Blueberry #3

[WAC4504]

Just started my 3rd batch of blueberry wine, 2 last yr. and this one, I used 15# of blueberries for 5 gallons, unprocessed cane sugar that looks, smells and taste somewhat like honey, and 1/2 cup of American oak chips, the starting SG was 1.101 and I used 116 yeast. Now my question is I'm thinking of using some glycerin to add depth to it but have never used it before, any advise would be helpful. By the way it's the first full day of fermentation and the must smells great.

 

[Forager]

Never tried a blueberry wine before, though tempted to start one. I recently picked about 10 lbs. but it's all earmarked for other stuff like jam, cooking, etc. Curious though as to your proportions. I would've guessed that to make 5 gallons you'd need at least 20-25 lbs of blueberries, would that be too much or is it just a taste preference? I know that some fruit like elderberries require watering down when making wine. Are blueberries similar?

 

[Stressbaby]

3# per gallon will make a wine a little lighter than some of us like to make. I use 5#/gallon plus a little red concentrate (NOT Welch's or any kind of Concord, but some vinifera concentrate like this).

If it were me, I'd wait a couple of months at least on the glycerin decision. I don't use it much, but if I do generally it's done just before bottling. You have time to see how the wine comes out. You may decide you want more flavor with an f-pac, and if so, the f-pac might add enough sweetness and body that you don't need the glycerin.

 

[PandemoniumWines]

3# per gallon will make a wine a little lighter than some of us like to make. I use 5#/gallon plus a little red concentrate (NOT Welch's or any kind of Concord, but some vinifera concentrate like this).

Do you freeze the extra if you're not using it all?

 

[Stressbaby]

Do you freeze the extra if you're not using it all?

Sort of. I put it in the freezer. But it's so concentrated that it doesn't freeze solid.

 

[WAC4504]

I do have an F-pack in the freezer just waiting to use it, also the recipe that I used was from EC Krause http://eckraus.com/content/blueberrywine.pdf
I just added 2 & 1/2 lbs. extra blueberries to it to add more body and flavor, and since I don't have a press I need to keep it manageable. Thanks for the tips, this is my 7th batch of wine and I finely feel like I have an idea of what I'm doing. Now whether it's a good idea or not, only time will tell.

 

[Bodenski]

Jack Keller's recipes also use only 2 lbs of blueberries per gallon. Just yesterday I opened a bottle of the Full Bodied Semi Sec version (2 lbs blueberries, add 1 cup of Red Grape Concentrate prior to bottling). I'm not sure that doubling the blueberries per gallon would have made it that much better. (His regular one has 2 lbs blueberries and a pound of raisins, which seems like a lot to me!) It seems that "something" is needed besides just blueberries, but the grape juice concentrate worked for me. Haven't tried glycerin before. I would agree with the comment that says to wait.

(As an aside, I had a half dozen other folks taste the blueberry wine, since they were al interested in what that might taste like. Only one noticed the concord grape juice in it. I Hope that becomes a little less prominent over time. Doesn't bug me at all, but clearly it's noticeable. But now I'm down to one bottle left, and I want to wait until next summer to crack that one open.)

 

[Scooter68]

So far I've tried batches of blueberry with 4 1/4 lbs, 8 lbs, and 6 lbs, per gallon. Somewhere around 6 lbs per gallon seems to be the best as far as manageable acid levels and solid flavor. To many lbs/gal and you are actually wasting the berries because regardless you are still going to have to back-sweeten to really realize the full flavor of the fruit, plus the acidity gets to be much harder to reign in. Keep in mind that blueberries, Raspberries, Blackberries and most of the smaller fruit berries are far more flavorful than your average grape. Water content in all but commercial Blackberries is much lower in a berry than a grape. It's just that alcohol masks the real flavor of these berries more than grapes. (In listing berries I leave out Strawberries because they are in a difference class and they can very a great deal in flavor based on variety and water content.)

That's my unprofessional opinion based on what I've seen and experienced so far. Never tried or had elderberries or gooseberries so I have only other posters remarks to rely on but I believe they would fall under same as other small berries in terms of flavor per pound.

 

[Stressbaby]

Keep in mind that blueberries, Raspberries, Blackberries and most of the smaller fruit berries are far more flavorful than your average grape.

I have to disagree with you on this one Scooter. Of course it depends on the fruit...but while they might be more flavorful than table grapes, they aren't clearly more flavorful than wine grapes, to me anyway. I'm with you on 6# per gallon for blueberries though!

 

[Smok1]

I have a batch of blueberry wine i have aging in a carboy right now i used 5lbs per gallon in a 5 gallon batch and its turned out great. I froze and then pressed the blueberries to extract the juice then put the pulp into a fruit bag for the first 3 days of fermentation to extract color from the skins.