Blackberry - up or down?

[Snafflebit]

I second @Rice_Guy on adding grape or apple juice to the mix. I made blackberry wine with only table sugar as the sweetener and it is good, but it does not have much of a ‘nose’ and I miss it.

 

[hounddawg]

The thirty second version:

Traditional ciders were done with a mixture of apples. They have names like
Sharps (acidic)
Bitter Sweets
Sweets
Bitter Sharps (spitters)
It is important to have a variety of apples to have enough acid to last.

yep almost as dumb as i look but not quite,
Dawg

 

[back2it]

After finding two bags of summer fruit in the freezer I have decided to go for the 5 gallons with apple juice.

Recipie:

Blackberry + summer fruits 12kg
Apple Juice 4ltr
Raisins 0.75kg (because I have them and why not? yeah, I’m really asking)
Water 9ltr
Nutriant 2tsp
Pectic Enzyme 5tsp
K-Meta ¼tsp

Add 3kg sugar to defrosting fruits
When defrosted, mash
Add K-Metta for 24hrs
Add Pectic Enzyme for 24hrs
Check SG and up it to about 1.070~1.080
Check PH and adjust to about 3.5 (ish)
Add nutrients
Add yeast

Ferment at 19°c (+- 0.5°c)
Punch down twice a day
After 7~10 days, then take out fruits and move to new fermentation bucket and top up.

Ferment out, rack to carboy and add k-meta for clearing and aging phase
Raise temp to 21°c at fermentation end phase

As for the yeast:-

Mangrove Jacks MA33 is fast becoming a favourite of mine but I’m thinking of using a red wine yeast (Mangrove Jacks VR21) for this one as it says it is an "Excellent strain for red country wines".

Any opinions/experience with this?

Thank you
Ray…

 

[back2it]

I forgot to say that I will make a yeast starter even though they say to just sprinkle the yeast on top.

 

[Rice_Guy]

I like the pH at 3.2 to 3.3. A lower pH is more resistant to wild lactic acid bacteria infection. If you use commercial pasteurized juice you should be safe running the pH high.

 

[back2it]

The reason for that PH level is because of space. I would like to get to the drinking phase sooner rather than later, I don’t want a DRY 2024

I will try at PH 3.4

Thanks once again for your input.

 

[hounddawg]

The reason for that PH level is because of space. I would like to get to the drinking phase sooner rather than later, I don’t want a DRY 2024

I will try at PH 3.4

Thanks once again for your input.

patience , patience , patience,,,,
that's your main ingredient for really good wine...
Dawg

 

[back2it]

You are of course correct, especially as I wish to make a quality product

 

[hounddawg]

You are of course correct, especially as I wish to make a quality product

on your country wines, fruit/berry type wines, you ferment out dry, then you back sweeten to taste,
for me i strive for my wines to taste like from the bush, tree, bramble , cane as possible. now i like my wines with a high ABV, yet not taste the alcohol, so i use my fruits, berries or concentrates much heavier then called for, as much fruit, berry as possible , then run my ABV way on up their, now with that much flavor and back sweetening , i get at least to me a very good product, easy sipping, without any harsh alcohol taste,
funny when i was young i drank hard lacquer, straight up, now that i'm a old geezer, i like a very good pronounced flavor , yet no harsh alcohol taste, i gave away 2 bottles of skeeter pee about 3 weeks ago, the ole boy said he gave em to his ole lady, and after drinking them she slept 36 hours straight, I'd warned him, not to take it lightly just because it tasted like a very good lemonade, he told me, (by gosh you weren't kidding)
lol. i said nope you was warned, you are on the best forum to learn, bar none, . these folk can learn you exactly what to do to get what you want, but the first rule of thumb is patience , above all others, time/patience,,,, best of luck to you,
now if on top of a good product , and you want a quick drinker, then look into skeeter pee and dragons blood, for till your top shelf wine is ready.
Dawg

 

[back2it]

I decided to go with a PH of 3.3 but I have another question.

I found another 2kg of fruit so threw that in as well (freezer now empty) so the below is all the fruit plus 4 ltr of apple juice. I will add water and sugar later.

I will take this to 27 ltr 6 imp Gallons but with the fruit taking so much space, do you think will I need to press the fruit to fill a carboy?

I can hire one, or look on ebay for a £15 offer again

 

[Hazelemere]

I decided to go with a PH of 3.3 but I have another question.

I found another 2kg of fruit so threw that in as well (freezer now empty) so the below is all the fruit plus 4 ltr of apple juice. I will add water and sugar later.

I will take this to 27 ltr 6 imp Gallons but with the fruit taking so much space, do you think will I need to press the fruit to fill a carboy?

I can hire one, or look on ebay for a £15 offer again

View attachment 116002

you need to press the fruit to get the seeds out. Bladder press or panty hose or nylon mesh will work 6 days into an active ferment. If you have dried elderberries e.g. 1/2 lb to 1 lb add them ASAP.

 

[back2it]

No elderberries.

I can hire a small press for £15 a day so will do that when the time comes. I looked on ebay. a 12 ltr press costs about £50, the identical "'vintage' press" costs £70

If this becomes a regular occurance and if space allows I will probably buy one.

 

[back2it]

Topped up to 27 ltrs (5 imp gal) and the SG is now 1.098. I didn't have to adjust the PH as it is already 3.3 so left well alone. No need to mess with something that doesnt need messin with.

I did have a little difficulty checking the SG as there was so much fruit that the hydrometer just stuck wherever I put it. I could have picked anything from 1.075 to 1.125 so I used a nylon bag to strain a few cups of the must and that worked a treat.

Started the starter and will pitch tonight.

Thank you all.

 

[back2it]

Wow, impressed with this cake. The marker is about 2 1/2" to 3" in a 5 imp gal fermenter. Its only been going for two days now.

 

[hounddawg]

are you punching down your cake daily and stirring at least once daily, your berries look kinda intact,
I use a stainless steel mixer/agitator with a cordless drill, to stir daily (at least), that churns everything into a mush,
breaking down your fruit/berry for more flavor and juice extraction.
Dawg

 

[back2it]

I'm punching down and stirring/mixing it all together by hand twice a day. I have a few days free now so I will increase the number of times I am doing it dependant on all the chores that I am given because "I have some free time" and "while you're doing that could you just .....".

When I initially put all the fruit in and it had defrosted I used a potato masher to mash as best as I could and most of it is a mush except for those f**%ing berries

To be honest the potato masher I have is a little small and part of my hand was submerged in fruit when I was doing it. It took me ages to lick my hand clean afterwards

I do get your point though and the only thing I could use is a degassing wand that is pretty robust so I will use that on a high speed each time I punchdown. I did just that a few minutes ago and most of the berries survived. Lets see if continued use does anything more.

Thanks

 

[hounddawg]

I'm punching down and stirring/mixing it all together by hand twice a day. I have a few days free now so I will increase the number of times I am doing it dependant on all the chores that I am given because "I have some free time" and "while you're doing that could you just .....".

When I initially put all the fruit in and it had defrosted I used a potato masher to mash as best as I could and most of it is a mush except for those f**%ing berries

To be honest the potato masher I have is a little small and part of my hand was submerged in fruit when I was doing it. It took me ages to lick my hand clean afterwards

I do get your point though and the only thing I could use is a degassing wand that is pretty robust so I will use that on a high speed each time I punchdown. I did just that a few minutes ago and most of the berries survived. Lets see if continued use does anything more.

Thanks

years ago i used a paint stirrer with a drill, had both a gallon one and a 5 gallon one, finally, I found a stainless stirrer from kraft mayonnaise,
all three really tore up the fruit, of course i didn't know how safe the paint/joint compound stirrers were, but the kraft mayonnaise one i found on craigslist food grade stainless. but anything that aggotates your must and introduces as much oxygen as possible, (ferment=oxygen best friend), (after fermentation oxygen a horrible enemy of your wine),
you sure you weren't dipping and licking both hands ,, yup i used to do all manual, then got older and feeble, and went to drills/cordless and everything else i could do to take the work outta it, finally, i went to less produce and more single source concentrates,
spent a long time finding a good place, the first place i used was great then they retired and sold out, the new owners used fillers like white grape and apple juice, took me awhile to find another single source concentrate, (body not able for much anymore) so a good single source was a necessity for me on most ... www.colomafrozen.com very good quality, but since i go with a high ABV% and only use EC-1118 as my yeast, I reconstitute my concentrates stronger then they call for. on the site you'll find out how many parts of concentrate to how much liquid, i just use less liquids,
Best to You...
Dawg

 

[back2it]

I was wondering why you suggested pressing the fruit on day 6 as I was going to wait until fermentation had completed, but it has dawned on me that this is because of the introduction of oxygen.

Press on day 6 then the reintroduced oxygenated pressed must will continue to ferment rather than taint.

Is this correct?

 

[Raptor99]

To be honest the potato masher I have is a little small and part of my hand was submerged in fruit when I was doing it. It took me ages to lick my hand clean afterwards

Last week I started some blackberry wine as well. I let the berries thaw in a bucket (still in their freezer bags), and then dumped them into a pot in batches to mash and add to the primary fermenter. That way I don't have to try to mash them all at once.

 

[back2it]

I am using this smilie far too often.

Thank you