts of berries so I've used potato mashers and also used a 'ricer' (Conical sieve with wooden pestle.) that works great to break down the fruit - especially peaches. 

Keep us posted after the big thaw.


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## vacuumpumpman (Aug 21, 2016)

Following - as I recently picked 20 pounds of blueberries and looking to make wine from them all as they are sitting in the freezer.


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## Rodnboro (Aug 22, 2016)

I have access to lots of blueberries. My blueberry this year is a 5 gallon batch from 45 lbs of berries. I added 1.5 gallons of water.


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## Stressbaby (Aug 22, 2016)

Also following.
I've got 45# and my plan was to split them roughly in half, 22# for a 3 gallon batch backed with some Merlot concentrate, and 23# for a blueberry rosé.


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## montanaWineGuy (Aug 22, 2016)

I came upon a lot of blueberries this year also. 3lbs/gallon seems to be about right. Lots of flavor before my first carboy to carboy racking.


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## Johnd (Aug 22, 2016)

This morning the frozen mass of blueberries had turned into blueberry slush, with just a little ice floating on top, 37F. Hit it with a light dose of KMS as well as 3 tsp of pectic enzyme. I doubt seriously it will be at a reasonable temp in any less than a day or two, so yeast pitching will wait a bit. Tonight I'm going to use my punchdown tool to do some gentle berry mashing.

Planning to get 6 gallons out of this batch, which will end up being 6.66 pounds per gallon of finished wine.


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## Tnuscan (Aug 22, 2016)

At 6.66 pnds per gal. A good name for the wine might be Blue BEAST.


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## geek (Aug 22, 2016)

I forgot blueberries with the intent to make peach wine, but peaches here in CT seem to have been damaged early on in the season and hardly available.

I may think about pear wine, which I've never done, using Shinseiki Asian Pears, which sound to be very sweet, juicy, and crispy


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## Johnd (Aug 22, 2016)

Home from work, time to get down to business, vital statistics:

Mixed the day lights out of the must with the drill driven paddle, and crushed the berries well, a few wholes left, but nicely homogenous. 

Temp 62 F
Brix 6
Did some quick calcs, added 10 # sugar, new Brix 21 (SG 1.0873), should yield a tad over 12% ABV. Sugar was added and mixed thoroughly with the drill. Thoughts on the ABV? I'm on the fence about bumping it a tad. 

On to the pH, too low at 2.95. Half calculation of K bicarbonate added and mixed, 24g got me to pH 3.31, safe for yeast, good start for now. 

Just for yucks, tested the TA, 4g/l, little low, but raising it would drop the pH, it'll do for now. 

Post fermentation, clearing and aging, I'll check the numbers again, and taste to see if I adjust any more. 

Looks like I'll be pitching yeast in the morning, have EC 1118, BM 4x4, K1-V116, D47, and RC-212 on hand, plenty of FermaidK. Leaning towards the K1-V116, but open to suggestions if you have any good experience with one of the others.


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## Scooter68 (Aug 22, 2016)

pH - Yup that's blueberries for you. That's what I found out with a 1gallon batch using 8 lbs. Will keep it down to about 5 in the future. Blueberries are high in citric acid and that will mellow out of there over time. That's been my experience.

As to ABV - depends on how you are going to handle topping off after racking. If you plan to use straight water (My preference) then then bump the ABV up to keep you in the safe zone. I can't think of any 'wine' that would be of the same taste as a blueberry. 

Yeast - I have used both EC-118 and KV-1116 successfully as well as montrachet. But I like the first two better.


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## Johnd (Aug 22, 2016)

Scooter68 said:


> pH -
> As to ABV - depends on how you are going to handle topping off after racking. If you plan to use straight water (My preference) then then bump the ABV up to keep you in the safe zone. I can't think of any 'wine' that would be of the same taste as a blueberry.
> 
> Yeast - I have used both EC-118 and KV-1116 successfully as well as montrachet. But I like the first two better.



I have some blueberry I made last year with a Pinot Noir kit. The blueberry is really all that you can taste, that'll be my top up wine, so I won't be diluting the ABV or flavor with water. I wanted at least 12%, but I think this batch is going to have a lot of body, the must is really dark and thick and smells really nice. 

Still leaning to the K1-V116.


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## ceeaton (Aug 22, 2016)

Johnd said:


> I wanted at least 12%, but I think this batch is going to have a lot of body, the must is really dark and thick and smells really nice.



If the ABV gets too high, it will mask the fruit flavor, in almost any fruit wine. I would not go above 12%. I aim for 11-12% on mine. I made a peach that hit 12.5% and it seemed kind of boozy and harsh, has integrated more over time (a year in the bottle).


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## PhilDarby (Aug 22, 2016)

I live in the uk, blue berries over here are about one pound to one pound fifty for 300 grams or about 5 to 7.5 dollars per kilo gram, as such I tend to use them to add trace flavours and colours, personally ive found they work very well at adding trace flavours and colour even in small amounts (ie) one handful per gallon. At the moment im drinking a hybrid red based on grape juice with blueberry added and I have to say its very nice ;-) basically it has one handful of blue berry per gallon added for flavour and colouring, you guys in America have a wonderful flavour there for a relatively low price, enjoy it because outside of the USA its very expensive. Even in such small amounts the flavour is unmistakably blue berry, I just let it steep for weeks on a handful of blue berries, by which time it more or less dominates any red wine flavour already there, it is definitely one of the front flavours ;-) winner !


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## Scooter68 (Aug 22, 2016)

My second batch of peach, a light flavor comparatively, weighs in at 16%+ but the flavor is still strong. No complaints from at least 4 different folks who have enjoyed it.


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## Runningwolf (Aug 23, 2016)

I really don't understand why anyone is adding any water to these berries and diluting the flavor! I've been making a lot of Blueberry wines over the years and I have never added any water. Last week I crushed 4 tons of blueberries and they are currently fermenting away right now. I have tried freezing them in the past but don't even do that anymore. For those wanting high alcohol, you wouldn't have to worry the alcohol masking the flavor if you didn't water it down. I'm actually thinking of fortifying a batch this year to make a port style wine.


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## Johnd (Aug 23, 2016)

Runningwolf said:


> I really don't understand why anyone is adding any water to these berries and diluting the flavor! I've been making a lot of Blueberry wines over the years and I have never added any water. Last week I crushed 4 tons of blueberries and they are currently fermenting away right now. I have tried freezing them in the past but don't even do that anymore. For those wanting high alcohol, you wouldn't have to worry the alcohol masking the flavor if you didn't water it down. I'm actually thinking of fortifying a batch this year to make a port style wine.



A big reason is that I don't have 4 tons of blueberries, only the 40# picked by my inlaws, and I don't feel like screwing around with a sub-6 gallon batch. Compounded by the fact that if you research blueberry wine, most recipes recommend 4 or 5 pounds per gallon. And then there is cost, around here, they cost over $3 / pound, making a 6 gallon batch cost more than even the most expensive grapes that I have crushed, destemmed, frozen and shipped to me from California. I'd have preferred to not add any water, it just wasn't in the cards, and I believe that I can make a very nice blueberry wine with 6.66# of blueberries per gallon of finished wine.


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## Runningwolf (Aug 23, 2016)

I agree with the cost. It is one of the most expensive fruits I buy.


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## Johnd (Aug 23, 2016)

Runningwolf said:


> I agree with the cost. It is one of the most expensive fruits I buy.



That said, you obviously think it is worth the cost to make your blueberry wine that way. Obviously, you are making some great wine with it, or you wouldn't do it that way. I did intend to do straight blueberry when I asked them to collect them for me, I just expected to get enough for a 6 gallon batch......


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## Scooter68 (Aug 23, 2016)

Blueberries are expensive to buy - cannot argue that. 

One problem when we all discuss how many pounds of berries it takes for a strong or good flavored wine is the ripeness and water content of the berries used. That's One of several issues in the equation. In the photo on this thread the berries have a lot of red to them - the varieties of berries I grow would not be anywhere near ripe if they have any red on them. (Not meaning those berries aren't ripe!) This affects the outcome of each wine batch - that's the point of the rest of this post.

Something I've learned now after 10 years of growing blueberries - If the stem part of the berry is not the same color as the rest of the berry - it isn't ripe in fact it can be downright mouth puckering. BUT that's not true on every plant I have. When family comes to visit and wants to pick blueberries I tell them I have one rule - you pick an unripe berry You eat it NOW! They think I'm joking, well yes, but it makes a difference and when you pick your own off your own plants you learn to tell quickly - how to end up with good ripe berries in the bucket. BUT there are so many varieties of berries with different characteristics and of course Wild Blueberries as well. So when I move from one plant to another I have to remember or taste test to remind myself of what this plants berries are like. _So my point is when we try to tell someone how many pounds of berries they should be using with any fruit.... it depends.... on that batch of fruit. You may think your are comparing blueberries to blueberries but they ain't the same more often than we want to believe. And really that's true with any fresh fruit - even from the grocery store or fruit stand._


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## Johnd (Aug 23, 2016)

Ripeness point well made and well taken. Let there be no doubt that, just like grapes, harvesting your fruit at the proper time for winemaking is important. Like @runningwolf , I believe that wines are all they can be when you don't add water to them. That said, I did it to grapes with a 29 Brix. 

With a few hundred pounds of blueberries, all picked ripe and at the same time, split in half and two batches made, I believe that I would prefer the wine made from blueberries with no water added, as opposed to one made with water added. Despite that, it's not what I chose to do, when weighing all of my options.


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## Scooter68 (Aug 23, 2016)

Johnd - Understand - I just amended the above post, added to it and put it over on the Beginners Forum for newbies. So many ways to go, so many different aspects to consider when making wine from fresh fruit. That was the point of the post I put over there as a new thread under "Aren't All Blueberries the same?" I suspect that a lot of the differences in how much is enough, stem from the differences in the fruit we use - just as much as our difference in tastes.


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## geek (Aug 23, 2016)

So...the consensus is that 10lbs per gallon with no water?


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## Johnd (Aug 23, 2016)

No doubt Scooter, I definitely know my taste, I know that I like the strongest, thickest, heaviest, dry red grape wines that I can find. My taste in fruit wine is the same, I consider the full strength product to be the most authentic, probably why I don't do them much.

Despite the fact that this one has a bit of water, optimism is still high that the berries can be worked by me and the yeast to strip every morsel of goodness out of them. When I stir and punch the cap down a few times a day, the drill and paddle will be the tool of choice. 

One thing I know for sure is how many pounds of grapes it takes to make a gallon of wine, all of them.


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## Scooter68 (Aug 23, 2016)

geek said:


> So...the consensus is that 10lbs per gallon with no water?



Depends.... What strength do you like? What is the blueberry like, is it very sweet and concentrated or is store bought 'pretty' berry light in flavor. I don't think there is a clear consensus really, everyone has different likes and the berries themselves vary. 
If you like a strong beverage like a port, you probably want to go higher on fruit poundage 12-14 lbs/gal and punch the ABV up to 16%-17% If you like a milder lighter wine you can go as low as 4 lbs and still have a very tasty blueberry wine at an ABV ot 11%-12%.


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## Runningwolf (Aug 23, 2016)

I can tell you I am getting about 200 gallons per ton with Blueberries. I make several different wines with it. Some are 100% blueberry and others I blend with another wine like Cayuga. If you really want to go out on the limb (and this is really expensive) I think one of the best blends was Blueberry and Chardonnay. Just 20-30% blueberry with the char makes and excellent wine. Another idea is blending the Blueberry with a big bold red and fortify it to make a port style wine. I realize this is beyond a beginner in their first year of wine making, but I am sharing it with those who have the extra berries and looking for new ideas.


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## geek (Aug 23, 2016)

Runningwolf said:


> I can tell you I am getting about 200 gallons per ton with Blueberries. I make several different wines with it. Some are 100% blueberry and others I blend with another wine like Cayuga. If you really want to go out on the limb (and this is really expensive) I think one of the best blends was Blueberry and Chardonnay. Just 20-30% blueberry with the char makes and excellent wine. Another idea is blending the Blueberry with a big bold red and fortify it to make a port style wine. I realize this is beyond a beginner in their first year of wine making, but I am sharing it with those who have the extra berries and looking for new ideas.



Is that blend with chard using dry blueberry wine or you back sweeten a bit?


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## Runningwolf (Aug 23, 2016)

Back sweeten after Blending


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## geek (Aug 23, 2016)

I got to try that blend with 2 bottles....


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## geek (Aug 23, 2016)

Scooter68 said:


> Depends.... What strength do you like? What is the blueberry like, is it very sweet and concentrated or is store bought 'pretty' berry light in flavor. I don't think there is a clear consensus really, everyone has different likes and the berries themselves vary.
> If you like a strong beverage like a port, you probably want to go higher on fruit poundage 12-14 lbs/gal and punch the ABV up to 16%-17% If you like a milder lighter wine you can go as low as 4 lbs and still have a very tasty blueberry wine at an ABV ot 11%-12%.



If I make a batch I may be looking for a wine that ladies like, something like 11% with a hint of sweetness.


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## Scooter68 (Aug 23, 2016)

Source your blueberries carefully - are they fully ripe and how sweet are they. Beware of big berries from a store or stand. If you go with store bought berries it can be tough. From a stand perhaps better. 4-6 pounds with and ABV of 11% will be a less heavy hitting wine that is along the lines of a white wine in intensity but a blueberry flavor. If you go with lot of berries monitor the acidity. 

My latest batch from 8 pounds has plenty of flavor but I'm watching the acidity moderate slowly. In the last month without any help it's gone from a 2.86pH to 2.91pH. Will probably look for a little help with calcium carbonate soon. It's now right at 2 months age. SG is .990 and before bottling I will look to backsweeten slightly to semi-dry probably 1.000 +/- .002 to bring out the flavor more.


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## geek (Aug 23, 2016)

I may be too late for fresh blueberries so maybe Costco frozen, which are supposed to be premium quality.


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## Scooter68 (Aug 23, 2016)

Gotta start somewhere - go for it. I use my berries that I have already frozen but I can mark bags as to which bush they came from so I know what to expect. Taste a couple after you thaw them out. Hard to tell without something to compare to but it will give you and idea of how sweet and flavorful they are - will help you know how much to use.


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## Johnd (Aug 24, 2016)

So anyway, taking back over my thread, The Blueberry is moving along well. Ran all of the tests again yesterday morning, all of the numbers from my additions held up well. 

Pitched two packs of K1-V116 before I left for work yesterday morning, and had a partial cap formed today at lunch. After punching, I could see that it was fermenting very nicely, so I added 1/2 dose of Fermaid K, stirred it in well, laid the lid on top and left it to its own.

It's a nice looking batch of blueberry, good warmup for grape season.


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## PierreR (Aug 24, 2016)

I have a 6 gallon (23liter) batch of pure juice blueberry, mellowing in the basement. 

Pitched yeast on same quantity of 100% Saskatoon berry juice yesterday.

I'm liking the 100% juices. Flavour is amazing.


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## geek (Aug 25, 2016)

PierreR said:


> I have a 6 gallon (23liter) batch of pure juice blueberry, mellowing in the basement.
> 
> Pitched yeast on same quantity of 100% Saskatoon berry juice yesterday.
> 
> I'm liking the 100% juices. Flavour is amazing.



Wow, did you press yourself or bought the juice as is?


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## Johnd (Aug 27, 2016)

1.035 this morning, added second dose of nutrients, punched it down and mixed vigorously, as I have been, with the drill and paddle. Looking and smelling really solid so far.


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## geek (Aug 27, 2016)

Pics John.....


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## Johnd (Aug 27, 2016)

geek said:


> Pics John.....



LOL, sorry, sometimes I forget pics. This one is just after a good drill/paddle punch down. The berries swell back up very quickly. Typically leave the spoon, thermometer, and paddle in the bucket til pressing, cuts down on sanitizing and cleaning. I suspect I'll be pressing and racking tomorrow evening.


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## Johnd (Aug 28, 2016)

Started the pressing with a quick vacuum rack, got about 3 gallons out of the way before the flow got too low to continue.


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## Johnd (Aug 28, 2016)

About another 2. 5 gallons of free run juice / very light press juice nearly filled the carboy.


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## Johnd (Aug 28, 2016)

Finishing up the press right now, about 1.5 gallons in the bucket. Suspect after a couple rackings, I'll finish up right at 6 gallons.


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## mennyg19 (Aug 28, 2016)

This isn't in your new wine room...


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## Johnd (Aug 28, 2016)

And this is what's let of 40 lbs of blueberries.....


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## Johnd (Aug 28, 2016)

mennyg19 said:


> This isn't in your new wine room...



No, it's too cold in there, this wine is still fermenting.


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## Runningwolf (Aug 28, 2016)

About 750 gallons (8000 lbs of berries) of freshly pressed Blueberries finishing up fermentation.


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## Johnd (Aug 28, 2016)

Runningwolf said:


> About 750 gallons (8000 lbs of berries) of freshly pressed Blueberries finishing up fermentation.



Wow!! Guess I'm still in the minors with my wimpy little 7 gallon batch! That vat looks really awesome. Ever spray down with KMS and take a swim?


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## geek (Aug 29, 2016)

So John, I think you had 40lbs of blueberries and got a net of about 6gal worth of wine? Did you say how much total water you added?


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## Johnd (Aug 29, 2016)

geek said:


> So John, I think you had 40lbs of blueberries and got a net of about 6gal worth of wine? Did you say how much total water you added?



Yes, back on the first page, 3 gallons water. It was a little less than that actually, one of the gallons wasn't quite full, but for all practical purposes, it was 3.


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## wineforfun (Aug 29, 2016)

@Johnd
So clue me in on that press of yours. You make it? Buy it? Etc.? Looks nice.


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## Johnd (Aug 29, 2016)

@wineforfun

I got it from Pleasant Hill Grain, it's worked out really nicely for me so far. It's super easy to use, very heavy duty, and the sanitizing / cleanup is a snap. I extended the legs 12", now a carboy fits right underneath the discharge spout, so I go straight from the primary, through the press, into the carboy.


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## wineforfun (Aug 29, 2016)

@Johnd
Thanks. It looks sturdy. Where is Pleasant Hill Grain? I found one in Nebraska, but doubt you came up here for it. How much was it?


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## Johnd (Aug 29, 2016)

@wineforfun

That's the right one, no, I didn't go up there, ordered it and had it delivered down here.


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## wineforfun (Aug 29, 2016)

Johnd said:


> @wineforfun
> 
> That's the right one, no, I didn't go up there, ordered it and had it delivered down here.



Really. How much was it?
They are only 1 1/2hrs. from me. May have to look into it.


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## Johnd (Aug 29, 2016)

wineforfun said:


> Really. How much was it?
> They are only 1 1/2hrs. from me. May have to look into it.



Depends on the options, you can check it out here:

http://pleasanthillgrain.com/maximizer-fruit-apple-cider-press-stainless-basket


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## wineforfun (Aug 30, 2016)

Thanks, will look into it.


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## opus345 (Aug 31, 2016)

And free shipping on orders over $59.


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## Boatboy24 (Sep 8, 2016)

Runningwolf said:


> I really don't understand why anyone is adding any water to these berries and diluting the flavor! I've been making a lot of Blueberry wines over the years and I have never added any water. Last week I crushed 4 tons of blueberries and they are currently fermenting away right now. I have tried freezing them in the past but don't even do that anymore. For those wanting high alcohol, you wouldn't have to worry the alcohol masking the flavor if you didn't water it down. I'm actually thinking of fortifying a batch this year to make a port style wine.



I did a blueberry port two years ago. It's in the bottle and mellowing, but pretty good so far. I had a thread in the port forum, but I think it got buried in the Country Wine forum somewhere.


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## Boatboy24 (Sep 8, 2016)

Johnd said:


> A big reason is that I don't have 4 tons of blueberries, only the 40# picked by my inlaws, and I don't feel like screwing around with a sub-6 gallon batch. Compounded by the fact that if you research blueberry wine, most recipes recommend 4 or 5 pounds per gallon. And then there is cost, around here, they cost over $3 / pound, making a 6 gallon batch cost more than even the most expensive grapes that I have crushed, destemmed, frozen and shipped to me from California. I'd have preferred to not add any water, it just wasn't in the cards, and I believe that I can make a very nice blueberry wine with 6.66# of blueberries per gallon of finished wine.



I supplemented mine with some organic blueberry juice I got at the store. Still not cheap, but IIRC, a half gallon 'only' cost me about $14.


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## Johnd (Sep 8, 2016)

Boatboy24 said:


> I supplemented mine with some organic blueberry juice I got at the store. Still not cheap, but IIRC, a half gallon 'only' cost me about $14.



Didn't think about that option at the time, in fact, not sure I've ever seen that product. Instead of the nearly 3 gallons of water, I could've added that. Bout $90 worth, but since the blueberries were free, that would've been a good option...................next year!


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## Johnd (Sep 11, 2016)

@Runningwolf
Please share with me some experience, I know you do lots of blueberry wine. Wine is dry as a bone, .990, racked off of the gross lees and topped up as it finished fermenting. Light layer of sediment in the bottom at the moment, I'm planning to rack and give it a dose of KMS, move it into the wine room to clear and age. 

So here's the question, do you add any fining agents to yours or go natural? I keep a supply here of bentonite, chitosan and sparkolloid, but don't want to use anything unless there's an inherent blueberry clearing issue that needs to be addressed. What say you?


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## Runningwolf (Sep 11, 2016)

I do not use any fining agents. Rack after fermentation, let it sit several months and filter with the largest filter you have. The first filtering may take a while. Blueberry could be ready in 6 months if you're willing to do the filtering.


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## Johnd (Sep 11, 2016)

Runningwolf said:


> I do not use any fining agents. Rack after fermentation, let it sit several months and filter with the largest filter you have. The first filtering may take a while. Blueberry could be ready in 6 months if you're willing to do the filtering.



That's what I was hoping to hear, no fining agents. Have a BV Super Jet, three different size pads, does it need filtering? I don't need it to be ready on any specific timetable. Do you typically sweeten it?


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## Scooter68 (Sep 11, 2016)

JohnD - I have had great success without filtering but this current small batch will be filtered with a Harris gravity filter just to see if I can even tell the difference. (This batch is 8 1/4 lbs in one gallon. Has high acidity level at present.) My first two batches of 1 gallon each never needed any fining or filtering - crystal clear in less than 3 months time. (4 1/2 lbs / gallon)

Same results with my Blackberry and Black Raspberry wines, no filtering needed.


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## Runningwolf (Sep 11, 2016)

Johnd said:


> That's what I was hoping to hear, no fining agents. Have a BV Super Jet, three different size pads, does it need filtering? I don't need it to be ready on any specific timetable. Do you typically sweeten it?



If you're in no hurry and it's just for you I would rack after fermentation and then again in maybe 5 months. Yes, I have to sweeten it if I want to sell it! For yourself I still think you would sweeten it a bit even it's a bit to balance out the acid.


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## Johnd (Sep 11, 2016)

Runningwolf said:


> If you're in no hurry and it's just for you I would rack after fermentation and then again in maybe 5 months. Yes, I have to sweeten it if I want to sell it! For yourself I still think you would sweeten it a bit even it's a bit to balance out the acid.



Good info., I appreciate you sharing it.


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## Tovis (Sep 11, 2016)

Thanks for the post. I did a sweet blueberry and blueberry port before. Now I am working on a dry one. Very excited.


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## geek (Sep 12, 2016)

Runningwolf said:


> If you're in no hurry and it's just for you I would rack after fermentation and then again in maybe 5 months. Yes, I have to sweeten it if I want to sell it! For yourself I still think you would sweeten it a bit even it's a bit to balance out the acid.



Dan, what do you use to back sweeten, plain sugar syrup or blueberry juice itself?


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## Runningwolf (Sep 12, 2016)

Plain Sugar


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## PierreR (Sep 15, 2016)

geek said:


> Wow, did you press yourself or bought the juice as is?


I did it myself. I can get the juice here but holy crap its expensive!!


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## geek (Dec 5, 2016)

@Johnd and @PierreR

How's the BB wine coming along, have curiosity....


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## Johnd (Dec 5, 2016)

geek said:


> @Johnd and @PierreR
> 
> How's the BB wine coming along, have curiosity....



Mine's doing fine, just sitting in the carboy shedding CO2 and sediment in the wine room aging. It's due for a racking off of sediment and KMS addition in a couple weeks or so, then some work on tasting, pH adjustment, sweetening, etc.

So far, it's tart but has a very pleasing blueberry taste and aroma. My wife is having surgery in a couple weeks and my MIL will be in town to sit with her during the day, the blueberries came from her. so I may step up the time line to do my work on it while she's here to taste with me. I'll be sending half of the bottles to her when it's done............


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## Tnuscan (Feb 6, 2017)

Johnd said:


> Mine's doing fine, just sitting in the carboy shedding CO2 and sediment in the wine room aging. It's due for a racking off of sediment and KMS addition in a couple weeks or so, then some work on tasting, pH adjustment, sweetening, etc.
> 
> So far, it's tart but has a very pleasing blueberry taste and aroma. My wife is having surgery in a couple weeks and my MIL will be in town to sit with her during the day, the blueberries came from her. so I may step up the time line to do my work on it while she's here to taste with me. I'll be sending half of the bottles to her when it's done............



John, Hope Mrs. Johnd is well. 

I was currious if you've got to check in on the blueberry? Any updates for us with hungry eyes?


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## PhilDarby (Feb 6, 2017)

over here in the uk I tend to make basic red country wines, and if I want a blueberry wine flavour I add approx. 150 grams per gallon as an f pack (after freezing and thawing) and let it steep for about 14 days, blueberries this side of the pond are relatively expensive, but, in abundance, its a wonderful flavour which can dominate a home wine.


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## Scooter68 (Feb 7, 2017)

Saw this post and it reminded me that I popped open a bottle of my first Blueberry wine batch (Only a 1 gallon batch) late last week. Time for another glass. July of 2015 and it has matured beautifully. Only used 4 1/2 lbs of blueberries but they were from of my best bushes.


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## Johnd (Feb 7, 2017)

Tnuscan said:


> John, Hope Mrs. Johnd is well.
> 
> I was currious if you've got to check in on the blueberry? Any updates for us with hungry eyes?



Yes, she is doing well, neck brace off and started driving two weeks ago. Fingers crossed, all looks to be progressing on schedule. 

As far as the blueberry, while MIL was in town, we did our session of work, I racked the wine and checked all of the numbers, here's how they shook out in the end:

Initial: BRIX 6, pH 2.95, TA 4 g/l
Adjusted. BRIX 21, pH 3.31, TA 3.8 g/l
Final. SG .991, pH 3.42, no TA 

Mixed up 10 samples with varying degrees of sugar added and she tasted until a winner was picked. Adjusted the so2, added sorbate and sweetened to right at 1.005, and put it away for a month. In January, it was bottled, two cases were delivered to the inlaws this past weekend, I kept 7 bottles (my fee??).

EDIT: I neglected to mention that the wine was filtered at the time of bottling with BV SuperJet, polishing pads. I tend not to let fruit and IM type kist bulk age for a long time, electing instead to filter them, just in case.......


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## OldeTymeWinery (Feb 7, 2017)

Blueberries are very acidic. I've experimented with taking them off the lees at different specific gravities to counteract this phenomena. I'm still not decided on which SG makes for the smoothest wine, but I believe it's somewhere between 1060 and 1040. As Scooter68 has mentioned, there can be quite a bite from this variety that needs mellowing. I have a few batches stuck at 1020-1030 range too, that I've been trying to start back up unsuccessfully.


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## Johnd (Feb 7, 2017)

OldeTymeWinery said:


> Blueberries are very acidic. I've experimented with taking them off the lees at different specific gravities to counteract this phenomena. I'm still not decided on which SG makes for the smoothest wine, but I believe it's somewhere between 1060 and 1040. As Scooter68 has mentioned, there can be quite a bite from this variety that needs mellowing. I have a few batches stuck at 1020-1030 range too, that I've been trying to start back up unsuccessfully.



It's a pretty easy fruit to work with, it behaves much like grapes do in terms of breaking down and pressing, just a little smaller fruit. The biggest challenge is certainly dealing with the acid, but if you do it up front, it's really pretty easy. As long as you get your pH up above 3.25 or so and give the yeast some food, it really shouldn't get stuck unless you're having problems with some other parameter. It came out pretty smooth at just a few months of age, but even at 3.42, still has a little bite to it. I expect that will improve with age and due to the acidity, it should be able to age quite well, time will tell.


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