# My First Batch! BlackBerry!



## GhostHawk (Apr 1, 2010)

My First blackberry Batch. 

25# Blackberries
35 Pints water
11# sugar
2 1/2 tsp Acid Blend
2 1/2 Pectic enzime (added after first 12 hours)
5 tsp Nutrient
5 Campden Tablets Crushed
1 Package K1V-1116 

Steralized all equiptment with PM let dry.

I used 2 straining bags and added 12.5# each with Blackberries crushed. Added all ingredients except Pectic and Yeast mixed with 35 quarts of water. Mixed vigorously before adding bags of fruit and juice. After adding the bags of berries I pushed the bags into the mix till I got a nice consistant feel for the batch. SG at 1.095 

12 hours later added the Pectic enzyme. 

I may just wait an aditional 12 hours to add the yeast.


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## WhineMaker (Apr 1, 2010)

Blackberry, raspberry, or blueberry?? I'm confused.



Anyways, congrats on whatever it is you have going!!

Hope it turns out berry good!


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## GhostHawk (Apr 1, 2010)

WhineMaker said:


> Blackberry, raspberry, or blueberry?? I'm confused.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



WOW.. Blond moment Eh? Fixed it. Pretty tired. lol


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## WhineMaker (Apr 1, 2010)

I know the feeling! LOL


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## Midwest Vintner (Apr 1, 2010)

looks like it would be good.

acid tester??? it will drastically improve your results and make them more consistent. enjoy!!!!!!


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## summersolstice (Apr 2, 2010)

I love blackberry wine - it's one of my favorites! Good luck!


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## myakkagldwngr (Apr 2, 2010)

I made a batch last June and liked it from the start. I picked the berries in my yard and did a 5 gallon batch. Was sad I hadn't made more. 
From all the urging around here I have ended up with 7 bottles still on the rack.
I just hope this year I can find enough berries to make at least 10 gallons if not more.
My brother works on a tomato farm and swears he has a spot with nice big berries. 
We'll see. Around here we don't start having berries until May and June.


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## GhostHawk (Apr 2, 2010)

Midwest Vintner said:


> looks like it would be good.
> 
> acid tester??? it will drastically improve your results and make them more consistent. enjoy!!!!!!



Tested the Ph at 3.8 and pitched the yeast last night about 9pm.

This morning I am already getting a little action from the airlock. I get a bubble approx every 2 minutes. 

2 things I have got to mention. One- I cant believe how good this stuff smells. Two- Watching the yeast activate in the water before pitching it to the mix was alot of fun. I almost felt like an escaped mental patient watching it start to foam and move around. lol


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## Leanne (Apr 2, 2010)

This sounds good. What will you make next?


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## GhostHawk (Apr 2, 2010)

Leanne said:


> This sounds good. What will you make next?



Im wanting to do Peach so bad I cant almost stand it. If they had enough at the market the other day I would have done that. they only had 10 pounds though and had exactly 25 pounds of blackberries. It will be good. 

Anyone ever Mix Blackberry and Peach? Or is that bad JuJu?


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## GhostHawk (Apr 2, 2010)

I feel like an escaped mental patient when I watch my airlock work. Im getting good action, bubbles every 5 seconds or so. My primary is almost full. only 2-3 inches from the top. I hope it doesnt foam too much. I took some video of it just now. Figure I may be able to post it but Im sure you all have been there and done that. lol


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## Leanne (Apr 2, 2010)

Lmao! Yes we have. It's like having your first baby isn't it?


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## GhostHawk (Apr 3, 2010)

My wine today is very active. The airlock is going wild. I opened up the top to push the bag down and give it a little stir. Hearing the action is wild. 

The weird part is that my SG went up from 1.095 to 1.10 ! Is this normal and if not what did I do? Should it still turn out normal?


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## Torch404 (Apr 3, 2010)

With a vigorous ferment especially in a large batch the must can get a good amount of heat going. this can skew your SG readings. It is also possible that some residual sugar has been pulled out of the berries as they break apart. CO2 bubbles can also push you hydrometer up while sitting in there. A good spin will free up the bubbles.


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## GhostHawk (Apr 4, 2010)

Torch404 said:


> With a vigorous ferment especially in a large batch the must can get a good amount of heat going. this can skew your SG readings. It is also possible that some residual sugar has been pulled out of the berries as they break apart. CO2 bubbles can also push you hydrometer up while sitting in there. A good spin will free up the bubbles.



A good spin eh? Well I'll try that. 

The first 12 pound bag was crushed by hand and I can also see that aging a part in a possible residual sugar. The second bag was crushed with the kitchen-aid mixer. Next time I'll just use the mixer. I think I'll rack at 1.04. I'm just hoping that it doesn't make a real strong alcohol taste. I still would like to taste the fruit. Time will tell I guess. I'm going to hopefully save 10 bottles for long term aging. Or should it be drank sooner as it is a non grape wine?


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## GhostHawk (Apr 5, 2010)

SG tonight is 1.042. Im woundering which recipie I will follow to rack at . 1.04 or 1.03. All I know is that in a matter of 4 days I am almost ready to rack for my first time. The color of this wine is just amazing. The house smells of yeast and my Pregnant wife is a little annoyed but tollerant of it. lol. She cant wait till after the baby is born and she has recovered to try this wine. I told her it will be at least 6 months but I may just wait a year. 

What a wonderful Hobbie to start.


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## Boyd (Apr 5, 2010)

GhostHawk said:


> I feel like an escaped mental patient when I watch my airlock work. Im getting good action, bubbles every 5 seconds or so. My primary is almost full. only 2-3 inches from the top. I hope it doesnt foam too much. I took some video of it just now. Figure I may be able to post it but Im sure you all have been there and done that. lol


 Don't we all??


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## Wade E (Apr 5, 2010)

Do not rack it that early or you will be in trouble as its still vigorous at that point and will over flow your carboy. Id wait until 1.010 and stir it up first so as to not leave behind any viable yeast so that it doesnt stop premature unless you dont mind a sweeter wine.


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## GhostHawk (Apr 6, 2010)

SG 1.018

Racked to 6 gallon carboy and still had another gallon left that I honestly dont know what to do with as I dont have a gallon jug to use that will fit my rubber stoppers. 

There was very little as far as lees in this primary fermentation. I filled the 6 gallon to within 2 inches of the rubber stopper. The bubble activity is still very active and seems to have made the airlock more active than it was in the primary, Maybe its just a smaller space for the air to release. The color is just amazing and I cant wait to see how it turns out over time.


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## GhostHawk (Apr 6, 2010)

Wade E said:


> Do not rack it that early or you will be in trouble as its still vigorous at that point and will over flow your carboy. Id wait until 1.010 and stir it up first so as to not leave behind any viable yeast so that it doesnt stop premature unless you dont mind a sweeter wine.



Wade, Thank you for that advice. I was close to your number before I read it and decided to rack. What I am seeing now is a continuing of activity in the carboy. Should I let my SG get below 1.00 and if so why? Also if I was in need to stop the Yeast would it be the KMeta that I would use as opposed to the sorbate?

Opinions? Thank you.


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## GhostHawk (Apr 7, 2010)

SG 1.01

Activity from yesterday has slowed a little but I can still see lots of bubbles and the occasional sediment floating near the glass of the carboy. My wife says it looks like a huge glass jar of Blood. The color really is rich.


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## myakkagldwngr (Apr 7, 2010)

I got to rereading the posts here and see that you bought 25lbs at your market. Heck, at our grocery stores they want $3.00 for 12 ounces of fresh blackberries! 
I have to wait for them to bring the peaches down below a dollar before I'll buy enough.


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## GhostHawk (Apr 7, 2010)

myakkagldwngr said:


> I got to rereading the posts here and see that you bought 25lbs at your market. Heck, at our grocery stores they want $3.00 for 12 ounces of fresh blackberries!
> I have to wait for them to bring the peaches down below a dollar before I'll buy enough.



I think I payed 2.30 for 16oz. it was worth it though to get a batch started.


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## WhineMaker (Apr 7, 2010)

Looking real good Chuck!!


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## GhostHawk (Apr 7, 2010)

WhineMaker said:


> Looking real good Chuck!!



Thanks Darryl! Now, do you think it will keep this color or will it clear out away from this look?


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## WhineMaker (Apr 7, 2010)

Not sure.. I will guess the final color to be close to a White Zinfandel. Will be real interesting to see the final product! Keep the pictures coming!


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## WhineMaker (Apr 7, 2010)

Looks like I am way off!! Look at the link below

Blackberry Wine Color?


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## GhostHawk (Apr 7, 2010)

WhineMaker said:


> Looks like I am way off!! Look at the link below
> 
> Blackberry Wine Color?



Interesting, Good read. Guess I have to make sure to do at least 4 rackings. I suppose ill be doing vaccume gas removal with my foodsaver too. Time will tell. In the reading it almost looks like the wine should be drank before 2 years. This sounds like keeping bottles for longer will not be a good thing. HMM.


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## GhostHawk (Apr 8, 2010)

SG 1.00

Activity is pretty slow now. Bubbles at about once every 3-5 seconds. Im thinking that this is when I want to Rack it off to the next carboy and get it off of the Lees. Or should I keep it there for another week and let it gain the flavor from the lees? The color has gone from that creamy red color to a deep red. Will the bubbles keep going for some time and will the SG go below 1.00 with time? 

I need a little help here guys. Please. Thank you!


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## Wade E (Apr 9, 2010)

The color will change dramatically! It will be dark blackish/purple when it clears. The second one from the left is my Blackberry.


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## Midwest Vintner (Apr 10, 2010)

mine have all come out to be a dark purple also. love blackberry wine!!


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## GhostHawk (Apr 17, 2010)

Racked Wine off Lees to 6 gallon Carboy. The bubble action is so slow now and the yeasty smell has gone down quite a bit. I moved the Carboy to the basement in my wine Closet so it can be in the dark and nice and stable as far as temps go. Sitting right around 65.


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## GhostHawk (Apr 23, 2010)

So the Blackberry wine has been sitting for 10 days after the first racking of carboys finishing the secondary. I have been keeping it in a dark closet deemed the wine closet in the basement. I think that before we bought the house a month or so someone used it for the same as it is set up just right to hole 4 carboys and has all the racking to hold at least 150 bottles. 

When I racked it to the second carboy I only used one Kmeta tab. No sorbate. I am thinking ill rack it again in a couple of weeks as the color has drasticly gone to a deep black purple and I have a little bit of Lees. 1/4 inch maybe. When I rack it again how much Kmeta and Sorbate should I use? I do not open the airlock at all and I have about an inch to the stopper full of juice. SWEET!

Its smelling really good too. Good God.


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## Midwest Vintner (Apr 24, 2010)

you can never have enough carboys/containers and bungs! get a few for larger bottles (we like our hot sauce, in a gal ). 

we started in the basement closet and then just outside the closet and then in some basement cabnetry..............now moving into a 30x30 garage. lol will it ever end? i hope not.

i will warn you about peach. it's not easy to get good results. we've made it 2 times bad and another was good, but a little light on flavor. we like more full bodied wines, but it can get expensive that way.


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## Wade E (Apr 24, 2010)

Ghost, the recommended dosage is 1 campden tablet per gallon or 1/4 tsp per 5-6 gallons. This would be done about every 3-4 months of aging after the initial dose right after fermentation ended.


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## GhostHawk (Apr 24, 2010)

Wade E said:


> Ghost, the recommended dosage is 1 campden tablet per gallon or 1/4 tsp per 5-6 gallons. This would be done about every 3-4 months of aging after the initial dose right after fermentation ended.



Thank you Wade, This is exactly what I needed to Hear.


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## GhostHawk (May 5, 2010)

Racked after 1 month in the second racking carboy. This time I added 6 cambden tablets and the 3/4 tbs of sorbate per gallon dosage. While I racked it to the new Carboy, I couldnt believe how clear it is already going through the tube. I put some in a glass and did the flashlight test and it is clear as a waterbottle. WOW. Still had a little of a yeast smell but I could deffinatly smell the blackberry. For some reason my drill mount degasser wont fit in the neck of my carboy so I may just hook it up to the foodsaver. That will be for another day though. Maybe next racking or before bottling. I figure Ill let it sit now for a few months as I got very little Lees from this racking. I added a little red wine to top off from what I lost in the racking. Maybe a cup or so. 

This smells better than any red wine I have ever had and I cant wait to share the experience of my first home made wine.


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## Midwest Vintner (May 6, 2010)

if there are not bubbles in the wine, i don't usually degas unless there is an off flavor. usually you can pick it out, but maybe not for a first timer. it's not a bad idea to degas, but i don't think it's always necessary either.

i'm glad it's coming out good. for some reason, our first 4-6 batches were excellent. maybe a winemakers beginners luck? lol. i guess you have to make mistakes to learn sometimes too. 

my personal first totally by myself (my dad got me into it and we'd co'op quite a few before) was watermelon. it spoiled before it got into the secondary....it was reallllly bad.


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## GhostHawk (May 6, 2010)

I actually found the tubing for my food saver and will be buying a non drilled bung so I can drill it out the size I need to hook it up right. So using a vaccume will work out just fine. My wife is due to have our second baby, a boy tomorrow and she cant wait to try the wine. It should be perfect timing when it is ready for her.


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## GhostHawk (May 10, 2010)

Racked off the lees. There where not too many and the wine in the tubes looked very clear. Added 6 Cambden Tabs and sorbate. Ill leave this batch in the closet for a couple months now before I Rack again. I also got some un drilled bungs so I can drill them my size for my food saver so I can degass.


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