# Blueberry wine



## AAASTINKIE (Mar 2, 2005)

In August when we go kayaking we can pick wild blueberrys after, they are everywhere, it's just that they are small and it would be hard to clean enough for a 5 gallon batch, but if the timing is right, I just have to remember to get a blueberry rake off of ebay. (I pretty much look there first for things now)


----------



## MedPretzel (Mar 2, 2005)

I look first on ebay too. Winemaking things are usually bought either at my yokel-local store or online. The price usually determines which shop I use. I think Fine Vine Wines is going to be my next store I try out.









But just about everything else "I need" is bought on ebay.


----------



## AAASTINKIE (Mar 3, 2005)

I was just looking at the recipes and you only need 10-15 pounds of blueberrys for 5 gallons of wine, I would really like to try this one, I have till August to come up with a "Master Plan", it's definetly going to need a touch of maple.


----------



## MedPretzel (Mar 3, 2005)

You might want to make the one with maple syrup in an extra 1-gallon jug. I would hate to see you make something that doesn't exactly fit the "norm" for that work you put into it. You always have next year to make a huge batch of "blueberry-maple" -- but I seriously would caution you to go head first into it. 





I believe Mr. Glenvall has a great blueberry wine recipe that I am sure he'd be more than willing to share with you.


----------



## geocorn (Mar 4, 2005)

MedPretzel,


WARNING: Advertising Time!


I look forward to serving you, just be sure to register and get the 5% first order discount. In addition, if you are a kit person and buy more than one at time, you get 5% off every kit after the first one.


I also have a rewards program. Once you spend $500 with me on products, you are entitled to 5% off ALL future orders.


Advertisement over.


----------



## MedPretzel (Mar 4, 2005)

That sounds verrrrrrrrrrryyyyyy good!



Hmmm, I'll _have_ to save my pennies!


----------



## Hippie (Mar 4, 2005)

Well if blueberries were readily available fresh here, I would definitely have a recipe, but alas, they aren't. Now Blackberry Wine, I can make.


----------



## MedPretzel (Mar 4, 2005)

Glenvall, I trust you can make just about any kind of wine.





I still don't think that maple syrup would be a good idea, but maybe I'm being too conservative. You know, thinking inside the box.


----------



## Hippie (Mar 4, 2005)

Well I certainly do not know a thang about maple syrup, but know I cannot make good mead and do not like it to begin with. I keep thinking maple syrup wine would be akin to mead, but it probably ain't so.


----------



## AAASTINKIE (Mar 31, 2005)

So I go to the local Canaan Maine redemption center, I get talking to
the guy and he wants me to take 20lbs of frozen blueberrys home with me
and make wine and just bring him a bottle. I told him I'd think it
over, he says he makes blueberry wine and his buddies love it. Here is
his incredible recipe, mash the blueberrys and just take the juice and
put it in the 5 gallon carboy (water cooler jug) I guess he adds water,
I didn't get into that much detail, put in 3 cups of sugar then 1/2 cup
per day for 10 days, filter with cheesecloth and put in gallon
jugs...drink...I said what kind of yeast, he said you don't use yeast
it will give you ale, so he's using the yeast on the fruit, no
chemicals, not hydrometer, no nothing..LOL


----------



## Hippie (Mar 31, 2005)

Yep. Whatever makes em happy. Some say that powdery white stuff on the blueberries contains the yeast. I think grapes have it too. You should try some of their blueberry wine and see if it contains much alcohol. I was surprised once.


----------



## RAMROD (Mar 31, 2005)

Whoa George so I am like $162 from5% off all future ordersgo ahead you da man!


----------



## AAASTINKIE (Apr 1, 2005)

A rough idea of my plan so far, use two primarys so I don't have to worry about a foaming mess, three gallons in each one if I have enough berrys.


First question, I have a 10 gallon SS filter rig for maple packing, it has hooks to hold a 2 gallon wool filter, I was thinking of mashing my blueberrys without a bag and filtering after the primary, I have a stack of used filters I don't need so staining one isn't an issue.*Edited by: AAASTINKIE *


----------



## Maui Joe (Apr 1, 2005)

Aloha Stinkie,


I don't know how far you have gotten with your blueberries yet, but I thought that you would find some good info at Jack Keller's site: http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/and look up "Blueberries" as a guide.


If you have more than enough berries to use, you can always pack them in the freezer for later use. It will extract more juice as well.


Hope this helps ...*Edited by: masta *


----------



## AAASTINKIE (Apr 1, 2005)

I picked up the frozen blueberrys today, they are still in the freezer.


----------



## masta (Apr 1, 2005)

Great tip from Maui on checking out Jack Keller site....I had read this part just recently and makes me think using a very aggressive yeast like K1V-1116would be in order with plenty of nutrient and energizer.


Quote from Jack:


The oft-cited caution that they contain sorbic acid and will not ferment is completely untrue. It is their richness in chemistry that sometimes makes them difficult to actively inoculate with yeast, but this same richness makes for complex and varied wines once fermentation has run its course. Indeed, in a recent survey of favorite non-grape wines, blueberry was second only to blackberry in popularity.


----------



## geocorn (Apr 1, 2005)

Just got back from LD Carlson and learned quite abit about the fruit bases. Too tired to go into a lot of detail, but sulfiting the fruit bases is probably NOT necessary at all. The canning process should take care of all bacteria, but the sulfiting is just precautionary. Bottom line is keep the sulfite to an absolute minimum.


----------



## Hippie (Apr 1, 2005)

Ther sulfiting is just to keep the wild yeasts and bacteria at baywhile the pectic enzyme is working on the fruitbefore the yeast is pitched.


----------



## AAASTINKIE (Apr 2, 2005)

Long day today, glad to be back at work...I finished cleaning my 80 bottles, the few that were dirty on the inside I just put back in the return bin, no sense making more work than needed. Then I cleaned the blueberrys and finished just in time to come to work, they are thawing out now, I also boiled two SS pots with 1 gal of water and 6 lbs of sugar in each one. My wife went and picked up the chemicals for me so I'm all set. I'll post this on the other thread tomorrow I just didn't have time to resize the picture I took and want it to look right.


----------



## Bill B (Apr 2, 2005)

Hi Stinkie, Im now in the middle of 10 Gal. US of Blueberry. I used the recipe from Winemaker Mag. The only change I made was I used 30 lbs of Blueberries which yield a bit over 11/2 gal of juice per 5 gal batch. I then added most of the berries back in a straining bag, and let soak for the duration of primary fermentation. I know this may sound a bit much, however it is ijustright. After racking to carboy I did add these new Infusion Spirals made from Oak (med toast). Batch #1 I used Montrachet yeast and Batch # 2 I used Lalvin EC-1118. Neither yeast caused any problems with foaming. I did use a 7 gal primary. 


By the way I kept my berries frozen a few months with no problems. theydid produce quite a bit more juice when defrosted. 





Bill


----------



## Maui Joe (Apr 3, 2005)

Stinkie,


Are those two S/S pots 100% stainless...Why I am asking is because I had a score of one that was a great strainer and I declined to take and use it because of the mixed metals which appeared to be stainless, although not pure. (See my post under tips!)




*Edited by: Maui Joe *


----------



## AAASTINKIE (Apr 3, 2005)

I'll explain about Stainless Steel later (did I mention I am in scrap metals?)



Anyway I think I was using ml's instead of cc's trying to get my acid
level, so with a PH of 4 it's either Tartaric of 2% or .2% any of these
sound right, I used less acid blend by 1/3rd to be able to get it right
on the money but am holding fast now till I get the right answer.


----------



## Hippie (Apr 3, 2005)

ph is still kinda high at 4. It really depends on whether or not you will be making a dry, off-dry, semi-sweet, or sweet wine. A sweet wine should start around 3.2 to 3.5. TA should be close to .65.


----------



## AAASTINKIE (Apr 3, 2005)

my TA is now .45 I only have a wide scale PH paper, I used a whole 3oz
bottle of acid blend for 8 gallons, I was nervous as this was my first
acid test.


----------



## Hippie (Apr 3, 2005)

How did you end up with 8 gallons from 15 pounds of berries? I thought I told you 5 gallons? That's the problem, too much dilution. Quit being so hard headed!


----------



## AAASTINKIE (Apr 4, 2005)

I had to put the water in cause I had too much sugar, I used 5 gallons
of water but when you add 2 gallons of berries and 1 gallon of sugar
you have 8 gallons..don't get upset, this is going to be a wonderfull
wine, as one of my sayings goes:

"we ain't building no piano here"

actually my father used to say that when I was moving too slow for him.

I think I'm going to put some lemmon juice in today to bring my acid
level up to over .50% I should just need a touch, I'm at .45% now.
(thanks Joe)


----------



## Hippie (Apr 4, 2005)

OK, but why not use acid blend? Lemon juice is mostly citric acid, which is not an acid normally found in great quantities in any wine. Acid blend is a combo of the 3 most common acids found in wine. For your sake, I am glad this is a good learning experience, and the wine will probably be great, which is a bonus!


----------



## AAASTINKIE (Apr 4, 2005)

I went to the city today and picked up two bottles of acid blend, it's
been a busy day, spending LOTS of time in winemaking (I thought this
was a part time sport) picked up 80 bottles today at the redemtion
center, heck I was just there last week, I said do you have any bottles
for me yet? and they bring out 4 boxes all 750's 17 green, 12 bar
(clear), 51 clear, they said do you want more? I said not yet you can
clearly get all I need on short notice! My fizz-x came today got it new
for 9.99 plus 4 shipping, what a deal!


----------



## geocorn (Apr 6, 2005)

I don't understand how you can buy something on eBay for 30% less than it costs me from the distributor before freight!


I posted some kits on eBay last year and lost money on every kit I sold. It seems the competition was selling expired kits and just trying to get some money out of people for bad wine kits.


----------



## Hippie (Apr 6, 2005)

I was planning on selling old Elvis 45's on ebay until I saw the same ones selling for $10! I reckon I will just keep them.


----------



## greenbean (Apr 6, 2005)

CW I have Thriller 45 still in the plastic.I figured ifJackson goes to the pen I might try to sell it on E-Bay.









Chris*Edited by: greenbean *


----------



## AAASTINKIE (Apr 7, 2005)

Geo, my fizz-x was a freak sale, just have to keep your eyes open, guy had a new one listed for 9.99 and I was the only bidder, he doesn't sell them normally, he just had one. *Edited by: AAASTINKIE *


----------



## Bert (Apr 10, 2005)

Stinkie...the bluebarry wine looks great....now don't get in a hurry, keep checking thing. Let it work as it needs to and it will turn out great. Give it time. And it is a lot of fun and some work doing fruit wines.


Bert


----------



## RAMROD (Apr 10, 2005)

Looking real good Stinkie you keep saying it smells good have you tasted it yet what dose it taste like?


----------



## AAASTINKIE (Apr 11, 2005)

I'm trying not to rush, I just thought from reading 7 days was long
enough to let the fruit stay in, I had a long day yesterday, cleaned
170 sap pails, then at 8:32 HAZMAT pager went off, had to go out to
emergency till 2:30 am!! I'm tired but have a doctors appointment today.


----------



## Hippie (Apr 11, 2005)

Yes, I think 7 days is plenty long enough for the fruit. It is all an experiment, next time you might decide that was too long or not long enough. Also, some say to press out the fruit and some say do not. You make up your mind now and then you might deside to do it differently next time. Above all, let the wine take it's time and it will teach you to be patient!


----------



## AAASTINKIE (Apr 16, 2005)

I started 4/4 with a SG of 1.097 filtered the berries out 4/10 SG
1.074 back into a plastic primary, is it time to rack to a glass
carboy, it has been gassing off at the same slow rate since filtering,
I added 1 packet more yeast after filtering. Is it OK to wait weeks for
it to finish fermenting? After reading about yeast the other day I
bought some yeast today to have in stock, RED STAR, Premier Cuv'ee,
Pasreur Red, Montrachet.


----------



## greenbean (Apr 16, 2005)

AAA, I started a blueberry sherry on wensday and it also SLOW. I don't know if it is the pure blueberry or what that makes it slow. All of the other recipes I've seen for blueberry wine call for white grape juice to be added. I think I can wait though for a pure blueberry wine



. Mine smells and looks heavenly.





Chris


----------



## Hippie (Apr 16, 2005)

Blueberries have a natural type of sorbate that sometimes inhibits fermentation.


Stinkie, yes, sometimes it takes months for a fermentation to finish.


----------



## AAASTINKIE (Apr 17, 2005)

Should I rack of transfer to glass carboy, or leave in the plastic primary?


----------



## PolishWineP (Apr 17, 2005)

.*Edited by: PolishWineP *


----------



## AAASTINKIE (Apr 17, 2005)

Thanks, I just checked the SG 1.063 now at 72 degrees, I was going to leave a little extra room in the carboy


----------



## Hippie (Apr 17, 2005)

No. I would not rack to glass at that high SG. The fermentation will probably turn vigorous on you due to all the aeration of racking. Wait until SG falls to under 1.040. What is the hurry?


----------



## AAASTINKIE (Apr 17, 2005)

No hurry that's why I asked, just didn't want to leave it in plastic too long.


----------



## Berrywine (Apr 18, 2005)

hey Stinkie, I always wait till mine gets down to 1.030 or 1.020 to move to secondary. I agree with CW, it could cause a big ole' mess.


berry


----------



## AAASTINKIE (Apr 18, 2005)

I never made a country wine before and am used to a much faster fermenting time, I am all set waiting if this is normal to wait this long.


----------



## Maui Joe (Apr 18, 2005)

Stinkie,


Patience my friend...outside temps, inside temps, type ofyeasts used, etc. all play the role...."remember the race between the turtle and the hare?".....hmmnn


----------



## Goslin (Apr 18, 2005)

It may be a good idea to wait until it reaches 1.010 I transfered
my raisin must at 1.020 and after doing so it turned vigorous
again and blew out the bung and air lock, after a few hours it settled
back down. My main fermentation seemed to be going slow as well, it
took 12 days while others were telling me it would be around 7 days. To
begin with the temp stayed a contant 70 degrees so to help speed things
along a little I raised the temp to 74 useing a 35 watt plate warmer
which made for a good vigorous fermentation. It still took twelve days
though.


----------



## Hippie (Apr 18, 2005)

Most times we do not want a very warm or very vigorous fermentation. Usually, the faster the aerobic fermentation is, the more fruity esters get burned off. I prefer a 70*F fermentation way over a 74*F one. Believe it or not, the difference can be huge. Yeast selection figures in also. After racking to glass and going anerobic, one can really cool off and slow down and continue for months, most times weeks.


How is the raisin? I have not had good luck fermenting raisins. 


I also prefer to wait until 1.010, if my bucket is nearly full, but if I have alot of airspace in there, I rack to glass sooner.


Hey! It's all an experiment, right?


----------



## Goslin (Apr 18, 2005)

The raisin seems to be doing pretty good. I checked the sg this morning
and it read dry. Even though it was still bubbling fairly strong
(because I added a cup of simple syrup to it friday) I decided it was
time too rack since it was dry and seemed to be developing an off oder.
So I thought it would be best to get it off the lees. Which turned out
to be the right thing to do as the oder is now gone.





BTW I think the reason my fermentation was slow is because I added to
much tartaric acid. I was going by a recipe which sent it off the
scale. When I say it was slow, I mean it was VERY slow. 



But since this is an experiment, I started a new batch useing the old
lees and yeast from the first batch. It's not all put together yet and
I may not even use it as the oder is really wierd. It smells greasy.
Which is the first time I've smelled that before. 



Here's what I've got going on now, I took the old lees(sp) added five
pounds of sugar, yeast nutient, tartaric acid and 2 gallons water. I
intended to sort of use that as the starter for the 12 pounds of minced
raisins and one gallon of water with the required additives. The 2
gallon sarter is already very active but like I said I may not use it
as I really don't care for the greasy oder. What is that? Should I
trash it? The other gallon is waiting for the other additives. Campden
and pectic enzym.



Hummm.. I just checked the starter/old lees, it's producing a lot of
carbodioxide and the greasy smell is gone so I think I may use it.
Unless you all have better advice. While I was writing this I thought
to my self why would I want to use the old lees. If it wasn't good for
the other batch what's gonna make it good for this one. But then again
the lees had nothing left to work with in the first batch, so basically
I'm just giving them something fresh to feed on.



Live and learn I guess. I'm still experimenting.


----------



## Hippie (Apr 18, 2005)

I really don't like to reuse lees to start a new batch. the one time I did it, the subsequent batch did not turn out well, although drinkable now. I use drinkable very loosely after 3+ years in the bottle. I think honey might also be a culprit.


----------



## Goslin (Apr 18, 2005)

It's smelling like I'll probably use it, the more active it gets the
more it smells like it did during the first fementation and this is
just a starter. I also did add an extra teaspoon of yeast. There's no
doubt in my mind that this one will be better than the last since I'm
useing three times the fruit. I'll more than likely raise it up to five
gallons too, which of course will weaken the flavor, but it makes it
easier to manage. 

Alright I want to do some blue berries now and then some strawberries, I need more carboys


----------



## Maui Joe (Apr 19, 2005)

Goslin, when is "Blueberry" season there? We don't see any in the stores until the later part of the year here.


----------



## Goslin (Apr 19, 2005)

Not really sure Joe, I was thinking of just useing frozen berries. Strawberries on the other hand will be ready next month in my area. Next year I plan to use strawberries as border in the front yard, each plant produces on average a quart of berries so next year I should have about 150 gallons of straw berries. I have no idea at the moment how that would convert to pounds so don't know how much wine it would make once mashed into juice. I'm going to have to do some research on blue berries, I'm sure it's to late to plant them this year.
Here's something else I have in mind too. Black berries


http://fruitsandberries.com


I've noticed mozilla doesn't work to good on this forum, it wouldn't let me add the url. Paste is not even show. 




*Edited by: Goslin *


----------



## Maui Joe (Apr 19, 2005)

It is kinda hard to be accurate not knowing how much juice you would get from fruit based on the density of the fruit vs. pressed juice. On the average, we know that 1-gallon of water weighs 8 lbs + so. I am getting ready to make some strawberry wine soon, but Masta just did so his info would be more accurate.


----------



## rgecaprock (Jul 17, 2005)

Stinkie,,


You need to put that Palmolive under the sink.....


Just kidding....I see it in all of your pictures.





Ramona*Edited by: rgecaprock *


----------



## rgecaprock (Jul 17, 2005)

I just bought some New Jersey blueberries today...so I"m sure I'll be looking to you and Hippie for advice.


Also started my pretty apricot rose today too.......the fragrance is very intoxicating...






Ramona


----------



## Hippie (Jul 17, 2005)

Wow Ramona, you have been busy. You go girl! Let us know however we might help.


----------

