# Blackberry Wine



## Bnew17 (Jul 14, 2013)

I am in the process of making my first batch of blackberry wine. The recipe i used was for 1 gallon and i am making 5 gallon so i did 5x. The recipe calls for adding water and sugar initially, then again after 7 days, then again after 10 days. I used 21 pounds of fruit for my 5 gallons. Today marked day 7 soni racked off the wine discarding the spent fruit. I squeezed all of the juice out before discarding. After doing this i have right at 5 gallons of wine. The next two steps call for just over 1 gallon more of water plus sugar. Does this sound ok where i am at? 6 gallons with a 5 gall recipe? I want a sweet wine with a strong blackberry flavor. So far i have added the sugar from step 2 but that is it. I havent added any water. Wanted to see what yall said first. Here is a link to the recipe. 

http://www.familyherbalremedies.com/blackberry_wine_recipe.html

Thanks


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## jamesngalveston (Jul 15, 2013)

that was my first wine recipe i ever used.
wasnt so good....

http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/blackbr2.asp

the light bodied sweet is excellent, just X 5 times....
i have made this twice in 5 gallon batches, but i increased the fruit by 2 lbs each gallon...


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## Turock (Jul 15, 2013)

I just don't understand all the water additions. Maybe it's for acid control? This is not the way we make blackberry wine.


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## jamesngalveston (Jul 15, 2013)

i agree with Turock , blackberry should all be juice are close to it, there mostly liquid to start with. very high contend of water in them.
i increased my fruit to get a higher volume of juice and lower addition of water.
next batch will be pure blackberry, I will juice the berrys untill I have 5 gallons of pure juice.


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## Bnew17 (Jul 15, 2013)

So could i just skip adding anymore water? And just add sugar when called for? I have not added water yet in the 2nd step. I only added sugar yesterday


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## Julie (Jul 15, 2013)

You know step feeding a must only gets you high alcohol, not necessarily a good wine. I know you already started this that way so there is no turning back. I would just add the sugar and let it go.

In the future always prepare your juice and add enough sugar to bring your sg around 1.080. Check your ph and acid, adjust, add pectic enzyme, wait 12 to 24 hours and hit it with the yeast, my preference for blackberry is Lavlin 71b 1122.


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## Bnew17 (Jul 15, 2013)

So by not adding the remainig water the recipe calls for. Im guessing this just gives me a finished pruduct that is less "watered down" with a stronger fruit flavor?

Also i have many sg readings throughout the process. With the addition of sugar several times through the process , how do i get a true final readingnof alcohol content?


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## ShawnDTurner (Jul 15, 2013)

Turok....I am in Columbus Ohio, where do you get your blackberries from in Ohio. I am looking to make Blackberry wine as well. Cheers


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## Turock (Jul 16, 2013)

Bnew--if you have a triple read hydrometer, just take your SG and turn the hydrometer to the % scale to read the potential alcohol content. That's all we do--and never use a vinometer to recheck alcohol content. It's kind of unimportant to us to know the exact ABV. And a vinometer is pretty inaccurate, anyway. We shoot for a 12-12.5% potential alcohol content.

Shawn--All our blackberries are picked wild from fence rows. But there is a blueberry and blackberry farm not far from me in Amherst.


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## jamesngalveston (Jul 16, 2013)

Turock, i am juicing 100 lbs of blackberries today, do you have a good recipe for the juice, if you do not wish to share, I understand.


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## Turock (Jul 16, 2013)

James---we never use juice. We ferment on the fruit. But I would use the same technique as for fruit. Even tho you don't have all the pulp, I'd still get some pectic enzyme in it as that should help in clarification. Set the PH to 3.4 I'd use 71B in order to metabolize some of that malic. Be aware you should always use Go-Ferm with 71B. Use no water. Any other questions?

Why wouldn't I want to share? I'm always willing to help!!


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## Bnew17 (Jul 16, 2013)

Turock would not adding the remaining amounts of water the recipe calls for (calls for adding roughly over 1 gallon for the rest of the recipe) be alright? I already have 5 gallons,,,,which is the amt i was shooting for when i started but i guess i had alot of juice in my fruit. Im wanting a semi sweet wine that has a full/rich blackberry taste and i assume adding more water would dilute it?


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## Turock (Jul 17, 2013)

Yes, you're correct in saying the water will dilute the flavor. We never add water to blackberry and the resulting wine is almost like eating a blackberry pie--the flavor is that good. If that's what you're shooting for, I wouldn't add the water.


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## Midwest Vintner (Jul 18, 2013)

We add some water to ours, otherwise the pH gets waaaaayyy low. Beyond even what caclium carbonate will fix. We do like the smaller type variety of blackberries that I think have more acid and flavor. There are some blackberries that get huge. This is one part of wine making that is very difficult to get down. Knowing the fruit you have and getting it where you want it. pH tester is a "must." LOL


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## Bnew17 (Jul 23, 2013)

Ok i added the last bit of sugar that the recipe calls for. I have taken SG reading before and after each sugar dump ... Here they are.

7/7/13 -Starting day - SG was 1.081 but realized i forgot to add some of the water as noted earlier in thread.

- after adding missing water SG was 1.031

7/14/13 - Step 2 - SG reading was .996
- after adding sugar SG was 1.022

7/22/13 - Step 3 - SG reading was 0.992
-after adding sugar SG was 1.028

This is my first wine using a hydrometer. Can anybody tell about what my potential alcohol content will be? As mentioned earlier this recipe was a little strange with additions if sugar 3 different times through the process, but i have added all of the sugar called for now.


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## jamesngalveston (Jul 23, 2013)

why are you adding sugar three times...you will never know what you have.
you add sugar when you start.....
you add sugar at the end of needed.....not during fermentation.


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## Bnew17 (Jul 23, 2013)

jamesngalveston said:


> why are you adding sugar three times...you will never know what you have.
> you add sugar when you start.....
> you add sugar at the end of needed.....not during fermentation.



Thats what the recipe i used called for. The link to it is earlier in the thread.


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## cmason1957 (Jul 23, 2013)

jamesngalveston said:


> why are you adding sugar three times...you will never know what you have.
> you add sugar when you start.....
> you add sugar at the end of needed.....not during fermentation.



There can be good reasons to add sugar during fermentation, like you want a higher than normal ABV, but you don't want unsure stress on the yeast. 

To calculate the ABV. Our at least approximate it 131*(sg1-fg1 + sg2-fg2 + sg3-fg3) if you so more sugar additions just follow the pattern.


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## LoveTheWine (Jul 24, 2013)

Turock said:


> Yes, you're correct in saying the water will dilute the flavor. We never add water to blackberry and the resulting wine is almost like eating a blackberry pie--the flavor is that good. If that's what you're shooting for, I wouldn't add the water.




Your wine sounds great Turock!

On the flip side of this, I prefer dry red table wines that have little to no residual sweetness.
I just bottled my 2012 blackberry today. I added 18L water to #35 of blackberries to cut the acid (fermented on pulp). Then added sugar to bring my SG up.
I had just started Zinfandel from grapes a week before so during fermentation of the blackberry I used #6 of pressed Zinfandel skins to add body and color.
An American oak barrel was used for part of the aging process.
Resulting wine is dark ruby red, med/full bodied and tastes like a grape table wine with a hint of blackberries.


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## jamesngalveston (Jul 24, 2013)

that recipe, I have seen it.
he does not check sg level, he adds no k-meta, are campden, he just says you will know when it is finished ferment you will not see any bubbles.I hope it turns out the way you want. black berry wine is excellent. I have only made a 1,3 5 gallon batch, all were good...i just crushed 100 lbs of berrys for juice, and making another 6 gallon batch, with as little water as possible.


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## WVMountaineerJack (Jul 24, 2013)

Its not to late to add blackberries to boost your flavor instead of just sugar alone. WVMJ


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## Bnew17 (Jul 24, 2013)

cmason1957 said:


> There can be good reasons to add sugar during fermentation, like you want a higher than normal ABV, but you don't want unsure stress on the yeast.
> 
> To calculate the ABV. Our at least approximate it 131*(sg1-fg1 + sg2-fg2 + sg3-fg3) if you so more sugar additions just follow the pattern.



Thanks. Only problem is i didnt get a SG reading before i added sugar in the first step!!! Ugh!!


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## saramc (Jul 25, 2013)

Bnew...this whole thread sounds super familiar. Did you have one on another forum or in another section of this one? If so, can you link to it?

If you can provide us the initial volume plus the amount of sugar you initially added, and the SG after that sugar addition we can calculate an approximate starting gravity of your fruit.


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## Bnew17 (Jul 25, 2013)

saramc said:


> Bnew...this whole thread sounds super familiar. Did you have one on another forum or in another section of this one? If so, can you link to it?
> 
> If you can provide us the initial volume plus the amount of sugar you initially added, and the SG after that sugar addition we can calculate an approximate starting gravity of your fruit.



The initial volume? It was a little over 2 1/2 gallons . I had that much in 2 different primaries. Once i combined them the other day i had a total of 5 1/2 gallons. Initial sugar added was 2 pounds per primary so 4 pounds total between the 2. My starting SG after adding sugar was 1.081...BUT the next day i realized i had forgotten to add water that the first step called for. It called for 1 quart per gallon so i added 5 quarts total. 2 1/2 per primary. After adding the water the next day the SG was 1.031


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## ShawnDTurner (Jul 29, 2013)

Turock. You mention using calicium carbonate to adust p.h. my ph is around 2.9. Was thinking about cc to bring it up to 3.4. Your thought?


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## Turock (Jul 30, 2013)

Yeah Shawn--use the calcium carbonate to bring the PH up to 3.4 Some people say you can't use that much calcium carbonate to go from a 2.9 to a 3.4 PH because it will lend a chalky flavor. But our blackberry always starts at 2.8 or 2.9 PH and we take it to 3.4 using calcium carbonate with no problem.. We've been doing this for years---so I can tell you with confidence that it works just fine.


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## ShawnDTurner (Jul 31, 2013)

Thanks turock. Do you backsweeten at all or leave dry? If sweeten. .. what s.g. Do you shoot for? Cheers


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## Turock (Jul 31, 2013)

We always sweeten--- 1.015 to 1.020


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## ShawnDTurner (Jul 31, 2013)

Sweet. That is the range I generally sweeten too. Thanks for the information.


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## Turock (Aug 1, 2013)

No problem--always happy to help.


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## MilesDavis (Aug 11, 2013)

Anybody ever try backsweetening with agave syrup?


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## jamesngalveston (Aug 11, 2013)

I have not, wonder if it would change the color any.


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## MilesDavis (Aug 12, 2013)

At our local health food shop they have it in a couple different varieties. Some light and some dark. 
I like agave better than sugar, but it is more $$.


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## Bnew17 (Dec 9, 2013)

Just an update...i sampled the wine last night and its not very good. Very little blackberry flavor, watery and not much alcohol. I wonder if theres anything i can do? I still have some berries in the freezer


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## WVMountaineerJack (Dec 9, 2013)

Did you not read my earlier post that suggested adding more fruit? You can crush up what you have left, add some pectinase to the crushed fruit, squeeze out the juice and add it all to your must. You also have only been cooking this wine for a few months, might not be enough time for it to be good. You could also add some sugar to the blackberry juice to get it back up to your original gravity and then be patient and let it ferment out and not even consider bothering it for a couple of months. WVMJ



Bnew17 said:


> Just an update...i sampled the wine last night and its not very good. Very little blackberry flavor, watery and not much alcohol. I wonder if theres anything i can do? I still have some berries in the freezer


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## B0gus (Dec 20, 2013)

Blackberry is tricky! Next time make sure you mash the fruit before and after the fermentation. Do it by hand and literally sit and squeeze the fruit a few berries at a time. It might take a half hour but it completely changes the flavor of the wine. I've made multiple batches of award winning blackberry wine and after many tries, if you want that strong blackberry flavor, you need to hand crush, back sweeten it and add some citric acid or acid blend before bottling. 
Some grocery stores carry blackberry and cherry juice concentrate, it's usually in the organic area. It's something like a tablespoon to a glass of water to reconstitute the juice. Since there are no preservatives, I've added the cherry to an unflavorful batch of rhubarb wine and it turned out great. 
Unless you really vacuum sealed the blackberries well, I would be concerned with using freezerburned berries in an already difficult won't to make flavorful. Good luck!


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