# Blackberry Wine



## CowboyRam (Feb 3, 2014)

I was told by the wife that my next batch of wine will be blackberry. She just ordered about 45# of blackberries from bountiful basket. Does anyone have a good recipe for fore blackberry wine? 

Thanks, 

Jay


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## jamesngalveston (Feb 4, 2014)

There is tons of recipes for blackberry wine, most are very light on the fruit, and few use 100 percent juice. I am not sure how much blackberry I made last year , it was a lot. I will pm you a recipe, that I use, using both the fruit and the juice...
First thing...dont rinse them, and put in big freezer bags and freeze it.


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## WVMountaineerJack (Feb 4, 2014)

Problem with recipes is the guy who wrote them didnt taste YOUR berries. Before you freeze them if they are fresh, give them a taste. If they are sweet and not to acidic then you can use all of them in a 5 gallon batch, just crush, add pectinase overnight and go from there. But if they pucker you up before they start to give a good blackberry taste you might need to dilute a bit. Do you have a acid testing kit yet? I always make the wifes favorite, then she lets me experiment. This would be a good time to get some tools and goodies so you can make sure HER batch of wine turns out perfectly. 

WVMJ



CowboyRam said:


> I was told by the wife that my next batch of wine will be blackberry. She just ordered about 45# of blackberries from bountiful basket. Does anyone have a good recipe for fore blackberry wine?
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Jay


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## Turock (Feb 4, 2014)

The best blackberry wine is made with no water. Use all of the berries. I would freeze them so that you'll have more juice. Be sure to check the PH on them before you begin the ferment because if they have a low PH and you ferment them that way, you'll never be able to adjust it post ferment. Set the PH at about 3.4 If the berries are too acidic, use calcium carbonate to raise the PH. Be sure to use 71B yeast to metabolize some of the malic acid, or else this wine can be a little harsh. Be sure to bulk age 9 months to 1 year. Questions?


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## jamesngalveston (Feb 4, 2014)

I followed turocks suggestion last year, and it was dead on.
the first harvest of berries were way to acidic...the last was not.
adjust ph before you ferment.
I knew Turock would chime in, he is a blackberry wine maker, and he knows what he is talking about.


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## CowboyRam (Feb 4, 2014)

jamesngalveston said:


> First thing...dont rinse them, and put in big freezer bags and freeze it.



Why not rinse them?
PH test kits. I still have my test kit from when I had tropical fish, but it has been about 5 years ago that I shut down my aquarium. I am not sure how accurate it may be; I may need to get a new test kit.


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## Turock (Feb 5, 2014)

Don't rinse them if you're going to let them sit around because that will make them spoil easy. But if you want to wash them and then freeze them, that would be OK.

The best way to test PH is with a PH meter. They aren't too expensive. The color change tests are hard to read on reds. If you think you'll stay with this hobby, a PH meter is an invaluable tool. Even if you never have to acid adjust your musts very much, you should still know what the PH is so that you know how much free SO2 your wine needs for preservation.


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## jamesngalveston (Feb 5, 2014)

I think i asked this before, not sure.
Turock when you crush your blackberries how much juice do you think you get out of say, 100 pounds.


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## Turock (Feb 5, 2014)

We don't really crush them. When they get all thawed out, they are really macerated. I don't know that I can estimate HOW much juice is there---but it is ALOT!! It is MORE than enough for testing.

Which reminds me----Cowboy, be sure to bag this fruit or strain it as it comes out of the primary. You don't want any of the seeds getting over into the secondary and aging it on seeds because they can make the wine bitter.


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## CowboyRam (Feb 5, 2014)

About how much wine will 45# make?

James, that recipe would be great.


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## CowboyRam (Feb 5, 2014)

Do I need a press to press out the juice?


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## seth8530 (Feb 5, 2014)

I do not think a press is really needed, but if you have one or want to build a simple one I doubt it would hurt. Also, it is really hard to judge how many lb/Gal your blackberries will give you since some blackberries are a little juicier than others.. Perhaps someone could give you a rough estimate.


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## CowboyRam (Feb 5, 2014)

I just need a rough estimate on how much juice I might get out of my 45# of berries.


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## WVMountaineerJack (Feb 5, 2014)

About 10 pounds of berries gives about a gallon of juice or so. Lots of ways to do it. We freeze ours, thaw them overnight, crush them in a grape crusher, toss in some pectinase overnight then strain out the pulp and seeds and gently twist the strainer bags to get more juice, but not king kong them. We dont like ferenting on the seeds as they can impart a bitterness that doesnt bother most poeple as they sweeten in the end a lot but we try to keep the backsweetening to 1.015 so it complements the taste without being overly sweet. We replace the lost tannins with oak which makes it turn out really nice. WVMJ


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## jamesngalveston (Feb 5, 2014)

I couldnt get that much juice last year, but they were picked early..
I should picked later, when they were a little riper and fuller.


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## Turock (Feb 6, 2014)

With no water addition, and after racking, you should have 4 gallons of wine.


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## CowboyRam (Feb 8, 2014)

I got my blackberries today. They tasted a little tart, but then it has been a long time sense I have tasted blackberries. Looks like tomorrow I will be busy washing and freezing some berries. I am going to have to wait for a few weeks before I start the fermenting process due to a small remodel job we have going on in the basement; still have a fair amount of dust to contend with. Maybe this will be some motivation to get finished with the new steps down into the basement done.


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## CowboyRam (Feb 8, 2014)

I just got to play with my Refractometer my wife got me for Christmas, and my blackberries have a Brix of 9. Now what can I do with this new found information?


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## WVMountaineerJack (Feb 9, 2014)

First figure out about how much alcohol you want in the end and calculate how much sugar you are going to possibly need (or better yet honey). After you pulp your berries and get some just remeasure and then you will have another reading plus you will know the volume of juice you have which will help you to know how much sugar to add. I suggest to add like 80% of it and then measure again to see how close you are to your target, then keep adding it. You can add the sugar directly to the juice and stir it in, if you have a drill mounted stirrer this makes it much easier, only your trigger finger gets tired not your arms from stirring. Have you got your hydrometer yet? You can use your refractometer at the start while mixing up your juice but once the yeast starts making alcohol the refractometer needs complicated tables to recalculate the sugar, while your hydrometer just sits and spins and gives you your reading immediately in the mush. GOOD LUCK, WVMJ


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## Turock (Feb 9, 2014)

A brix of 9 will give you a potential alcohol content of 5.2% So that means there's SOME sugars in the berries. We always take our potential alcohol to 12-12.5% But you could also do anything from 11-12.5% potential alcohol and you do this determined on how much sugar you add to the must.

A refractometer is a handy tool, especially out in the field when testing grapes to see how ripe they are. As the brix goes up, acids come down. So a low brix grape is not fully ripe and has retained acids in it. Sometimes--depending on variety--this can be a good thing. But you need to know your grapes and their characteristics to help guide you on when to pick.

It also comes in handy when setting the brix of your must because it only takes a drop. But as Jack said, you can't use it after alcohol production unless you use a Pearson Square calculation.


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## LoneStarLori (Feb 9, 2014)

Even though I'm not making a blackberry yet, (at least until James' berries are ripe, lol) I'm glad to read this thread. There is some really good info for someone like me who is just starting to wrap their head around PH and brix.
Thanks for the free schooling!


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## CowboyRam (Feb 9, 2014)

Oh yes I do have a hydrometer; have already played with it several times. This has been the only opportunity that I had to play with my Refractometer; boys and their toys type of thing. My grape vines get planted this spring; Maybe in order for me to play with my refractometer next fall I may have to go over to the neighbors and check the brix of their raspberries.


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## NoSnob (Feb 9, 2014)

I made Tom's Blackberry Wine recipe (see the recipe section here) with 36 lbs of Wal-Mart frozen blackberries. I think it made 6 gal. I followed the recipe closely and even asked him a question or two as I went along. It had a very good flavor but was a little sharp, probably too acidic. Nice sippin wine but just a little at a time will do. If I made it again I would closely test the pH and TA though he doesn't mention it.

Jack Keller has blackberry wine recipes but he makes most of his fruit wines with far less fruit than recipes on this board use. Like Tom, I prefer to actually taste the fruit; Jack wants just a hint of fruit taste. That's a matter of style I guess.

My blackberries took up a lot of space in the straining bag and with the amount of liquid it required, it was impossible to ferment in my 7.9 gal pail. So I divided it into two pails. You can expect the berries to throw a lot of sediment. There's some disagreement about how much to squeeze the fruit bag. Not enough and you lose flavor; too much and you get bitterness from seeds and tannins. 

If you use a recipe please share it with us and let us know how it went. I would like to try another one. Good luck!

NS


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## WVMountaineerJack (Feb 10, 2014)

The seed bitterness comes from fermenting on the seeds to long, some people see this others dont, but I think the ones that dont sweeten a bit, or it could be variety specific. The squeezing the bag thing has more to do with the pulp being sqeezed out of the bag and forming a thick layer of sediment. We aim for firm but not King Konging it. WVMJ



NoSnob said:


> I made Tom's Blackberry Wine recipe (see the recipe section here) with 36 lbs of Wal-Mart frozen blackberries. I think it made 6 gal. I followed the recipe closely and even asked him a question or two as I went along. It had a very good flavor but was a little sharp, probably too acidic. Nice sippin wine but just a little at a time will do. If I made it again I would closely test the pH and TA though he doesn't mention it.
> 
> Jack Keller has blackberry wine recipes but he makes most of his fruit wines with far less fruit than recipes on this board use. Like Tom, I prefer to actually taste the fruit; Jack wants just a hint of fruit taste. That's a matter of style I guess.
> 
> ...


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## jamesngalveston (Feb 10, 2014)

I think the bitterness is also from letting the must sit on the lees...as mountaineer jack...and it will have more sediment if squeezed really hard, and more acidic.
I made jack kellars medium body recipe last year and it was not that good.
I then started adapting several to get to my own...and I have made about 80 gallons.I like to have a final abv of 14 percent , then I will sweeten a tad, with a blackberry simple syrup.
I hope to have 50 plus gallons of juice this year and hopefully another 3 to 400 lbs of fruit in the freezer before the end of may.
PH and brix testing is a must on blackberries, just as is for grapes.


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## Turock (Feb 10, 2014)

Blackberries can just be very acidic. And the malic on this fruit is just so harsh. We always ferment on the berries with the seeds. The seeds don't seem to be a problem in the primary--but you don't want to get them in the secondary and age on any seeds. That's why I always recommend bagging this fruit--it just makes working with the must much easier. Makes pressing easier too if you have a basket press.

71B is the yeast of choice for this---other yeasts work well, but you'll have alot of retained malic and the resulting wine can be one HARSH little bad boy!! You've just GOT to metabolize some of that malic.

Acid adjustment is almost always needed on this fruit. Just need to have a PH meter when working with this wine. Everyone should have a PH meter and use it faithfully. If not for PH adjustment, then for knowing what the PH of your wines are so you know how much free SO2 they need.

Anyone who wants to make a blackberry wine and has questions----don't hesitate to ask. This is a fussy wine to make because you have to follow a certain protocol or else the wine WILL end up too acidic and too harsh. And acid adjustments post-ferment don't work well because the PH can just be way too low to start attacking it with potassium carb. You have to get it correct pre-ferment.


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## NoSnob (Feb 10, 2014)

Turock said:


> Blackberries can just be very acidic. And the malic on this fruit is just so harsh. We always ferment on the berries with the seeds. The seeds don't seem to be a problem in the primary--but you don't want to get them in the secondary and age on any seeds. That's why I always recommend bagging this fruit--it just makes working with the must much easier. Makes pressing easier too if you have a basket press.
> 
> 71B is the yeast of choice for this---other yeasts work well, but you'll have alot of retained malic and the resulting wine can be one HARSH little bad boy!! You've just GOT to metabolize some of that malic.
> 
> ...



That is good advice I wish I had when I did my batch! With my new Vinmetrica 300 I will be doing a lot of testing to improve the final product.

NS


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## CowboyRam (Feb 15, 2014)

Turock said:


> Blackberries can just be very acidic. And the malic on this fruit is just so harsh. We always ferment on the berries with the seeds. The seeds don't seem to be a problem in the primary--but you don't want to get them in the secondary and age on any seeds. That's why I always recommend bagging this fruit--it just makes working with the must much easier. Makes pressing easier too if you have a basket press.
> 
> 71B is the yeast of choice for this---other yeasts work well, but you'll have alot of retained malic and the resulting wine can be one HARSH little bad boy!! You've just GOT to metabolize some of that malic.
> 
> ...



How long do you leave the fruit in during the primary ferment?


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## Turock (Feb 15, 2014)

The whole way---the ferment usually takes 5 days.


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## CowboyRam (Mar 12, 2014)

Ok, I am going to start my Blackberry wine. I am currently thawing out my berries. I have tested the Ph and provided I got my Ph meter calibrated right the Ph is about 3.49.


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## StoneCreek (Mar 13, 2014)

Like Lori, I too am enjoying the free schooling on this thread. I plan on making a blackberry this year as well. What should the target PH be before fermenting and if the PH is too low what acid should be used to bring it up. More malic or wold a blend be better?


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## Julie (Mar 13, 2014)

3.5 to 3.6 is a good range for blackberry. I normally use acid blend in my blackberry and it comes out very nice.


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## Turock (Mar 13, 2014)

It really depends on the blackberries you use. We use wild blackberries--and our soil here is acidic--so the beginning PH is 2.8 or 2.9 and we bring it up to 3.4 with calcium carbonate. If they're acidic to begin with, you wouldn't use any acid. If the berries are less acidic and needs some acid, I'd use acid blend--you don't want more malic.

The malic on blackberries is pretty harsh and the resulting wine also has some harshness to it unless you use 71B culture. It metabolizes some of the malic and makes the wine smoother.


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## CowboyRam (Mar 13, 2014)

I just rechecked my Ph, and it is at 3.98. Do I need to bring it down. I just happen to have some acid blend; how much do I need to use?


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## Turock (Mar 15, 2014)

Probably something like 3 tsp. depending on volume. Once you get close to the target PH, sneak up on it by using less.


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## CowboyRam (Mar 15, 2014)

Adjusting the PH is that something that should be done before the yeast is added? Will it mess things up if the PH is adjusted after the yeast is added?


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## Turock (Mar 16, 2014)

Adjusting it before beginning the ferment is always better because everything gets better integrated during the ferment. You CAN adjust it after, in this case, but there are times when you can have a very acidic must and if you don't get it adjusted before the ferment, it can be very hard to adjust it later on. So you should get used to always adjusting PH before the ferment.


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## CowboyRam (Mar 16, 2014)

I am a little high with the PH; do you think that would make much of a difference in the outcome of this wine? This batch of wine is already fermenting, so maybe I should just let this one go. I will make sure I adjust the next batch before pitching the yeast. 

Is there a formula for adjusting the PH?


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## jamesngalveston (Mar 16, 2014)

Turock, what do you use to check your ph....one of the vinmetricas.
was thinking of getting there new one, before blackberries start coming in.


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## Turock (Mar 17, 2014)

Cowboy---Since the ferment is going, then I would adjust it afterwards. Yeah--you're PH is pretty high and you may find the wine tastes kind of flabby. PLUS, with a PH of almost 4.0 you'd need alot more sulfite to preserve it--something close to 100 PPM of free SO2. 

James--We have a commercial PH meter. At the industrial plant I worked at, we did our own water treatment and when they bought new PH monitoring equipment they gave me their handheld model which we are still using today. If you don't already have a PH meter, then the Vinmetrica with PH, TA, and SO2 testing all in one might be a good plan. We have the Vinmetrica 100 because all we needed was an SO2 tester.


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## CowboyRam (Mar 17, 2014)

Ok so I should add 3tsp acid blend once the wine has fermented to dry.


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## Turock (Mar 18, 2014)

I would be real careful doing this post-ferment. It would be good to take another PH reading before. Then add something like 1/4 tsp at a time. Stir really good---maybe walk away from it for 30 minutes or so. Retest--add more as needed. It pays to be cautious and just sneak up on it.


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## CowboyRam (Jul 29, 2015)

I entered my wine in the fair this year and my blackberry won champion. I did not really expect that. My strawberry rhubarb dragons blood got first, My Clementine second, and my Mango third.


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## winegary (Jul 30, 2015)

Have one in bottles now hope it turns out, I'm sure it would be better if I would have seen this post first. Congrats on your win. CowboyRam.


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## vernsgal (Jul 31, 2015)

CowboyRam said:


> I entered my wine in the fair this year and my blackberry won champion. I did not really expect that. My strawberry rhubarb dragons blood got first, My Clementine second, and my Mango third.



 Congrats!!


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## HighD (Dec 17, 2020)

CowboyRam said:


> I entered my wine in the fair this year and my blackberry won champion. I did not really expect that. My strawberry rhubarb dragon's blood got first, My Clementine second, and my Mango third.



Congrats! Would you mind sharing your Clementine recipe?


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