Buried the needle

[Smok1]

Buried the needle on this blueberry wine. Looks a tad under .990, bordering .988, Smells great, tastes like, well hopefully it will come around.

 

[pgentile]

I've made several blueberry wines the past several years. They don't start tasting good until 8 to 10 months of aging.

 

[wineforfun]

To add, it is going to need some sugar added back in to pull those flavors out.

 

[Boatboy24]

Reminds me: my blueberry port is approaching 4 years old. Need to try another bottle. I estimated it wouldn't get really good until 5, but you have to test along the way - you know, in the name of science.

 

[Smok1]

To add, it is going to need some sugar added back in to pull those flavors out.

I just racked into a carboy for aging. I added the kmeta and sorbate in anticipation for backsweetening. Given it has to age a year before being acceptable for drinking would you start backsweetening now or give it a few months before starting to backsweeten?

I bought a bottle of blueberry wine from our local winery that also owns a blueberry field and puts out a blueberry wine once a year and i measured the sg of there wine, it was 1.010. I was thinking of waiting till my first reracking maybe in a couple months and backsweetening from .990 to 1.000 and then put it away for another 3 months till i rack again and give it a taste before sweetening again.

 

[wineforfun]

I just racked into a carboy for aging. I added the kmeta and sorbate in anticipation for backsweetening. Given it has to age a year before being acceptable for drinking would you start backsweetening now or give it a few months before starting to backsweeten?

I bought a bottle of blueberry wine from our local winery that also owns a blueberry field and puts out a blueberry wine once a year and i measured the sg of there wine, it was 1.010. I was thinking of waiting till my first reracking maybe in a couple months and backsweetening from .990 to 1.000 and then put it away for another 3 months till i rack again and give it a taste before sweetening again.

I would have held off on the sorbate until closer to backsweetening, but that is just me. I think you are right on with your 1.010. I usually backsweeten mine to 1.008 -1.012. I don't like a sweet wine but find this range really brings the flavor out.
With all that said, I generally let my blueberry sit 3-6 mos. after bottling before trying. I don't notice a huge difference from the 6 mo. to the 12 mo. mark.

 

[Scooter68]

I've made several blueberry wines the past several years. They don't start tasting good until 8 to 10 months of aging.

Most definitely - Blueberry wine needs aging. We are just finishing the last of my first 1 gallon batch of Blueberry wine from June 2015. Shortly after fermentation I was also sick - where was the blueberry flavor? 4 months later it was back after some back-sweeting to about 1.005 but still clearly a young wine. Now it is remarkable but sadly all gone. Hope to start a 3 gallon batch very soon. Still picking fresh blueberries and all my frozen blueberries from last season are going in the bucket for fermentation.

 

[Smok1]

Im gonna give it a month before i backsweeten just because i made a 6.5 gallon batch and after i racked it off its lees i ended up with a full 6 gallon carboy with no headspace. So im gonna wait a month for more sediment to settle to give me a bit of room for some simple syrup. Ill backsweeten to 1.000 and let her sit for 3 months. At that point ill give it a taste. If it needs more sugar ill give it a dose and wait it out another 3 months. My wife and I both preffer dryer wines but i understand fruit wines need sugar to bring out the fruit flavours.

 

[Ron0126]

Buried the needle on this blueberry wine. Looks a tad under .990, bordering .988, Smells great, tastes like, well hopefully it will come around.

Wow, wish I could get mine to go that low.

What recipe did you use? Which yeast?

 

[Smok1]

I didnt exactly use any specific recipe. Just the standard fruit wine recipe.
I used 25lbs wild blueberrys
K1-V1116
Yeast energizer
Yeast nutrient
Pectic enzyme
I juiced the blueberries with an omega auger juicer, then topped up with spring water,sugar to 1.085, then put the pulp into a juice bag and threw that in. I got the yeast well started before putting into the juice. started in a 1 liter measuring cup adding 1/2 cup of the blueberry juice every 1/2 hour. Few hours later poured in the yeast and a towel over the primary stiring once or twice a day for 7 days primary and 3 days in a secondary.

 

[Smok1]

Has anyone tryed backsweetening with a blueberry concentrate like this one to bring out the blueberry flavor and maybe get away with using less sugar?

 

[Scooter68]

Don't think you will use any less "Sugar" just a different form of it. As to the flavor.... My blueberry wines never needed any help in that department once backsweetened a little. According to the web site there is very little sugar in that concentrate (35 calories per 1//2 oz serving*) so you are going to have to add a LOT of that to your wine to move the SG much at all and at $35.00 per bottle - dat's a pretty expensive addition. Over $1.00 per oz. Admittedly you are adding blueberry flavor AND sugar with that concentrate but ... I normally end up adding about 4-7 oz of simple syrup to backsweeten. If you use half of that you are adding between $2.00 to $3.50 a gallon. For a good wine.. It's personal preference time again.

* Most concentrates I use and the end servings provide about 120 calories per oz of concentrate (1 oz concentrate + 7 ozs water for their Serving size of an 8 oz drink) Edited for clarity

 

[Boatboy24]

For my blueberry port, I backsweetened with both blueberry and Merlot concentrates from homewinery.com.

 

[Redbird1]

If that blueberry concentrate is anything like the cranberry version we had, a little bit goes a LONG way. I think you could use simple syrup for the sweetening and then add the concentrate to taste. Don't expect to get much sweetness from the concentrate.

 

[Smok1]

Im gonna hit up the health food store and pick up a small bottle of blueberry concentrate and make a blueberry flavoured simple syrup to backsweeten. Thanks for the advice.

 

[Scooter68]

Don't forget the sweetness will bring out the flavor that's already in your wine. Adding simple syrup AND the blueberry concentrate may result in an over-powering flavor rather than a wine taste. (As Redbird1 Cautions)

 

[Smok1]

Ya i dont want that, maybe i should just go simple syrup to 1.000sg for now like my original plan and taste in 3 months.

 

[Scooter68]

Sorry but I'm confused. Most times folks don't backsweeten until just before bottling, AFTER aging the wine. There is a sharpness to a new wine that covers tastes as the wine ages you will find you need less backsweetening.
Better to wait until just before bottling time to backsweeten. You could end up with a wine much sweeter than you'd like.

 

[Smok1]

Sorry but I'm confused. Most times folks don't backsweeten until just before bottling, AFTER aging the wine. There is a sharpness to a new wine that covers tastes as the wine ages you will find you need less backsweetening.
Better to wait until just before bottling time to backsweeten. You could end up with a wine much sweeter than you'd like.

Ive backsweetened right before bottling before, it tasted great going into the bottle then after 3 months in the bottle it was really sweet, too sweet. I think it takes some time for the sugar to really start bringing out the flavors of the fruit. I prefer backsweetening just a bit and then letting it sit in the carboy for a month to make sure refermentation doesnt start up again and let the sugars start to bring out the flavor of the fruit so i can retaste it before i bottle. I typically wont bottle till i have something close to what id like to drink thats been in a carboy for a while.

Most kit wines have you add the f-pack right after stabalizing and adding clearing agents then put into carboy for aging. Ive yet to come across a kit wine that says to add fpack after aging.

 

[Smok1]

I will say i ussually dont follow all the recipes or rules, i pave my own way through winemaking. I do appreciate everybodies advice and ive definitly learnt alot from this forum and reading about everyones opinions and trials but i take what everyone says and try and make of it what i can and come up with my own recipes and techniques. Winemaking is an art to me, not a specific set of rules, and i dont believe theres any wrong way to do it, following the basic steps is a nesseccity(so2,ph,ta,sanitization,ect) but the outcome of our product is to each his own. I like doing some thing my own way because they work for me. For instance i always juice my fruit in a slow press juicer, just adding the pulp to the fruit bag (kinda like a kit wine would come with a bag of juice and a bag of crushed grapes) instead of putting all the fruit in a bag or mashing it into the bottom of my fermenter. I like to backsweeten over time instead of all at once. But like i said i always take everyones advice and opinions and weigh them out and appreciate any advice i get.