Blueberry Wine experiment

[pgentile]

Did you mean "15lbs blueberries" instead of "grapes"? If grapes in a blender what kind? SG of 1.105 fermented dry will end up 14+ in ABV,

Blueberries have mostly citric acid. Not sure MLF would be worth the effort.

All else looks good.

 

[DAB]

Don't see the quantity of blueberries in this recipe.

Is this a blueberry/grape blend wine ???


Also your projected ABV is low based on the normal expectation of an ending SG of .995

Initial SG 1.105 to ending of .995 = 14.44%

15 lbs of blueberries...I fixed my typo.
No grapes...just blueberries and sugar as fermentables
14.44???...that's better yet!

 

[DAB]

Did you mean "15lbs blueberries" instead of "grapes"? If grapes in a blender what kind? SG of 1.105 fermented dry will end up 14+ in ABV,

Blueberries have mostly citric acid. Not sure MLF would be worth the effort.

All else looks good.

Yes, forgive me, I meant to write 15 lbs of blueberries...sorry.

 

[DAB]

Did you mean "15lbs blueberries" instead of "grapes"? If grapes in a blender what kind? SG of 1.105 fermented dry will end up 14+ in ABV,

Blueberries have mostly citric acid. Not sure MLF would be worth the effort.

All else looks good.

Okay, thanks...

 

[Scooter68]

14.4 is going to be a bit high but more importantly - At 15 lb / 6 gallons, you are at 2 1/2 lbs of berries per gallon and that is going to be an very very mild flavored wine. I personally would never go under 4 1/2 lbs/gallon

 

[DAB]

Well, that is certainly a consideration...one that I hadn't thought about largely because I don't have any experience with making wine in general and with blueberry wine in particular. Perhaps, if in the end, before bottling, it's too mild, I could beef it up with some blueberry concentrate or something, which would also help to add any necessary sweetness...no?

 

[Scooter68]

Depending on how far along the fermentation has gone you could add concentrate now. Adding later runs the risk of fermentation restarting or just clouding up the wine and causing further delays while it clears.

If you chose to add concentrate now, the thing to do is to check the SG immediately before you add it and then again after adding. Since you would be adding a small amount of volume with a concentrate, the impact on the ending ABV should not be large and in fact might moderate the currently high expected ending ABV.

Keep in mind that if you started with a volume of exactly 6 gallons or 5 gallons, you are going to lose as much as 1/4 to 1/3 gallon of volume due to lees. If lees are heavy you might lose more. Boosting volume with a couple of 16 oz blueberry concentrate bottles would not hurt you at all and in fact would bump volume up some as well as adding flavor.

Just something to consider.

 

[askins3097]

I found this thread and decided to add to it instead of making a new one.. This is my first year making straight blueberry wine. I picked around 70-80# from a local farm. After everything was adjusted, fermented, pressed, I ended up with 12 gallons, so around 6#/gallon. I used cotes des Blanc yeast. I racked it today into it’s final home, sulfited, topped off with organic blueberry juice, and added oak. Here’s some observations. I’m curious to hear if others experienced the same:

-nice color. Lighter than my merlot but it’s dark. It’s the third jug in on top of my bench and the first one on the left underneath.

-it has a unique (not bad) taste and smell. Nothing like I was expecting. I just had a small sip while racking, but I’m not noticing much blueberry like you would expect. It has a floral-flowers type smell?? Im sure there’s a technical term for that floral aroma. A very fruity, almost like a light Lake Erie grape wine flavor. You could tell someone it was made from grapes and at least to this point, I think it’d be hard for the unknowing person to tell the difference.

-I added sugar to get 14%ABV. I wanted it a little on the high side because I planned on making this sweet. I didn’t transfer into a test tube to get a clear image but I dropped my hydrometer in before racking and it looks like the Cotes Des Blanc yeast didn’t ferment the whole way dry. Very close but I’m not seeing a perfect .990. After some googling, I read this yeast is mild and maxes out at around 13-14%? Does that sound right? If so, it’ll make back sweetening less troublesome.

 

[sour_grapes]

I I didn’t transfer into a test tube to get a clear image but I dropped my hydrometer in before racking and it looks like the Cotes Des Blanc yeast didn’t ferment the whole way dry. Very close but I’m not seeing a perfect .990.

I essentially never see 0.990. Usually, I get 0.993 to 0.995, with any yeast.

 

[askins3097]

I essentially never see 0.990. Usually, I get 0.993 to 0.995, with any yeast.

Ok, that makes sense. I usually make everything dry, so I don’t see anything because I never check final SG lol.

 

[pgentile]

I added sugar to get 14%ABV. I wanted it a little on the high side because I planned on making this sweet. I didn’t transfer into a test tube to get a clear image but I dropped my hydrometer in before racking and it looks like the Cotes Des Blanc yeast didn’t ferment the whole way dry. Very close but I’m not seeing a perfect .990. After some googling, I read this yeast is mild and maxes out at around 13-14%? Does that sound right? If so, it’ll make back sweetening less troublesome.
View attachment 50229

I've used Cotes des Blancs a few times on blueberry wines a few years ago. Always finished for me in the .992-.996 range.

 

[Scooter68]

Blueberry is one of the fruit wines that needs a little sweeting up to bring out the blueberry flavor. Also Blueberry is not an overpowering flavor anyway. Have you tried blackberries or black raspberries? Those (especially wild varieties) have much bolder flavors.

 

[askins3097]

Blueberry is one of the fruit wines that needs a little sweeting up to bring out the blueberry flavor. Also Blueberry is not an overpowering flavor anyway. Have you tried blackberries or black raspberries? Those (especially wild varieties) have much bolder flavors.

No, I usually just stick with the traditional grapes and I make apple wine some years if I have access to a couple good trees and the time to pick them. The only reason I’m venturing to blueberry wine is I made friends with the owner of 10 acres of blueberries. I can drive right up to his rows and pick away. I figure it’s good practice and a good way to get all my equipment in line for grape season.

I wouldn’t say the flavor isn’t strong, it’s just not a blueberry flavor as how I’d expect it taste. It’s definitely good tho. Like I mentioned before, almost like a fruity, grape taste. I’m curious to see what 6 months of aging, a little oak, and back sweetening does to it.

 

[Scooter68]

Great to have opportunity. Apple wine, is one that has eluded me. But I'm going to keep trying when my trees produce enough.

 

[iridium]

Thank you for all of the information in this thread. I have about ten pounds of blueberries sitting in my freezer and I am getting ready to start up the process. The logs were helpful.

I just finished a batch of apple wine that came out really nice. I used honey crisp apples as the apple source. One thing I would do is when you back sweeten, and I would be cause it brings out more flavor and I like a sweeter fruit wine, is to use apple juice or concentrate. I found when I started with sugar I wasn’t bringing out as much apple flavor as I wanted.

Can’t wait to start the blueberry wine and report in the results.

 

[Scooter68]

IF you have 10 lbs of good blueberries (Even if they have shruken - Lost some water content) in the freezer you should be able to make two gallons of a very good blueberry wine. At the risk of poluting the wine you could try adding about 2-3 oz of White Grape concentrate/per gallon to the batch before you start the fermentation. That may not be a "Pure Blueberry" wine but it will have a beautiful aroma.

10 lbs/gallon would be a bit overkill and probably cause your wine must to be overly acidic - common with blueberry wine, that's why I recommend the split into 2 One gallon batches. You could even do 1 with the White Grape concentrate addition and 1 without. But now I'm meddling.

 

[iridium]

Thank you for the advice. I like the idea of doing two one gallon batches. Would you ferment together or separately? Either way I will probably risk a little dilution to add enough water to compensate for lee loss after at least primary fermentation.

Since this is my first batch I will probably just use all blueberries with some added water. So not a “pure blueberry” wine ;-).

Thank you!

 

[Scooter68]

If you want to try two variations on blueberry wine I'd do it as two separate batches. Using identical quantities with only a limited difference perhaps in the amount of sugar >> Higher ABV at the end. Make one a dessert wine - higher ABV and then Back-sweeten more.

 

[Stressbaby]

Thank you for the advice. I like the idea of doing two one gallon batches. Would you ferment together or separately? Either way I will probably risk a little dilution to add enough water to compensate for lee loss after at least primary fermentation.

Since this is my first batch I will probably just use all blueberries with some added water. So not a “pure blueberry” wine ;-).

Thank you!

@Scooter68 will attest, you have to watch your pH here. 5#/gallon can pretty easily get you down under 3.0, sometimes even to 2.8 range. My 2017 blueberry started at 2.85. I like to use a little red grape concentrate - DON'T USE WELCH'S unless you want it to smell like Concord grapes instead of blueberries - I use Alexanders Merlot concentrate. Another thought - 1/2 to 1 banana per gallon can add good dose of nutrients and body without any banana aroma. You might consider that as well.

 

[Scooter68]

I've used the Welchs (Or any brand) WHITE grape frozen concentrate. I agree their concord or red grape juice would destroy/cover-up the blueberry flavor. Doesn't take much if the White grape concentrate to add to the bouquet without a distraction from the blueberry taste. Believe if you start with 1-2 ozs per gallon it would help without distraction.

Never used bananas in my wines yet but that is supposed to be a great way to add body.

My first batch of blueberry was bottled at 5 months. Shared a bottle at 6 months and it was 'good' the next bottle was opened around 12 months WOW! What an improvement - so with blueberry, as with almost all wines, time is your friend.