Blackberry Wine Lees drop batch volume From 5.7 to 4.5 Gallons

[Scooter68]

Well my batch of blackberry wine has just about wrapped up fermenting. Today the SG was at .996 and while it might drop another couple points to maybe .994 or maybe even .992, I went ahead and racked out of the buckets. A LOT of lees ! As of this evening I have 3 gallon carboy filled to about 2 inches from the airlock, a 4 liter filled to about 1 1/4 " from the airlock and a second 4 Liter filled about the same as the other. The wine is clearing pretty well already with about 1 inch of lees now on the 3 gallon carboy and about 2 1/2 inchs on the bottom one of the other 4 liter carboys. One of the 4 liters carboys was carefully siphoned and so far has no lees showing..... yet.
I believe it's safe to expect to lose about 1/2 gallon to lees from this point on.
That's more than I had hoped for but that's the way it works some time. ALL the fruit broke down nicely. I actually used a strainer to scoop out the floating fruit and when it was pressed, all that remained were the seeds/hearts of the blackberries. Taste is GREAT. Had about 2 ounces and WHOA ! I felt it quickly. Currently it should be sitting at an ABV of just a hair over 17% (17.06% according to the Brewer's Friend online calculator. In the end the plan is to backsweeten it up significantly to enjoy as a dessert wine. Won't take much for a good buzz with this wine.

Sadly the kitchen was a mess. I used stainless steel strainers to remove a lot of the gross lees. and strained that stuff. By the time I was done. I had a lot to clean up. But the end results are looking pretty good.

 

[RickD]

I'm liking your potential buzz to volume yield.

 

[Scooter68]

That 2 ounce sample yesterday provided something I haven't had from a wine before. It warmed my throat as it went down. Guess there was too much fine lees or something to prevent me from feeling the burn on my tongue. (Or maybe my sense of tastes and smell is temporarily off - YIKES !) Yeah I had that test done yesterday and while I think I'm clear... and in reality I still have taste and smell capabilities.

Anyway thanks Rick D This was my first successful attempt to get a wine up to at least 16%.ABV. Since it's appears to have stalled at .996 I might try a little of my new SN9 Yeast that is supposed to work in stuck ferments. We'll see how what the hydrometer says today. If there is any movement I'll just let it ride a few more days. It's off the gross lees so it should be fine for at least another 4-5 days under airlock.

 

[Scooter68]

Fermentation is finally over. Ended at .992 with an ABV of 17.59%

Lost a bit more to Lees than expected.

The photo shows 1x 3 Gallon, 1 x 4 Liters, 1 x 16 oz, and 1 x 12 oz. The 12 oz will get topped up hopefully from my Lee's bottle that will be going in the fridge here in a few minutes.

Note The is from 2 x 96 oz cans of Vintner's Harvest Blackberry wine base plus 2 lbs of wild blackberries that I Added to the batch.
Starting volume was 5.7 gallons.
Starting SG was 1.008.
I did a step feeding at 5 days in and the SG before add adding 3 cups of simple syrup (2:1) was 1.038. After the addition the SG was 1.056. That's an additional .018 to the original starting SG so that means effectively I fermented down from 1.126 to .992. For the resulting 17.59 ABV

 

[hounddawg]

very nice deep dark color, even on the smallest two jugs with a white backdrop, I read on here about a rocket fuel taste from others, I do not have that problem,, I only use EC-1118 & K1V-1116, and i step feed my wines till as you said , A little and you feel it, I believe the way i overcome the taste of alcohol is with lots of fruits an/or berries, and as with all country wines it takes a certain amount of sugar to bring out the flavor,,, from reading posts for people whom make traditional grape wines, that being honest with my self, that grapes are so complex, that they are beyond me,
i respect traditional vintners, but country is for me, Now all that being said i strive for a good wine to sip and enjoy,
Dawg