BlackBerry wine

[hounddawg]

Is that this recipe? But just change fruit to the 12 bb

https://www.winemakingtalk.com/threads/dangerdaves-dragon-blood-wine.41825/

more or less, a recipe can be converted to just about any fruit or berry wine, you just add less fruit that is heavy in flavor, like wild blackberry i go around 5 to 6 lbs per gallon, or you can press and use straight juice, on banana, apple and other lite flavors i go 12 lb to the gallon, most concentrates are not pure single fruit and are weak as well, they say walkers is great but expensive, where as the site i gave you is reduced, that is they press the fruit then evaporate the water out, i have certain fruits and berries, but this year dry weather wiped out all my fruits and berries, plus being disabled, 1 fake leg below the knee and half a foot on other side, so i am heated to reduced concentrates, lol,, make your wine to suit yourself or your better half, lol,, and ask as you go along, once you've made a couple small batches you'll have your confidence, and away you'll go making better then you can buy, @Scooter68 , @sour_grapes , @Rice_Guy , @dralarms all can teach you as you go. they are good as are most all the long time members, now these i mention do country wines, and a few of them do traditional grape wines as well. @KCCam is another, to many to put here, but these as well as being knowledgeable they are good at patience as well , most of the purest traditional grape wine makers are are pretty intense, by that i mean they are very numbers, and fancy ways, me i am simple, go for it, you'll learn better by doing a small batch and asking questions as you go, hit forum upper right go to recipe thread, find a recipe you think you might like, then start and post your thread of what your making, they'll watch over you more then you'll know, and feel free to ask questions, there are no dumb questions, just sanitize everything with potassium metabisulfite called K-meta for short, get your chemicals, carboys, jugs, bungs airlocks, oh and always keep at least 2 hydrometers, if not you'll break one when needed most, i unlike most on here live where i have to order all online, except sugar and fruits/berries, lol except this year i'll be using concentrates due to drought in my area,
Dawg

 

[Fencepost]

That's it. and yes, I just double the fruit (all fruit is home grown so got plenty). After about 9 batches, I have not had any failures and everyone really enjoys it. I did reduce the lemon (since I used fresh frozen lemon juice) to reduce tartness. Seems to be balanced and it ferments pretty quick (about 7-10 days) and clears fast too (you can use Super Kleer instead of Sparkaloid). In about 2 months it is ready to drink... Good luck. As you can see from the thread it is a very popular recipe.

 

[Rice_Guy]

@silverbullet07, I am a grower also so I try to use 100% juice and skip water. I could not do this in a food plant since it is too expensive, ,,,, water always costs out as 0 cents per pound product.
My read on a 4 to 5 pound web recipes is that they are fairly good commercial products. 3 pound recipes are the no name type commercial products.

The transition to high fruit means high solids (fruit acid) which can usually be balanced with finishing sugar, and in your berry ALWAYS can be balanced. the problems occure with extremely high acid as cranberry, rhubarb, lemon juice, currant . . . where it tastes fantastic in small dose, but you can't finish a glass in one sitting. Then the option of removing acid with calcium carbonate (powdered limestone) or potassium carbonate is your fix. ,,,,, or add a moderate acid fruit juice as pear instead of water ,,,, or add lots of water to make a sugar wine.
The science fix is to build a wine based on titratable acidity (TA)

 

[KCCam]

test PH if < 3.6 add some acid blend to raise PH Shoot for 3.6

@silverbullet07, Careful... you have that backwards. Low pH is high acidity, so if pH is too high, then add acid to bring it down. And I wouldn't shoot for a number, just a range. I can't remember for sure the ideal range (I don't have a pH meter yet), but I believe it is 3.2 - 3.8 or so. If the pH is too low, then it is too acidic and you need to bring it up with calcium/potassium carbonate. I've also read potassium bicarbonate for raising pH, but I'm not sure of the pros/cons of the 3 different ones. Before trying to raise the pH do some research: it's trickier than lowering pH.

 

[Scooter68]

Everything I've seen, read, and researched out on pH - For Non-Grape wines Starting pH should be no higher than 3.6 (At risk of spoilage) and from experiences and personal anecdotes anything below about 3.25 can become problematic for fermentation (Yeasts may not tolerate too much acidity. After fermentation is over AND CO2 is gone, I've even seen bottled commercial wine with a pH of 3.18 so, if you like it and it's not prone to spoilage, it good to go.

AND one last note. Raising the pH (lowering acidity) IS indeed tricker thatn adding acid. IF you must do that go very slowly. I've over shot the goal twice and it's time consuming to do it right so if it's in the ballpark I'd leave it alone.

 

[silverbullet07]

approximately how much volume do I need in the primary to get a full 3 gal carboy of wine? 3.5 - 4 gal?

 

[Rice_Guy]

I budget a minimum of half a gallon, typically will recover a little after siphoning by settling the lees in a tall cylinder or spaghetti jar

 

[silverbullet07]

Thank You. The process is beginning.

I have my 16 lbs of Blackberries and 1.5 gal of sugar water thawing in a 2gal bucket which almost did not fit. After they thaw, I will start smashing them and add the pectic enzyme and pour into the 6.5 Gal fermenter bucket into a mesh bag and add 3 campden tabs.

I'll get a OG reading, then add Sugar water as needed to get it up to 1.085-1.090 and take a PH reading.

I'll wait 24 hours before pitching yeast after adding the Campden.

 

[silverbullet07]

Question

I added the blackberries into the primary bucket. After mashing them and squeezing the mesh bag trying to get most liquid out, my juice is about 2.5 -3 gal. This is the fruit juice, 1.5 gal water and 4 lbs sugar.

I am thinking if I pull the mesh bag out, I need at lest 3.5 - 4gal juice.

right now The juice is at 38 degrees. so I am letting it sit right now until tomorrow to let it warm up. Should I add the Camden now or the pectic enzyme now or wait until it warms up?

once warmed, I will check OG and depending where it is, add some more sugar water or plain water to get to 3.5 -4 gal juice.

 

[KCCam]

right now The juice is at 38 degrees.

The recipe said to boil 1.5 gallons of water (for 3 gallon batch) with 6 lbs of sugar and to pour the hot syrup over your berries. And your must temp is only 38°?

I would add the pectic enzyme now, get it working on your berries right away. Campden needs to be added at least 24 hours before you pitch the yeast. I don’t think there’s any reason not to add it now.

 

[silverbullet07]

The recipe said to boil 1.5 gallons of water (for 3 gallon batch) with 6 lbs of sugar and to pour the hot syrup over your berries. And your must temp is only 38°?

I would add the pectic enzyme now, get it working on your berries right away. Campden needs to be added at least 24 hours before you pitch the yeast. I don’t think there’s any reason not to add it now.

I did not want to boil the sugar water. So I heated it until the sugar dissolved. I then poured over the frozen berries. 5 hours later the berries are thawed but the juice is still 38f. It is now up to 48f.

 

[hounddawg]

I did not want to boil the sugar water. So I heated it until the sugar dissolved. I then poured over the frozen berries. 5 hours later the berries are thawed but the juice is still 38f. It is now up to 48f.

i'm lazy? stubborn? head headed?
but every wine i make mostly fruits and berries, but in bad years, when i use reduced concentrates , i always add extra must, then come time to rack to secondary, i have extra wine, of which i rack into clear wine bottles, 38-400 thread pint, quart, half gallon , gallon jugs, finger hole half and gallon jugs are 38-400 thread, that way all use a 6.5 drilled bung, so at every racking when you lose that little bit you top off using exactly what your making, now you can get clear jugs with just about any thread and get drilled bungs to fit any particular jug/carboy,,, but i like mine to match, so i can mainly, keep 2 types of bungs drilled 6.5 and small universal drilled bungs, the universal fits my italian glass carboys from 3 gallon to 6.5 gallon, plus that small universel drilled bungs turned upside down, will then fit a wine bottle to airlock, don't get me wrong ,, i've got around a 150 or better drilled bungs to even fit plastic carboys, i forget size 12/14 been so long since i used a plastic carboy, and the work great, but i prefer glass and stainless on everything, now all my ferment barrels are food grade plastic because a 55 gal stainless is close to $500 to my door, i live very rural, so no wine shops, not even yeast, hehe, any way i believe in making extra to top off with, MAN I SURE HOPE NOBODY KNOWS I'VE BEEN DRINKING SKEETER PEE PORT, jeeze, sorry
Dawg

 

[silverbullet07]

I added another gal of hot sugar water with 5lbs of sugar. Got the temps up to 91-92F and pitched the Pectic Enzyme.

The OG is 1.088 @ 91F corrected to 1.092

PH is 3.13 and my TA is 5.5

For Blackberry wine should I make any adjustments to the PH or TA?

For the 16 lbs of blackberries, I have added a total of 2.5 gal of water. I could add another .5 gal of water and see if that helps?

 

[silverbullet07]

I should be pitching yeast soon. I have my PH @ 3.5 and TA 5.57. Seems things are looking good to get the yeast ready. Temperatures in my cellar are 68F.

I have 71B Lalvin, EC-1118 and red star Montrachet. Seems census is to use 71B. Any thoughts?

 

[Johnd]

I should be pitching yeast soon. I have my PH @ 3.5 and TA 5.57. Seems things are looking good to get the yeast ready. Temperatures in my cellar are 68F.

I have 71B Lalvin, EC-1118 and red star Montrachet. Seems census is to use 71B. Any thoughts?

With your pH at 3.5, I'm not so sure that you want to start gobbling up acid with 71B and potentially raising the pH higher. If may end up having to lower it later as a result.

 

[silverbullet07]

With your pH at 3.5, I'm not so sure that you want to start gobbling up acid with 71B and potentially raising the pH higher. If may end up having to lower it later as a result.

I was thinking the same thing. Would you recommend the ec-1118 then?

 

[Johnd]

I was thinking the same thing. Would you recommend the ec-1118 then?

It's a good option, particularly since you have it on hand, and it's a strong yeast. I've only done blackberry once, and it was from a mix of concentrate and picked berries, I used K1-V1116, which is a good yeast for fruits, you can consider that one. Also, any of the yeasts that we use for red wines would be a decent choice, D254, BM4x4, D80. Last, and not least, is the Red Star Montrachet you have on hand, good for reds, also a strong fermenter, a very good candidate. If you're going to use what you have on hand, the Montrachet would be my choice..........FWIW.

 

[silverbullet07]

thanks. I will use the Montrachet then. my recipe calls for 1 tsp per gallon of yeast nutrient. I have 4.5 gal of juice. Should I put all 4 tsp in now or should I feed some now and some later?

edit. My packet says yeast energizer and only calls for 1/2 tsp/gal. Should I just follow it?

 

[Johnd]

thanks. I will use the Montrachet then. my recipe calls for 1 tsp per gallon of yeast nutrient. I have 4.5 gal of juice. Should I put all 4 tsp in now or should I feed some now and some later?

edit. My packet says yeast energizer and only calls for 1/2 tsp/gal. Should I just follow it?

Split them in half and do two doses. Add the first half dose when your SG gets down to 1.065, second half when it gets down to 1.035.

 

[hounddawg]

i'd go for first choice with K1V-1116 or 2nd EC-1118 as a second choice,
Dawg