A year in!

[Scooter68]

Great Sunshine! There is no hard fast rule on what constitutes, dry, semi-sweet vs Sweet. Normally would call any unsweetened wine a Dry wine as long as the SG ended up below .998 (Just a WAG on that) Any wine you consider sweet would be a sweet wine. A dessert wine typically would be high alcohol along with being sweet.

The SG numbers after back-sweetening are generally what one would use to determine what to call it. (And what I put on bottles when I do that) BUT in reality it's your call. If' you think it's sweet - it's sweet, if you feel it's only slightly sweet you can call it semi-sweet or semi-dry. (maybe based on which it end it favors. I had a tart cherry wine that ended up with an SG of 1.014 which would often be considered sweet BUT because it had a high ABV (15%) and was so tart, you didn't taste any sweetness until the finish. So again for starting out - Just go what what it seems like to you.

You label only needs to have on it what you want to remember about that wine. The ABV is basically the number you get when you calculate it using your starting and ending SG's unless you did a step feed of sugar or topped off with another wine. You kinda assume that if you didn't water it done or try to raise the ABV with a higer ABV wine or straight alcohol (Everclear/Vodka) then that calculated ABV is what I would put on the bottle. ( I just use this online calculator in my wine making: Alcohol By Volume ABV Calculator - Brewer's Friend

 

[user 36973]

How long do you ferment the berries in their flesh? The recipe I used says to not ferment the berries with their seeds because the finished product will be bitter. Not so?

I give them a 3-4 days with the flesh. Never have had any bitterness or astringency. Same for blueberries. However, I have noticed astringency when strawberries are fermented with their seeds.

 

[my wine]

Yes, the dry, semi-sweet or dessert was what I wondered about. How do I know what it is considered?

I had a similar question and found this online somewhere. This is not hard and fast across the world but worked for the Missouri fair in 2012 it seems.

Here is an example from the Missouri Winemaking Society Fair page for 2012...

I. DRY WINES; Wines that have virtually no residual sugar (less than 0.5%). Specific gravity is < 1.000. Wines entered in this category have complete fermentation (not stopped by intervention of the winemaker) and have not been back-sweetened.

II. OFF-DRY WINES - Used to accompany a meals main course or drink by themselves. These wines are not completely dry (i.e., may be back sweetened or may have early termination of fermentation), but are too dry for a Social Wine. They have up to 1% residual sugar and less than 14% alcohol. Specific gravity is 1.000 to 1.010.

III. SOCIAL WINES - Primarily enjoyed in the evening or afternoon with snacks but may be used with meals or any time. They typically have 1% to 4.0% unfermented sugar with less than 14% alcohol. These are commonly known as "semi-dry" or "semi-sweet" wines. Specific gravity is 1.010 to 1.025.

IV. DESSERT WINES - Full bodied, very sweet wines that are normally served at the end of a meal or with desserts or snacks. These wines contain more than 4.0% sugar and may contain over 14% alcohol. These are commonly referred to as "sweet" wines. Specific gravity is > 1.025.

V. SPECIALTY WINES - Includes sparkling (carbonated) wines, appetizer or cocktail wines (such as sherry, vermouth, Madeira and port), honey-based wines, and other wines which do not fit the other categories. A fortified wine (Port, Sherry or Madeira) is a wine that uses distilled spirits to increase alcohol level.

 

[Sunshine Wine]

I had a similar question and found this online somewhere. This is not hard and fast across the world but worked for the Missouri fair in 2012 it seems.

Here is an example from the Missouri Winemaking Society Fair page for 2012...

I. DRY WINES; Wines that have virtually no residual sugar (less than 0.5%). Specific gravity is < 1.000. Wines entered in this category have complete fermentation (not stopped by intervention of the winemaker) and have not been back-sweetened.

II. OFF-DRY WINES - Used to accompany a meals main course or drink by themselves. These wines are not completely dry (i.e., may be back sweetened or may have early termination of fermentation), but are too dry for a Social Wine. They have up to 1% residual sugar and less than 14% alcohol. Specific gravity is 1.000 to 1.010.

III. SOCIAL WINES - Primarily enjoyed in the evening or afternoon with snacks but may be used with meals or any time. They typically have 1% to 4.0% unfermented sugar with less than 14% alcohol. These are commonly known as "semi-dry" or "semi-sweet" wines. Specific gravity is 1.010 to 1.025.

IV. DESSERT WINES - Full bodied, very sweet wines that are normally served at the end of a meal or with desserts or snacks. These wines contain more than 4.0% sugar and may contain over 14% alcohol. These are commonly referred to as "sweet" wines. Specific gravity is > 1.025.

V. SPECIALTY WINES - Includes sparkling (carbonated) wines, appetizer or cocktail wines (such as sherry, vermouth, Madeira and port), honey-based wines, and other wines which do not fit the other categories. A fortified wine (Port, Sherry or Madeira) is a wine that uses distilled spirits to increase alcohol level.

Great! Thank you!

 

[SLM]

I give them a 3-4 days with the flesh. Never have had any bitterness or astringency. Same for blueberries. However, I have noticed astringency when strawberries are fermented with their seeds.

Tell me more. 3-4 days would be in the thick of fermentation. You remove the berries then?

 

[user 36973]

Tell me more. 3-4 days would be in the thick of fermentation. You remove the berries then?

I like to press while there is still sugar to ferment. I track the brix reading on the refractometer and press when it gets to about a reading of 10 brix. (The alcohol present in the ferment causes a higher reading by about 3 brix, so the sugar level is really about 7brix). By pressing at this point, it allows the yeast to utilize the dissolved oxygen that is picked up during the pressing, which may help prevent stuck fermentations and at least better protects against spoilage than if I'd waited until later and been left with oxygen in the wine.

The other reason is that the anthocyanin color pigments are basically fully extracted by this point and only additional tannin will continue to be extracted. Since added tannin beyond what is needed to stabilize the color is usually undesired in fruit wines, that is a good time to press.

 

[SLM]

The more I read the less I know.

So then how do you start out? I've been freezing, thawing, pressing, add sugar and ferment.

 

[user 36973]

The more I read the less I know.

So then how do you start out? I've been freezing, thawing, pressing, add sugar and ferment.

I get the blackberries stacked on each other in a macro bin. Upwards of 1000lbs. They aren't frozen but near freezing. Their weight alone crushes the berries and releases juice. By the time I've warmed them up with a glycol immersion heat exchanger after a day or so, there is plenty of juice to mix in the sugar, calcium carbonate, and yeast. Nutrients come a couple days later. Then pressing after a couple more days.

 

[Scooter68]

jgmillr1
&
SLM


Your discussion about fruit pulp in your ferment is really off the topic of this thread and you need to be considerate of the OP of this thread - start a new thread with an appropriate title and you might actually get more help.

 

[Sunshine Wine]

look into a spring tipped bottle filler they are cheap, it connects to your siphoning hose and you fill the bottle to the top and when you remove the filler wand it will leave just the right amount of head space. Cork size will depend on what corker you have. hand corker probably#8 corks or #9 with floor corker.

Is this what I need? Let me know which one might be best, please.

 

[Scooter68]

I've got the one in the middle and it works just fine. The trick of course is getting the flow started to the wand whichever one you chose.

 

[user 32114]

6 gallons makes 30 bottles, floor corker use #9 cork, i age blackberry from 1 to 2 year in carboys, i use nomacroc on eBay you can get 100 for $30, #9 and 1 & 3/4 long i used to use Flor corks, but nomacrocs can be let stand up or lay down, the 5 gallon buckets might let oxygen in and hurt your wine, keep under airlock till bottling time,
Dawg

 

[user 32114]

9 gallons is 45 bottles, in general
Dawg

 

[user 32114]

if you're into country wines go with @Scooter68 he has to make decent wines we both go close to the same, i just go simple and he gets technical,, so he is a very good info, of Couse, their are many on here that are good as well,
Skoal
Dawg

 

[Rice_Guy]

Craig has a good idea call it Sherman.

So, I have a question...lol. I have blackberry wine that I am getting ready to backsweeten and then bottle. How do I know what to call it? I want to make my labels and wondered if I just call it Blackberry Wine or . .

* first answer it is easier to create a grocery store product with a fanciful name, if there is a predefined grandma’s recipe you will be off target flavor part of the time.
* second answer I am in the buy showy printed labels when they have a sale camp (ex Evermine/ Noontime/ Grogtag). The color label only gets applied if I am giving a bottle away and has the function of identifying the winery. All info as flavor/ finished gravity/ vintage/ bottle run is on an address label which is easy to get off with a little water. Vinyl labels can stay on the bottle if it comes back to be refilled.

 

[Sunshine Wine]

So, I got the #8 corks from widgetco, as recommended. It said those were for wines that would be consumed in 2-3 years. #9's were for longer shelf time, so I decided on #8. Now my question is...once I bottle, do I refrigerate them, stand them up or lay them on their sides???

 

[Sunshine Wine]

I've got the one in the middle and it works just fine. The trick of course is getting the flow started to the wand whichever one you chose.

Great, thanks! When filling, do I fill all the way to the top, and once I take it out, that will be the amount of space left for the cork?

 

[bstnh1]

So, I got the #8 corks from widgetco, as recommended. It said those were for wines that would be consumed in 2-3 years. #9's were for longer shelf time, so I decided on #8. Now my question is...once I bottle, do I refrigerate them, stand them up or lay them on their sides???

Lay them on their sides with conventional corks. This keeps the cork moist and prevents it from drying, shrinking and leaking.

 

[Sunshine Wine]

Lay them on their sides with conventional corks. This keeps the cork moist and prevents it from drying, shrinking and leaking.

In the fridge or no?

 

[user 32114]

So, I got the #8 corks from widgetco, as recommended. It said those were for wines that would be consumed in 2-3 years. #9's were for longer shelf time, so I decided on #8. Now my question is...once I bottle, do I refrigerate them, stand them up or lay them on their sides???

hehe yeah i tend to make small batches when i make a wine, 3 to 7 ,, 6 gal carboys at a time, lol
Dawg