# Blackberry



## Wade E (Nov 22, 2008)

Started a Blackberry 3 gallon batch using Vintners Harvest Base. I am doing what we usually tell you guys not to do as it is not a guaranteed finish. I have a starting sg of 1.118 and am using Cotes Des Blanc with the hope it will finish off around 1.015. I have done it this way twice now and has worked out great but dont advise anyone to do this as you could end up with problems so be warned that i like to live dangerously!


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## Waldo (Nov 22, 2008)

Whats your long range plans for this one wade..going to oak it? Did you make any additions initially for more body?


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## Wade E (Nov 22, 2008)

I added 3/4 tsp of tannin and will most likely add some Bulvarian Oak!



For those of you who's eyebrows just went up, its a joke only Waldo and a few others will understand. Will do a light Hungarian Oaking.
*Edited by: wade *


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## grapeman (Nov 22, 2008)

You are a real" Rebel" there Wade! I believe it is a Bulgarian Oak also!


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## Wade E (Nov 22, 2008)

AW



, I blew it!


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## K&GB (Nov 22, 2008)

Wade, I'd be interested in your recipe and procedure as I plan to make this one too. Have a can of VH just waiting in the pantry.


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## Wade E (Nov 22, 2008)

1 can of VH Blackberry
1 1/2 tsp Bentonite
3 campden tablets crushed
1 tsp of nutrient now, 1 tsp @ 1.085, 1 tsp @ 1.045
1 1/2 tsp energizer
3/4 tsp powdered tannin
2 1/4 gallons water
sugar to sg of 1.118
pectic enzyme according to instructions on you package, I use liquid concentrate.
Red Star Cotes Des Blanc (Dont recommend Montrachet with Blackberry)
*Should fizzle out around 1.015* *but not guaranteed!*
Always add the pectic enzyme 12 hours after adding campden and then wait another 12 hours and stir well before adding yeast!


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## joeswine (Nov 23, 2008)

NOW WOULD BE A GOOD TIME TO MAKE A F-PACK FROM SOME FRESH OR FROZEN BLACK BERRIES,BODY,FLAVOR TEXTURE,GOOD WAY TO GO....................................................................................FORGET THE OAK..............................................OR NOT......................


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## Wade E (Nov 23, 2008)

Seeing as howI cut down on the water the recipe called for and upped the sugar with a weak yeast this should finish sweet and strong like the other 2 wines I have done like this. I wouldnt recommend this way for some other weaker flavor profiles as the abv will be higher then most fruit wines but blackberry will hide the higher abv like a black currant will.


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## Wade E (Nov 23, 2008)

Added yeast this morning and it has a little action but that is expected with Cotes Des Blanc yeast and Im actually surprised that it has started already, usually this yeast takes 2-3 days to show signs of life and always has me starting to think there is a problem but always gets going and stays nice and slow with very little foam.


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## Wade E (Nov 25, 2008)

This puppy is chugging right along now and with the ice wine fermenting right next to it my wine room smells incredible.


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## Wade E (Nov 30, 2008)

I racked the blackberry today and its at 1.030 and starting to slow down. Took a small swig and the taste is great, color is awesome too, Ill post a pic tonight or later tomorrow.


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## K&GB (Dec 7, 2008)

Wade, how's the blackberry doing? Did it finish as predicted? What was your fermentation temp?


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## Wade E (Dec 7, 2008)

Just checked it a second ago as I have just been walking by and wondering but seen your post and that was all I needed to actually stick a hydrometer in there to really see what was up. Wine temp is 68* and sg is 1.018 and still just a tiny bit of activity in there so Im thinking I will either hit my target head on or just a tad lower and thats perfect in my book.


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## K&GB (Dec 7, 2008)

Glad to hear it!



I'm starting Gina's Blackberry today. You didn't mention acid blend in your recipe, but the recipe on the can calls for 3-1/2 tsp. Is that what you put in? *Edited by: K&GB *


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## Wade E (Dec 7, 2008)

I did 2 3/4 tsp of acid blend as I used less water then per instructions and more sugar


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## K&GB (Dec 7, 2008)

Thanks Wade. I put in 3 tsp acid blend and will do an acid test in the morning. Except for having no energizer and addingjust a bit more water, I followed your recipe. The must smells great. I didn't realize I would need a strainer bag for the fruit. I guess the black currant is different because it didn't have any solid fruit. Wound up adding 6-1/4 lbs of sugar for an SG of 1.118. I'll add the pectic enzyme tonight and pitch the yeast, cotes de blanc, in the morning. *Edited by: K&GB *


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## Wade E (Dec 7, 2008)

Most of these have fruit, so far only the Black Currant didnt have any. The Cherry base has a ton of pits in there.


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## K&GB (Dec 12, 2008)

Wade, I ran out of sugar after adding 6-1/2 lbs and only got the SG up to 1.110 so mine may ferment a bit drier than yours. The Cotes de Blanc yeast is fizzing steadily and the temp is hanging right around 75*, but it sure is fermenting slowly. Also, before pitching the yeast I did an acid test and it came out extremely low. I wound up adding5 moretsp of acid blend for a total of 8 andran the test two more times. Still couldn't get above .45%, so I'm wonderng if my NAOH might be bad. Anyway, the must didn't taste very tart, just about right with all the sweetness prior to fermentation. I plan to get a new acid kit and run the test again after fermentation. Unfortunately, my PH meter bit the dust awhile back.


So- SG sits at about 1.050 today. I know you like to ferment all the way in the primary, but I feel uncomfortable doing that with a 3-gal batch in a 6.5-gal primary, so I want to transfer to glass soon. But I assume my target SG isn't1.010 since I don't expect this wine to finish dry. I'm thinking of transferring tomorrow morning when the SG reaches 1.040. Any advice about the acid or when to transfer to secondary?


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## Wade E (Dec 12, 2008)

I dont ferment to dry when I have fruit in there, just kits as berries will goad before a grape skin would. I racked at 1.030. As for acid blend I had to add 5 1/2 tsp all together for mine and just like any fruit Im guessing that a lot of cans will have different readings with SG and acidity. Your ine will probaly fizzle out at around 1.005.


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## K&GB (Dec 13, 2008)

Thanks for the help Wade. I transferred mine to glass yesterday evening. Squeezed the juice out of the strainer bag of fruit and discarded it. Here's a couple of pics of primary and secondary.









Both airlocks still blooping away this evening. Looks more like rasberry than blackberry, but I'm sure it'll darken quite a bit after fermentation.


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## NorthernWinos (Dec 14, 2008)

Yummmm!!!!

Looks as good as it sounds....
How did it taste???


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## Wade E (Dec 14, 2008)

Mine's lacking a little flavor as I guess thr Vintners harvest Blackberry is lacking it on this one, I wish all the cans had the flavor strength of the Black Currant! Its pretty good though, I will have to add just a little bit of flavor back. Mine fermented down to 1.013 which is just a bit lower then where I wanted it but I also started just a little bit lower then where I wanted it as I ran out of sugar like Ken did.
*Edited by: wade *


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## Wade E (Jan 24, 2009)

Well Im currently making a f-pack for my Black Currant and Blackberry wines as we speak. The Black Currant I went with 3 32 oz. jugs of R.W. Knudsons Just Black Currant juice and 1 1/2 lbs of sugar as those are unsweetened and reducing them to 1 32 oz. jug. For the Blackberry I bought 4 10 oz packages of frozen blackberries from a health food store and simmered them in 4 cups of water and and rung the



out of them and will be making a smoothie with what was left over. I added 3/4 of a lb of sugar to this and will be just under 32 oz's when its done reducing and it tastes awesome(Pretty much joeswines f-pack) design as I couldnt find Blackberry juice anywhere near me and I looked in a lot of stores. Probably could have found it on the net but finding the berries was good enough and I wanted to try joes way anyway.


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## uavwmn (Jan 28, 2009)

Wade, glad to hear your back is getting better.






Did you get your Vintners Harvest base from George? I am assuming this is a fruit base in a can??


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## uavwmn (Jan 28, 2009)

K&amp;GB, this sounds like a good one to make next. Keep the threads coming between you and Wade!! haha


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## joeswine (Jan 28, 2009)

well wade how did the f PAC turn out,did you use simple syrup ,after ,was the depth of flavor there????


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## smikes (Jan 28, 2009)

Could oneof you go over how you prepare an Fpack and how its used, please?


Would all fruits wine benefit from its use?




I am guessing you add it after stabilization correct? But before fining?


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## jobe05 (Jan 28, 2009)

Split your 3 gallons up Wade, do one with 2/3 hungarian Oak, and 1/3 french oak, and about 1/8 (or less) teaspoon of black pepper.

You won't regret it!

The mixture of the oak keeps the oak flavor, but with the pepper, takes it from a sweet fruit wine, to a much more complex red wine with a nose of blackberry, blackberry forward, and leather, spice, and a minor pepper after taste........ A much more rich drink.

I think the Bulgarian and Hungarian Oaks are interchangeable............ well........ in Arkansas at least........


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## Wade E (Jan 28, 2009)

UAV, yes it is Vintners Harvest from a can. Joe, it worked out very well between the fruit f-pack and a little sugar to raise the sweetness up just a tad more from where it finished. Smikes, what I usually do is just take a juice of the same species(usually 2 quarts per 6 gallon batch) and put them in a pot and simmer down till about 1/3 its original size and add sugar to it while its still warm to dissolve it really goo then let it cool and add it back to the wine slowly until I like final outcome. This time though this was no juice around as its very hard to find blackberry juice so I used frozen blackberries in a fermenting bag and just enough water to get the fruit mostly under and simmer the berries sqeezing often to get all the juices out and then add the sugar after in the same manner as the juice. Then I made a blackberry smoothie with what was left of the fruit when I couldnt get any more juice out of it. Still had a little flavor left.


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## joeswine (Jan 28, 2009)

SO THE ONLY THING TO WATCH OUT FOR IS FERMENTATION AT THIS POINT ,A KEY FRACTURE IN DOING IT MY STYLE BUT THE FLAVOR IT CAN BE VERY GOOD..........JUST GOT DONE RACKING MY ICE WINE STARTED TO DOING A TIME TRIAL OF DEGASSING ON IT WENT OVER ALL MY WINES AT THIS POINT AND RE LAYERED OAK FLAVOR IN MOST OF THE REDS,( ITS LIKE MAKING A RECIPE, ADD FLAVOR IN THE BEGINNING AND NEAR THE END TO REFRESH THE FLAVOR A MONTH OR SO BEFORE BOTTLING)CREATING LAYERS OF INTENSITY AND ADDING BODY AT THE SAME TIME.WITH THE POWERED OAK OR LIQUID OAK YOU CAN DO THIS VERY EASILY.PM YOU SOON .JP


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## uavwmn (Jan 30, 2009)

Wade, what would the recipe be for a gallon batch of a strawberry F-pac?
My strawberry wine finished at .990 after 4 days fermenting!


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## Wade E (Jan 30, 2009)

Depends on how much flavor there is existing in the wine. I would probably buy a little over a pound and put in just enough water to get the fruit in the pan and as small as a pan as you can get the fruit in so it will be deeper, probably about a cup and a half to 2 cups. and about 1/2 lb of sugar and simmere till the sugar can be dissolved and the fruit can be squeezed well. Use a very fine straining bag so as to not get all them strawberry seeds. 

Or you can go the juice way like I usually do and get a good strawberry juice, on my port I used a frozen strawberry Daiquiri mix but if can only find a strawberry juice then a 1/2 quart simmered down to a little less then 1/2 with the 1/2 lb of sugar dissolved in there would be good. Hope that helps.


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## Bert (Jan 30, 2009)

Wade...Do you adduntil youget a desired taste [amount of sweetness] or justdump it in and hope for the best???? Or do you look for a specific SG.


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## uavwmn (Feb 1, 2009)

"Or you can go the juice way like I usually do and get a good strawberry juice, on my port I used a frozen strawberry Daiquiri mix but if can only find a strawberry juice then a 1/2 quart simmered down to a little less then 1/2 with the 1/2 lb of sugar dissolved in there would be good. Hope that helps."


ok, 1 can frozen strawberry daquiri mix. A 1/2 quart "of what" simmered down to 1/2????


I must be really not getting these directions for some reason. hahahaha


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## grapeman (Feb 1, 2009)

uavwmn said:


> "Or you can go the juice way like I usually do and get a good strawberry juice, on my port I used a frozen strawberry Daiquiri mix but if can only find a strawberry juice then a 1/2 quart simmered down to a little less then 1/2 with the 1/2 lb of sugar dissolved in there would be good. Hope that helps."
> 
> 
> ok, 1 can frozen strawberry daquiri mix. A 1/2 quart "of what" simmered down to 1/2????
> ...


That means if he can only find straight strawberry juice and not the daiquiri mix, that he uses straight strawberry juice. Start with a half quart(pint) and add 1/2 pound sugar (1 cup). Boil it until it reduces down by half of what it was when you started boiling.


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## uavwmn (Feb 1, 2009)

Appleman, ok, got it. Sorry for all the dumb questions.



I am really trying to get the hang of this. haha


F-pak will be making in a couple of days.


Starting a tripleberry 2 gal batch today. anyone heard of "marionberries"?
I got them at Costco mixed with blueberries and raspberries.


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## Wade E (Feb 1, 2009)

I bought a Vintners Harvest can of Marion berries and that was 1 of th batches that the instructions on the can for sulfiting tricked me and I totally killed it with sulfites. I must say though that that can was the weakest can of juice I have ever seen as it had almost no tatse at all, just colored purple water.
Bert, I add till taste has reached my desired liking.


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## Wade E (Mar 2, 2009)

Bottled this yesterday and labeled and capped today and must say that this 1's a keeper, will have to do another bigger batch of this! I think I can maybe fit these on my shelves but it will be tight!


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## dragonmaster42 (Mar 3, 2009)

Sounds good Wade. Might have to try a batch this year.


I found this and just had to throw it in here. Proof that Waldo knows what he's talking about when it comes to oak:
http://www.bulgarianoak.com/?prm=home


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## Wade E (Mar 3, 2009)

It was a slip up but we will have to let him slide now, maybe a Freudian slip.


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## dragonmaster42 (Mar 4, 2009)

Hmmm..... maybe Santa does know all!!!


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