Blueberries

[hounddawg]

First, we use a rule of thumb for figuring out how much more volume to make to end up with the final wine volume we desire. It's 65% - 70% of the original must volume. This assumes that you'll lose 25% - 30% of your volume due to racking and pressing. It works on grapes, but is a little heavy handed when making wine that has lots of added water. If you wanted to make a straight blueberry wine, little to no water added, it would take in the neighborhood of 60# to get 3 gallons.

To answer your question, if I were shooting for 3 gallons finished wine and wanted to have 7# of blueberries per gallon, this is what I'd do:
Mush up 28# of blueberries in a bucket and measure the volume of the mush, which I'm guessing will be somewhere around a gallon. If 65% of that mush ends up as wine, you'd get .65 gallons from it. I'd then add 3.35 gallons of water, for a final must volume of 4 gallons. Check and adjust your pH to be 3.3+, blueberries are notable for high acid / low pH, getting it up to 3.3+ will help your yeast out tremendously. Adjust the BRIX up to your desired level so you get the ABV% you're looking for. Add some pectic enzymes, mix well and let sit 12 hours before adding your yeast.
The refractometer is a good way to check your BRIX prior to fermentation, and just know that it'll probably rise a tad once the enzymes do their thing. After fermentation starts, switch over to your hydrometer for BRIX / SG readings, as the refractometer readings are skewed by the alcohol in the wine. There are formulas to adjust the readings, but I prefer to just switch to the hydrometer.

ok johnd, after reading your post ,,, i demand you come outta the closet, yes johnd, after reading your post i read between your lines, no need to deny that,,, you are a country wine maker at heart, BAHWAAA, YOU'VE BEEN BUSTED, I'm am so proud of you,,,,
Dawg

 

[hounddawg]

Hard to say. These days store bought fruit undergoes Lord only knows what sort of treatements, washes etc. Not to mention the GMO on the plants. I really try to stay away from any prepared frozen fruits. Last time I did mangos I tried using the frozen chunks - once they are thawed out you realize they aren't fully ripe mangos so they lack the flavor and sweetness of a fresh mango. So with berries - I wish I could tell you but I'd be totally guessing.

tell me @Scooter68 , so you feel blue berry is weaker than elderberry, i ask this because i have a fermented blend of blueberry, only once so far with blueberries and it was a very over powering berry, i ask only to learn,
Dawg

 

[hounddawg]

BTW, i found a fruit stand to get bushels of apples for $25. per bushel, or around 40 to 42 pound per bushel,,,
,,, i have went back to my roots,, for wines from scratch, with a concentrate only for must that i cant acquire from fresh fruit,,,
Dawg

 

[Venatorscribe]

Well done. Fruit and botanical wines are fun to make. I personally enjoy making fresh fruit and botanical wines in mid summer or autumn when everything is ready. The challenges are different to grape and the rewards can be as good - although unfortunately not as well appreciated or understood by the 'great unwashed'. keep good notes- extend maturity times - dabble with the limits -and use wine science to monitor the process. This is what I enjoy most about being retired. But also keep making your grape based wines. It’s what we do. Live would be shit without a good red. Cheers

 

[Johnd]

ok johnd, after reading your post ,,, i demand you come outta the closet, yes johnd, after reading your post i read between your lines, no need to deny that,,, you are a country wine maker at heart, BAHWAAA, YOU'VE BEEN BUSTED, I'm am so proud of you,,,,
Dawg

LOL, I’ve made quite a few, but only when I can get the goods. I do strawberry wine with fresh strawberries grown right here in southeast Louisiana, did blueberries grown by my in-laws, and my DB’s are straight triple berries, no water added. No recipe followed on any, just doin what we do, only with acid blend, and some different yeasts. Remember my little puppy friend, grapes are fruits too..................Copenhagen.

 

[Scooter68]

I don't find blueberries to be near as strongly flavored as black raspberries or blackberries. I have no experience with Elderberries other than the juice from VH that I used. I recently bottled the elderberry and I found it decent but perhaps needing a little more time to age. (It's just under a year old) On the other hand the triple berry I bottled this month was/is VERY potent and probably could have been made into a very very good 1.5 gallon batch without any regrets. If I was fired up about it I'd unbottle it and blend in a good Riesling wine and stretch it out but then.... I'd be buying 1 or 2 bottles to get 1 or 2 bottles more....mmmh. Guess not this time around.

 

[hounddawg]

LOL, I’ve made quite a few, but only when I can get the goods. I do strawberry wine with fresh strawberries grown right here in southeast Louisiana, did blueberries grown by my in-laws, and my DB’s are straight triple berries, no water added. No recipe followed on any, just doin what we do, only with acid blend, and some different yeasts. Remember my little puppy friend, grapes are fruits too..................Copenhagen.

Agreed, soon as I get my apples processed and in the freezer, then pear, i'll ask about some grapes,,,, what sweetens well, a dessert wine, red, white, any particular types, all info very gratefully appreciated,,,
Skol-Skal-Skaal-Skoal to you health in all versions
Dawgie

 

[hounddawg]

I don't find blueberries to be near as strongly flavored as black raspberries or blackberries. I have no experience with Elderberries other than the juice from VH that I used. I recently bottled the elderberry and I found it decent but perhaps needing a little more time to age. (It's just under a year old) On the other hand the triple berry I bottled this month was/is VERY potent and probably could have been made into a very very good 1.5 gallon batch without any regrets. If I was fired up about it I'd unbottle it and blend in a good Riesling wine and stretch it out but then.... I'd be buying 1 or 2 bottles to get 1 or 2 bottles more....mmmh. Guess not this time around.

i know blue berries and black raspberries both are stringiest, elderberry, if short term aging tend to be better with 50/50 wild blackberry, but for elderberry to be very good you need 6 to my fav, 10 years aging,
I have better then 20 bushes of native black elderberry Cain plants, after losing all my fruits and berries this year, come a little cooler weather, to old or to chicken to fight ticks anymore, ill be clearing around everything , fertilizing and watering this coming year,,,, last spring had bumpers crops of everything, blackberry, elderberry, peach, pear, but took it for granted and got zip, that wont happen again, and will trellis up around 400 foot of native muscadine to boot,
Dawg

 

[Johnd]

Agreed, soon as I get my apples processed and in the freezer, then pear, i'll ask about some grapes,,,, what sweetens well, a dessert wine, red, white, any particular types, all info very gratefully appreciated,,,
Skol-Skal-Skaal-Skoal to you health in all versions
Dawgie

Based on what you like, try to get some high BRIX petite syrah, ferment it up to 18%, sweeten it, add some brandy, you’ll have a righteous high ABV sweet port.

 

[Scooter68]

Somewhat good news for me is that while cleaning up some of the wildly out of control brush on or place I ran across some more Black Raspberry bushes (Saw those silvery stalks). Now if I can keep tabs on them perhaps fertilize them this fall, keep the deer from munching on them.... Perhaps I'll have enough for some Black Raspberry/Blackberry wine next year. This was not a good year for Blackberries for us - just too busy with family stuff to get them all picked. (All of these are wild bushes of course. We have 17 1/2 acres and it's mostly wooded area with a number of small 'meadows' around which the wild berries grow. )

 

[silverbullet07]

Man this Blueberry is bubbling away. I see what the grape wine makers talk about pushing down the cap now. These blueberry's really make one. Been pushing and stirring a few times yesterday and will continue.

 

[xnotx]

Just wanted to chime in with the high PH and low TA numbers on store bought blueberries.
I'M currently fermenting a 3 gallon batch using 4 LB/gallon and thought I was getting incorrect readings with a PH of 3.8 and TA of .25% ish.
These were frozen blueberries bought from wal-mart.
I just lowered the PH down to 3.6 and kicked it off then hit the internet and did some research.
I came across a Q/A of some sort and they were talking about a potassium buffer that will precipitate out when putting in tartaric acid and not to chicken sh*t out and add more! Oh well, maybe next batch I'll give it a try.

Here is the link
http://www.postmodernwinemaking.com/why-doesnt-tartaric-acid-addition-lower-my-ph

 

[hounddawg]

Somewhat good news for me is that while cleaning up some of the wildly out of control brush on or place I ran across some more Black Raspberry bushes (Saw those silvery stalks). Now if I can keep tabs on them perhaps fertilize them this fall, keep the deer from munching on them.... Perhaps I'll have enough for some Black Raspberry/Blackberry wine next year. This was not a good year for Blackberries for us - just too busy with family stuff to get them all picked. (All of these are wild bushes of course. We have 17 1/2 acres and it's mostly wooded area with a number of small 'meadows' around which the wild berries grow. )

this year was horrible for all of my berries and fruits, I'm rigging irrigation this fall, fertilizer and lime come spring, and the orchard way out in the boonies of my nephews friend, he loved my skeeter pee port, so come February, i am getting some big blue berry bushes,
Dawg

 

[silverbullet07]

Man my blueberry wine seems to be flying. I pitched yeast tuesday and it is at 1.005 now. Co2 bubbles like crazy. I quaddrobble checked my starting SG with my refractometer which was 1.090. I did not check with my hydrometer because there was not much juice to check, so I was going to go by the refractometer. I hope it was correct because it seems to have gotten to 1.005 awful quick. I just stuck my hydrometer in the bucket. Will the CO2 gases make the SG seem lower than what it really is?

 

[silverbullet07]

SG this morning is .990 still has a lot of CO2 bubbles in it. Seems this fermented awful fast. 4 days? Is that unusual?

 

[silverbullet07]

So the SG was .990 so I thought I should press the blueberries and get it in secondaries today. Ended up with more juice then I thought I would. I got 4 gal that I racked out of primary and pressed another 3/4 gal.

28 lbs blueberries and 13 pints of water gave me 38 pints juice.

here is 28 lbs of blueberry pressed.

 

[hounddawg]

looks tasty

Dawg

 

[xnotx]

That's a quick ferment but juice is juice. My blueberry batch has about another week left to it I think. (71B)

 

[Rice_Guy]

BTW, i found a fruit stand to get bushels of apples for $25. per bushel, or around 40 to 42 pound per bushel,,,

FYI ,,, I can get what is called ”deer apples” for $10 at the grower

 

[Scooter68]

The term "secondary" is sort of misleading. When a wine ferments down to the point many people transfer it to a carboy where the can put an airlock on it as the amount of CO2 being releasing drops somewhat. That is what is referred to as secondary fermentation. (MLF being a totally different thing not applicable to all wines)
At an SG of .990 the fermentation is finished and the process of clearing and aging begins. The headspace now should be minimal and an airlock used to permit gassing off of the CO2. At this point of course K-Meta should be added.
In about 1-3 weeks another racking is needed to get the wine off the sediment that drops out immediately after fermentation finishes.

By the way if you have not discarded the pressed berries, you could use them for a second batch. I tried that successfully last year usind frozen white grape juice concentrate as the primary juice/flavor. The initial batch was 3 gallons and the blended batch with pressings was a 1 gallon batch.