Blackberry Wine

[joeswine]

your quite right



http://www.sweetim.com/s.asp?im=gen&ref=12

 

[univity]

after letting it sit a while (mostly because work has been taking all my time), I tasted - its really starting to smooth out but still really tart. I decided I wanted to sweeten. I added sugar and stabilizer. I also added some campden tablets. Is testing and maintaining sulfite levels very important?


Also - when it comes to sweetening - a friend of mine who brews beer and the occasional hard cider says he sweetens his hard cider with splenda as there is no risk of fermentation starting back up if you use that. Any advice on that one?

 

[Wade E]

Ive heard that splenda breaks down after a year or 2 in the bottle as does most artificial sugars.

 

[Guest]

All artificial sugars have a taste that's very discernable to people who don't use it.
Many people find that taste unappealing.
That taste will come out in your wine as well.
Bear that in mind when you give it away or invite someone else to taste with you.


As far as fermentation is concerned.
Fermentation requires yeast. Without yeast there is no fermentation.


While even the most vigorous of filtering cannot remove all the yeast, numerous rackings will remove so much of it that fermentation is a neglegable issue.
In addition, If you add your sorbates, that kills the small amout that remains as well.


Add what sugar you want, sparingly while tasteing, and then sorbate and you'll be just fine to bottle.

 

[joeswine]

I,ll agree with that handyman,,,,,,thats why cane sugar is the sugar of choice for most wineries and home makers ,however back sweeting can be done by stopping the fermentation process at any given level ,Hensley keeping the fruitiness of the wine and the sweetness of the fruit /running out to dry and then back sweeting isn,t the only way...............

 

[univity]

I figured as much - especially since it is pretty easy to prevent re-fermentation by adding stabilizer - but was very curious on what you guys know about artificial stuff


u all have smarts n stuff


I usually use corn sugar as it is easier to dissolve - would cane sugar have a better flavor?

 

[joeswine]

if you read back into the files you,ll fine mostly all of us create a simple syrup out of the cane sugar there fore its already in liquid state///2 parts sugar///one part water and boil to solution clears all the way and there you have it.........with know add flavor....just sweet

 

[Guest]

Univity:


Nearly every one of us started out virtually the same way as you are.
Testing.
After you've done this a couple times you start to learn;
<UL>
<LI>that there are a few things that always remain the same and some that don't.</LI>
<LI>You learn which wines are reletivly easy to put together and what are not.</LI>
<LI>You also learn what typesyou like and what typesyou don't and that makes this hobby even easier and more enjoyable.</LI>[/list]


The common denomonater here is what you like more so than what "we" like.
Bearing in mind that we only know this stuff through the art of trial and error, we can advise you on things that we did that worked fine and things thatdidn't work out as well as we'd have liked them to but we can't tell you how to make a wine that pleases you.
That part you have to do by patience, trial and error your self and constantly tasting as any good chef would do, your creation.


If you take the time to read the posts on the wines you think you want to try, you'll find them very informative and often times, even humorous (like volcanic erruptions).


Main thing here though, is this.


Every one of us, after three or four runs at ths hobby,has labored valiently for months, sometimes even years,only to have to pour the friut of our labor, into the sink because something didn't go right.


The difference between the ones that know and the ones that don't is just pulling out another bucket, filling it with another $60.00 of fruit or grapes and starting all over again utilizing what we know against what we don't.
What we did as opposed to what we should have done.


Take your time, enjoy the experience and remember these couple base line things.

1. 
   <LI>Don't rush any part of the process. If you don't have enough time to do it, wait till you do.</LI>
   <LI>CLEAN EVERYTHING AGAIN, EVERY TIME YOU USE IT REGARDLESS OF HOW SHORT A TIME IT BEEN. Because of the long durrations of no attendance, mold will set in easilly even in hoses. Sterilize everything, every time.</LI>
   <LI>Keep copious notes if you want to repeat your wine again including dates, temps, ingredientsand amounts. You'll be surprised how changing just one of those things will change everything.</LI>
   <LI>Bear in mind that any recipe you start is not necessarilly what you will like. It's what the author likes. You need to adjust it to meet your tastes.</LI>
   <LI>Add sugar a little at a time, tasteing as you go to get your desired taste. You can always add moreto get asweeter resultbut you sure can't take it back out if it's too much.</LI>
   <LI>Keep your wines topped off. Top your wine with either an additive or displacement material to bring them to a point in your container with the least amount of surface area.</LI>
   <LI>Degas often but if you're using any mechanical device, VERY, VERY DELECATLY!!!</LI>
   <LI>Do not bottle till you sorbate. You want to aviod the BOOM!, BOOM!, BOOM's! at all costs.</LI>
   <LI>Enjoy the entire process. If you do, your wines will become preciousto you.</LI>

Enjoy Dude.

 

[Wade E]

Very well put handyman!!!!!!

 

[joeswine]

I,ll buy that handyman and taste ,taste and taste........................................................................................

 

[univity]

Nice post handyman - I have already thrown out a couple of batches. Luckily I tend to bea clean freak so clean supplies should not be a problem. Patience is where I lack, but luckily I get so busy with work I usually dont get to do wine stuff as much as I want - which is probably for the better.


Hey Joe - with the sugar solution - how long would taht syrup solution be good? Ordo u mix some up- sweeten some - then throw out what you dont use. What do you store it in?


Is it best to sweeten all at once - add some - stir - taste - repeat - or add some - stir - let sit a couple weeks - then taste - repeat if necessary.

 

[Wade E]

I sweeten all at once but go a little less them what i want if its a young wine as the wine will be perceived as sweeter with time when the abv mellows out. Add sweetener a little at a time then taste and repeat if necessary.

 

[Guest]

Another way is to remove some of the wine, a quart if from 6 gals is good, heat 1/2 a cup of itin a micro and add your sugar to that (SLOWLY IN), stir it to disolve and thenadd it back to the 6 gal carboy.

 

[joeswine]

each of us will find what works best for ourselves as for me ,i stabilize first them add my simple syrup a little at a time tasting all the while stirring it in then tasting when i think i&lt;am at the spot i want to be i stop and let it set a few days to maturate and settle in then taste again then decide good or does it require more,without over powering what it was i was trying to make in the first place............but thats just me.............................................................yes in a air tight jar it will keep until it start to form rock candy in the jar..............

 

[univity]

I added some of the sugar mixture late nov and decided to let it sit a bit (plus really bsy with work and holidays) - I went back to it today and it is tasting really well so I am gonna bottle it - wow it isyummy

 

[Guest]

Uni:
Don't be in any hurry to bottle if you don't need to. Your wines will age as well in the bulk carboys as they do in the smaller bottles so long as the temps are acceptable and the carboy is air tight.


After being at this hobbyand the fruit wines a little over a year, my patience for ithas grown considerably. I think after you've done this 6 or so times, in 6 gallon quantities, especially if you've tried different fruits, you tend to lose a lot of your "hurry up and taste it" desire.


Mine has simmered to the anticipation of next Christmas's Blackberry that I started end oflast November though to be honest, I still have 13 more 4 liter jugs and 15 bottles of othervarious fruit wines in storage.


The Blackberrymust is still in the 6 gallon carboy where I like to store it for 3 or 4 months before jugging &amp; bottling it in individule bottles &amp; jugs.




Lately, I've taken to bottling mywines from the carboy to four,4 liter jugs that I get my store bought grape wines in utilizing screw tops from George to seal them withand a half dozen additionalbottles.
The jugsstore well, aren't as heavy and awkward as the 6 gallon carboysand take up less space than the 750ml bottlesdo.
I open them one at a time and fill several 750ml bottles as I need to for gifts and or exchanges.

Another advantage to storing longer in the carboy or jugs, is if you didn't filter/ rack enough the last time you did it as time will tell, you can do it again by merely opening either vessel and racking again.
Once it's in the bottles, it's a major chore to clean it up again.
I found that out with my blackberry from November 2007 that I opened this Christmas.
Although the wine was fine, it had a very distasteful fruit haze sediment in it that ruined the appearance of it.
To remove that, I'll have to open all 28 bottles and filter/ rack the wine and then re bottle &amp; seal them all again.


Enjoy your wine anytime.

 

[joeswine]

GOOD TO HEARAND SEE FROM YOU HANDYMAN&lt;GREATFORWARD THING ON THE SET UP&lt;I USE THE JUGS WHEN I,AM MAKING EXPERIMENTAL WINES ,BUT WHAT Ever END WORKS FOR YOU IS WHAT IT IS&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;

 

[joeswine]

http://www.smileycentral.com/?partner=_undefined




yes time in a bottle or jug always let your taste buds decide whats best ,to suit your own requirements.............

 

[NorthernWinos]

Handyman....I like looking at all your jugs....Makes me feel right at home....

We hit the jugs pretty hard when we started making wine...wanted the jugs and needed something while our wines fermented and aged....

 

[Guest]

Hey Folks....


Here's a clever idea that I've been pondering for some time.


Degassing has always been a real pain for me. I hate the personal attention it requires to agitate the must every couple of days.
I saw in one ofthe pictures someone posted on this forum, that a small vacuum pump was being used to accomplish this end but I've never thought about getting one when I needed it and it can be cost restrictive to some.


I was at a local vinyard winery (Childress Winery, North Carolina) a couple weeks ago and while there, I bought a wine storing pump to vacuum seal my opened wine bottles with.
It came with 2 valved stoppers and you simply insertes the stoppers into the bottle neck, then inserted the pump nipple into the hole in the top of the stopperand pump the air out.


So there I was today, with a wine bottle of left over blackberrymust from the 6 gallon batch I'm making,that fit nearly perfectly in a 750ml bottle and no way to cap it short od a cork.
So I thought why not use the stopper?


After inserting it and then as an after thought, pumping the air out I was amazed and delightedto see the formation of several hundred co2 bubbles come swiftly to the surface of the already degassed(or so I thought) must.


After some swift thinking, I found that the while the stoppers were not big enought to fit the mouth of my carboy, the pump body fits snugly enough into the water trap bung to create a seal and after pumping, I was again amazed and delighted to see more co2 bubbles rising out of the degassed must in the carby.
I figure I'll check the seal every day or so for a while and after a couple days, seal the carboy of properly degassed must with the residue co2 in the neck.


Best of your wining...
Handyman

http://i460.photobucket.com/albums/qq327/handyman454/VacuumIdea.jpg