Blackberry Wine

[LoneStarLori]

Even though I'm not making a blackberry yet, (at least until James' berries are ripe, lol) I'm glad to read this thread. There is some really good info for someone like me who is just starting to wrap their head around PH and brix.
Thanks for the free schooling!

 

[CowboyRam]

Oh yes I do have a hydrometer; have already played with it several times. This has been the only opportunity that I had to play with my Refractometer; boys and their toys type of thing. My grape vines get planted this spring; Maybe in order for me to play with my refractometer next fall I may have to go over to the neighbors and check the brix of their raspberries.

 

[NoSnob]

I made Tom's Blackberry Wine recipe (see the recipe section here) with 36 lbs of Wal-Mart frozen blackberries. I think it made 6 gal. I followed the recipe closely and even asked him a question or two as I went along. It had a very good flavor but was a little sharp, probably too acidic. Nice sippin wine but just a little at a time will do. If I made it again I would closely test the pH and TA though he doesn't mention it.

Jack Keller has blackberry wine recipes but he makes most of his fruit wines with far less fruit than recipes on this board use. Like Tom, I prefer to actually taste the fruit; Jack wants just a hint of fruit taste. That's a matter of style I guess.

My blackberries took up a lot of space in the straining bag and with the amount of liquid it required, it was impossible to ferment in my 7.9 gal pail. So I divided it into two pails. You can expect the berries to throw a lot of sediment. There's some disagreement about how much to squeeze the fruit bag. Not enough and you lose flavor; too much and you get bitterness from seeds and tannins.

If you use a recipe please share it with us and let us know how it went. I would like to try another one. Good luck!

NS

 

[WVMountaineerJack]

The seed bitterness comes from fermenting on the seeds to long, some people see this others dont, but I think the ones that dont sweeten a bit, or it could be variety specific. The squeezing the bag thing has more to do with the pulp being sqeezed out of the bag and forming a thick layer of sediment. We aim for firm but not King Konging it. WVMJ

I made Tom's Blackberry Wine recipe (see the recipe section here) with 36 lbs of Wal-Mart frozen blackberries. I think it made 6 gal. I followed the recipe closely and even asked him a question or two as I went along. It had a very good flavor but was a little sharp, probably too acidic. Nice sippin wine but just a little at a time will do. If I made it again I would closely test the pH and TA though he doesn't mention it.

Jack Keller has blackberry wine recipes but he makes most of his fruit wines with far less fruit than recipes on this board use. Like Tom, I prefer to actually taste the fruit; Jack wants just a hint of fruit taste. That's a matter of style I guess.

My blackberries took up a lot of space in the straining bag and with the amount of liquid it required, it was impossible to ferment in my 7.9 gal pail. So I divided it into two pails. You can expect the berries to throw a lot of sediment. There's some disagreement about how much to squeeze the fruit bag. Not enough and you lose flavor; too much and you get bitterness from seeds and tannins.

If you use a recipe please share it with us and let us know how it went. I would like to try another one. Good luck!

NS

 

[jamesngalveston]

I think the bitterness is also from letting the must sit on the lees...as mountaineer jack...and it will have more sediment if squeezed really hard, and more acidic.
I made jack kellars medium body recipe last year and it was not that good.
I then started adapting several to get to my own...and I have made about 80 gallons.I like to have a final abv of 14 percent , then I will sweeten a tad, with a blackberry simple syrup.
I hope to have 50 plus gallons of juice this year and hopefully another 3 to 400 lbs of fruit in the freezer before the end of may.
PH and brix testing is a must on blackberries, just as is for grapes.

 

[Turock]

Blackberries can just be very acidic. And the malic on this fruit is just so harsh. We always ferment on the berries with the seeds. The seeds don't seem to be a problem in the primary--but you don't want to get them in the secondary and age on any seeds. That's why I always recommend bagging this fruit--it just makes working with the must much easier. Makes pressing easier too if you have a basket press.

71B is the yeast of choice for this---other yeasts work well, but you'll have alot of retained malic and the resulting wine can be one HARSH little bad boy!! You've just GOT to metabolize some of that malic.

Acid adjustment is almost always needed on this fruit. Just need to have a PH meter when working with this wine. Everyone should have a PH meter and use it faithfully. If not for PH adjustment, then for knowing what the PH of your wines are so you know how much free SO2 they need.

Anyone who wants to make a blackberry wine and has questions----don't hesitate to ask. This is a fussy wine to make because you have to follow a certain protocol or else the wine WILL end up too acidic and too harsh. And acid adjustments post-ferment don't work well because the PH can just be way too low to start attacking it with potassium carb. You have to get it correct pre-ferment.

 

[NoSnob]

Blackberries can just be very acidic. And the malic on this fruit is just so harsh. We always ferment on the berries with the seeds. The seeds don't seem to be a problem in the primary--but you don't want to get them in the secondary and age on any seeds. That's why I always recommend bagging this fruit--it just makes working with the must much easier. Makes pressing easier too if you have a basket press.

71B is the yeast of choice for this---other yeasts work well, but you'll have alot of retained malic and the resulting wine can be one HARSH little bad boy!! You've just GOT to metabolize some of that malic.

Acid adjustment is almost always needed on this fruit. Just need to have a PH meter when working with this wine. Everyone should have a PH meter and use it faithfully. If not for PH adjustment, then for knowing what the PH of your wines are so you know how much free SO2 they need.

Anyone who wants to make a blackberry wine and has questions----don't hesitate to ask. This is a fussy wine to make because you have to follow a certain protocol or else the wine WILL end up too acidic and too harsh. And acid adjustments post-ferment don't work well because the PH can just be way too low to start attacking it with potassium carb. You have to get it correct pre-ferment.

That is good advice I wish I had when I did my batch! With my new Vinmetrica 300 I will be doing a lot of testing to improve the final product.

NS

 

[CowboyRam]

Blackberries can just be very acidic. And the malic on this fruit is just so harsh. We always ferment on the berries with the seeds. The seeds don't seem to be a problem in the primary--but you don't want to get them in the secondary and age on any seeds. That's why I always recommend bagging this fruit--it just makes working with the must much easier. Makes pressing easier too if you have a basket press.

71B is the yeast of choice for this---other yeasts work well, but you'll have alot of retained malic and the resulting wine can be one HARSH little bad boy!! You've just GOT to metabolize some of that malic.

Acid adjustment is almost always needed on this fruit. Just need to have a PH meter when working with this wine. Everyone should have a PH meter and use it faithfully. If not for PH adjustment, then for knowing what the PH of your wines are so you know how much free SO2 they need.

Anyone who wants to make a blackberry wine and has questions----don't hesitate to ask. This is a fussy wine to make because you have to follow a certain protocol or else the wine WILL end up too acidic and too harsh. And acid adjustments post-ferment don't work well because the PH can just be way too low to start attacking it with potassium carb. You have to get it correct pre-ferment.

How long do you leave the fruit in during the primary ferment?

 

[Turock]

The whole way---the ferment usually takes 5 days.

 

[CowboyRam]

Ok, I am going to start my Blackberry wine. I am currently thawing out my berries. I have tested the Ph and provided I got my Ph meter calibrated right the Ph is about 3.49.

 

[StoneCreek]

Like Lori, I too am enjoying the free schooling on this thread. I plan on making a blackberry this year as well. What should the target PH be before fermenting and if the PH is too low what acid should be used to bring it up. More malic or wold a blend be better?

 

[Julie]

3.5 to 3.6 is a good range for blackberry. I normally use acid blend in my blackberry and it comes out very nice.

 

[Turock]

It really depends on the blackberries you use. We use wild blackberries--and our soil here is acidic--so the beginning PH is 2.8 or 2.9 and we bring it up to 3.4 with calcium carbonate. If they're acidic to begin with, you wouldn't use any acid. If the berries are less acidic and needs some acid, I'd use acid blend--you don't want more malic.

The malic on blackberries is pretty harsh and the resulting wine also has some harshness to it unless you use 71B culture. It metabolizes some of the malic and makes the wine smoother.

 

[CowboyRam]

I just rechecked my Ph, and it is at 3.98. Do I need to bring it down. I just happen to have some acid blend; how much do I need to use?

 

[Turock]

Probably something like 3 tsp. depending on volume. Once you get close to the target PH, sneak up on it by using less.

 

[CowboyRam]

Adjusting the PH is that something that should be done before the yeast is added? Will it mess things up if the PH is adjusted after the yeast is added?

 

[Turock]

Adjusting it before beginning the ferment is always better because everything gets better integrated during the ferment. You CAN adjust it after, in this case, but there are times when you can have a very acidic must and if you don't get it adjusted before the ferment, it can be very hard to adjust it later on. So you should get used to always adjusting PH before the ferment.

 

[CowboyRam]

I am a little high with the PH; do you think that would make much of a difference in the outcome of this wine? This batch of wine is already fermenting, so maybe I should just let this one go. I will make sure I adjust the next batch before pitching the yeast.

Is there a formula for adjusting the PH?

 

[jamesngalveston]

Turock, what do you use to check your ph....one of the vinmetricas.
was thinking of getting there new one, before blackberries start coming in.

 

[Turock]

Cowboy---Since the ferment is going, then I would adjust it afterwards. Yeah--you're PH is pretty high and you may find the wine tastes kind of flabby. PLUS, with a PH of almost 4.0 you'd need alot more sulfite to preserve it--something close to 100 PPM of free SO2.

James--We have a commercial PH meter. At the industrial plant I worked at, we did our own water treatment and when they bought new PH monitoring equipment they gave me their handheld model which we are still using today. If you don't already have a PH meter, then the Vinmetrica with PH, TA, and SO2 testing all in one might be a good plan. We have the Vinmetrica 100 because all we needed was an SO2 tester.