1 gallon Blueberry Puree and fresh fruit recipe???

[batman72]

Looking to make a blueberry wine I have a gallon of this: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B01A7BGZD2/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 and I want to make 1 gallon from a little of this and also add some fresh in the fermenter together and was curious if anyone has tried this or has a recipe?

 

[Daboyleroy]

Did you read the reviews on Amazon?
Sort by current and read 7 and 8
how long has it been on the shelf?
kinda high, but I am spoiled ,,,,I have 12 to 15 bushes in my garden
see what the others say......maybe someone has used them

 

[batman72]

Did you read the reviews on Amazon?
Sort by current and read 7 and 8
how long has it been on the shelf?
kinda high, but I am spoiled ,,,,I have 12 to 15 bushes in my garden
see what the others say......maybe someone has used them

oh, this jug is dated November 2020, I think I will be ok. Just wanted to add in some fresh blueberries with it.

 

[Daboyleroy]

Have you checked PH and SG?

 

[batman72]

Have you checked PH and SG?

Not really sure you can do a SG reading before putting water together with it? I am a beginner so if you can explain how to do that please do. Th PH I can do I just need to recalibrate my meter.

 

[Scooter68]

You just take your SG testing tube and fill it enough to get an SG reading. That's a highly concentrated product and since it's a little past it's "Best By" date you might want to shake it a bit before trying it. Keep in mind if you aren't able to get a reading because of the concentration, then take your testing tube and fill it about 3/4 to 7/8 full. Measure how much water that takes. The recommended dilution rate is 1 part wine base to 4 parts water (IF you are making 5 gallons from their 1 gallon jug) So figure out that dilution rate. So if it take 5 oz for water to get to the 7/8's mark on you testing tube use 1 oz wine base and 4 oz water stir put that in your testing tube. That won't diminish your full jug volume that much and you can then figure our what you might need to add to get the desired ABV. That diluted testing sample should also be pH test as well.

That's not that hard now is it?

I'm not a fan of that brand of wine base but some folks love it. So since you have it - don't let it go to waste.

As for the idea of mixing real blueberries with this wine base. My normal blueberry wine, from my home grown blueberries, is made with 6 lbs of blueberries per gallon. It takes about 8 lbs to get a full gallon (before fermentation) but personally I seem to start to see problems with too much acid at that rate of berries per gallon.

So the rest of the recipe is just a matter of following a basic fruit wine recipe.

Some additive amounts are based on the state of the must ((A)Sugar, and (B)Acid Blend)
(C) Tannin for Blueberries isn't necessary but won't hurt anything if you like the mouth feel of tannins. The remaining additives don't really vary from one fruit to another.
(D) Yeast Nutrient (Follow Nutrient bottle directions)
(E) Pectic Enzyme (Follow directions on the bottle) {Some fruit varieties are need a LOT of this to break down the fruit and clear it but blueberries are pretty good. with just a normal dosage.}
(F) K-Meta would not be needed except if you are using fresh blueberries then you want to kill any stray bacteria and stun any wild yeast cells.

If you have any more questions ask away. As I said a number of folks like Vintner's Best. I personally just prefer my fruit wines to be single variety unless I am trying something different.

Remember in the future you can find all sorts of recipes here on this forum : Recipes

For questions about non-grape wines this is an excellent section of this forum to look for help: Country Fruit Winemaking

 

[batman72]

You just take your SG testing tube and fill it enough to get an SG reading. That's a highly concentrated product and since it's a little past it's "Best By" date you might want to shake it a bit before trying it. Keep in mind if you aren't able to get a reading because of the concentration, then take your testing tube and fill it about 3/4 to 7/8 full. Measure how much water that takes. The recommended dilution rate is 1 part wine base to 4 parts water (IF you are making 5 gallons from their 1 gallon jug) So figure out that dilution rate. So if it take 5 oz for water to get to the 7/8's mark on you testing tube use 1 oz wine base and 4 oz water stir put that in your testing tube. That won't diminish your full jug volume that much and you can then figure our what you might need to add to get the desired ABV. That diluted testing sample should also be pH test as well.

That's not that hard now is it?

I'm not a fan of that brand of wine base but some folks love it. So since you have it - don't let it go to waste.

As for the idea of mixing real blueberries with this wine base. My normal blueberry wine, from my home grown blueberries, is made with 6 lbs of blueberries per gallon. It takes about 8 lbs to get a full gallon (before fermentation) but personally I seem to start to see problems with too much acid at that rate of berries per gallon.

So the rest of the recipe is just a matter of following a basic fruit wine recipe.

Some additive amounts are based on the state of the must ((A)Sugar, and (B)Acid Blend)
(C) Tannin for Blueberries isn't necessary but won't hurt anything if you like the mouth feel of tannins. The remaining additives don't really vary from one fruit to another.
(D) Yeast Nutrient (Follow Nutrient bottle directions)
(E) Pectic Enzyme (Follow directions on the bottle) {Some fruit varieties are need a LOT of this to break down the fruit and clear it but blueberries are pretty good. with just a normal dosage.}
(F) K-Meta would not be needed except if you are using fresh blueberries then you want to kill any stray bacteria and stun any wild yeast cells.

If you have any more questions ask away. As I said a number of folks like Vintner's Best. I personally just prefer my fruit wines to be single variety unless I am trying something different.

Remember in the future you can find all sorts of recipes here on this forum : Recipes

For questions about non-grape wines this is an excellent section of this forum to look for help: Country Fruit Winemaking

the bottle actually says " Approved November 11,2020 So I don't think that is a best by date..

But as far as the SG reading I was thinking about just mixing it in the fermenter with the water when ready to make and then do a reading? and add sugar until I reach the ABV that Im looking for. Wouldn't that work?

 

[Scooter68]

Well according to their directions it looks like it's supposed to have quite a bit of sugar (Corn Syrup) already in it. That plan will work. and you can do a 1 gallon batch as a trial of their product to see how you like it. You can also (assuming have some real blueberries fresh or frozen that could be run in a side-by-side batch. IF you use the same ABV starting point and see if you can get the pH levels relatively close - that should be a fair comparison.
Personally I would run two batches and you can always blend them if you wish.

 

[tradowsk]

Just a suggestion, but I would consider adding the fresh blueberries in secondary after the main fermentation has completed with the concentrate. Primary can be vigorous and blow off some of the more subtle aspects of fruit, so by adding additional fruit in secondary, you can keep more of the essence of the fruit.

 

[Scooter68]

Keep the two separate and you can get a true comparison of the sources. Adding to secondary will only complicate the entire process and you won't really be able to judge the quality of the two.
I've been doing blueberry wine for a little over 5 years now with 7 different blueberry batches and never had a problem them losing the essence of the fruit. It all depends on how you set up your ferment condtions. Right now in the US temps are generally cooler and the ferment can be slowed down and cooled down easily.

 

[batman72]

ok, so starting PH was 3.45 and the SG is 1.092 I had to add a cup of sugar to bring it up from 1.069 to the 1.092, I have just the concentrate going atm since I don't have enough fresh berries yet.

 

[batman72]

Just a suggestion, but I would consider adding the fresh blueberries in secondary after the main fermentation has completed with the concentrate. Primary can be vigorous and blow off some of the more subtle aspects of fruit, so by adding additional fruit in secondary, you can keep more of the essence of the fruit.

That is an idea I might consider, just not too sure how to go about it, I mean do I have to add more sugar with the additional fresh berries or will they be enough alone to get that yeast going some more? Hmm, after thinking about it I came back and am adding this, I don't actually think I would have to add more sugar as the fresh berries should be enough to get the yeast going again... Correct?

 

[G259]

Yes, I think, the additional fruit will add to the body of the wine significantly.
No sugar needed, but I would stabilize the wine first.

 

[Scooter68]

The issue with adding to secondary is that you are going to have to add more sugar as you add more liquid (Berries) otherwise your ending ABV will drop. The additional berries/juice should be at the same SG as what you started at otherwise you will lower the ABV. If the new additions SG is higher then it will raise the ending SG but figuring that is going to amount another small math problem to solve. Secondly you will essentially be starting the fermentation all over again. There really is no such thing as a "Secondary Fermentation."

People refer to it like it's a separate and readily identifiable thing, but; what they are talking about is a period time when the production of CO2 starts to drop off as the fermentation activity slows. There is no hard fast point when a ferment crosses some line in the sand into "Secondary Fermentation. The most common opinion you will here on this forum is that most folks rack from a fermentation bucket at somewhere around 1.020 to 1.010 or even lower putting their wine into a carboy and adding an airlock then.

Here's the problem with adding new sugar and berries then. You can then set off an dramatic increase in fermentation along with all the associated activities such as increase foaming and a rising cap of berries that needs to be punched down. NONE of those good to have going on in a carboy and that's very likely to produce a foam fountain and push berries out of your carboy. So if you leave in the fermentation bucket you avoid that but why not just add the berries at the start OR better yet do a separate fermentation and you can compare the process of the two ferments as well as the results. You then also avoid a forced blending of the two sources and YOU get to chose which you like or blend them as you like.

A lot of text to say adding berries to an ongoing ferment will complicate your ferment, not to an impossible point but for very little gain in reality. You can actually gain more knowledge by doing separate ferments for now.

 

[batman72]

The issue with adding to secondary is that you are going to have to add more sugar is you add more liquid (Berries) otherwise you ending ABV will drop. The additional berries/juice should be at the same SG as what you started at otherwise you will lower the ABV if the new additions SG is lower or raise it if the new additions SG is higher. Secondly you will essentially be starting the fermentation all over again. There really is no such thing as a "Secondary Fermentation."

People refer to it like it's a separate and readily identifiable thing, but; what they are talking about is a period time when the production of CO2 starts to drop off as the fermentation activity slows. There is no hard fast point when a ferment crosses some line in the sand into "Secondary Fermentation. The most common opinion you will here on this forum is that most folks rack from a fermentation bucket at somewhere around 1.020 to 1.010 or even lower putting their wine into a carboy and adding an airlock then.

Here's the problem with adding new sugar and berries then. You can then set off an dramatic increase in fermentation along with all the associated activities such as increase foaming and a rising cap of berries that needs to be punched down. NONE of those good to have going on in a carboy and that's very likely to produce a foam fountain and push berries out of your carboy. So if you leave in the fermentation bucket you avoid that but why not just add the berries at the start OR better yet do a separate fermentation and you can compare the process of the two ferments as well as the results. You then also avoid a forced blending of the two sources and YOU get to chose which you like or blend them as you like.

A lot of text to say adding berries to an ongoing ferment will complicate your ferment, not to an impossible point but for very little gain in reality. You can actually gain more knowledge by doing separate ferments for now.

Perfectly said... I will just get more berries and start a second soon and follow you advice

 

[batman72]

Turned out awesome, working on larger batch at the moment.