First Recipe: Spiced Blueberry Wine

[WildSeedGrrrl]

here is a recipe I found for a spiced blueberry wine from "Making Wild Wines and Meads", where you add cinnamon and nutmeg. This appears very simple and straighforward, does anyone see any forseeable issues before I jump in.

Blueberry Puree
Pastur Red yeast (the recipe just says wine yeast-but I've read that this yeast is good for berries)
Campden tablet
1/4 tsp tannin
1 tsp acid blend
1 tsp yeast nutrient
3lbs sugar (should this be dissolved in water)
Cinnamon, nutmeg

I'm not sure how sweet this will end up and I'm pretty partial to dry, but decent alcohol content, so would a gradual feeding of sugar during the first 2 weeks of fermentation be a better way to go to increase alcohol content? I want this to be able to age for awhile.

wsg

 

[Wade E]

Really need to know how much Blueberry puree is called for. When adding sugar, bring the sg (use a hydrometer) to 1.090, do not go higher as you will just be loosing flavor after that point and making your wine with too much alc to appreciate it. If you dont have a hydrometer get 1 before attemting making wine please. Also, put all the fruit in a fermentation bag, or sanitized pair of nylons, it makes things so much easier later. With this sg and that yeast you will ferment to dry no problem and end up with a decent abv of 12 1/2 which is perfect and will stay on your shelves for around 5 years given decent cellaring conditions and good #9 x 1.75 corks.

 

[WildSeedGrrrl]

It's 49oz, in a can with no seeds, and the description says that should be enough for 1 gal of wine. I asked the guys at my supply place and they've used it with no problems. In my reading I figured a starting SG around 1.080 (my wine kit had a SG of 1.072) would give me enough alcohol, but I didn't know about the losing flavor part. Yes, I have a hydrometer and #9 corks.

Ok thank you, I feel a little more confident going into this.

wsg

 

[Wade E]

If yo have 1 use the bag as you can just pull it out and not have to rack off a ton of lees and lose a lot of wine because of that.

 

[Sacalait]

I've used the 49oz can of puree to make a 3 gal batch and it had plenty of body. Read the instructions on the can for more info. 49oz of puree to make a gal of wine is way over the top.

 

[WildSeedGrrrl]

Blueberry Wine started....it's been horribly wrong...

From the beginning.

When I woke up this morning and decided that today was the day to start this batch, i should have just gone back to bed and overslept and called it a day.
I'm afraid this one will turn out bad...i think I added too much water, my beginning SG was 1.120 (which is way toooooo high), i forgot the acid blend then without thinking added it after I had already put the yeast in.

I'm a little nervous that this will not turn out well.

I'm going to wait it out for the first few days to see what's happening but if anyone has had this problem, HELP!

 

[Sacalait]

Adding more water will bring down the S.G. so what you've said doesn't make sense, however at this point I wouldn't add any more. Acid can be added at any point so don't get in a tizzy.

 

[Wade E]

You need to thin this down and I would either do it now or the minute it starts fermenting(preferably) and get the sg down to 1.090 or you will have a very hot wine, one which the alc will overpower the fruit flavor.

 

[WildSeedGrrrl]

OK. i'll take a look at it tomorrow morning and add more water.

 

[fuzzmeister]

Where do you buy this blueberry puree do most grocery stores handle this?

 

[WildSeedGrrrl]

I buy my supplies from Midwest Homebrewing and Winemaking supplies (website is midwestsupplies dot com) and it's a brand called oregon fruit purees. I'm not sure if grocery stores carry it.

 

[Wade E]

I have seen that Puree at grocery stores.

 

[Sacalait]

Where do you buy this blueberry puree do most grocery stores handle this?

I get where I get my wine making supplies and I'm sure you could get it from a wine supply house like R.J. Spangols.

 

[WildSeedGrrrl]

Friday night I still had no activity, so saturday I added more water, yeast nutrient, and a little more sugar and ended up putting it in my larger primary (this ended up being 3 gal). By the time I came home Saturday night, I had serious bubbling. I'll check it on Sunday and plan to move it to secondary on Monday. Thanks for all the help.

I went to the website for Oregon puree and it gives you a list of places in states where you can purchase their products. Some places don't carry the purees, but other fruit products, like pie fillings so you should call and make sure, especially if it means a avoiding a 'fruitless' trip.

 

[WildSeedGrrrl]

Update on the Blueberry. It's been fermenting like crazy for a week, but I did move it to the carboy, and added the spices I wanted. It smelled really alcoholic and when I tasted it, it was still really sweet. The SG is getting low, but it was around 1.024. It's still going strong so who knows when it'll be done, few more weeks, maybe. I'll rack it again.

 

[arcticsid]

Grrrl, you got it going now, leave it go. Patience is one of the most important ingredients. Start another batch as soon as you can. Compare what you have learned with the first one, either way you will end up with "something" that has alcohol in it. Wade said the other day, "a watched pot never boils", I like to say "staring at your wine not only makes the wine angry, but you could go crossed eyes as well"
Troy

 

[WildSeedGrrrl]

well once it stops going strong on the fermentation, I'll move it to my office, which is slightly cooler and just let it sit. I would put it in the closet but the cat likes to hang out in there. I might try outfitting a cupboard or two in my kitchen.

I already started a sweet mead a few days ago and now i'm just waiting. I'm not too worried because everything I've read says that it could take up to a week to have any activity.

I'm trying not to watch anything too closely but I will admit that I find the little bubbles fascinating to watch.

THanks to everyone who contributed invaluable advice. My beer brewing friend is quite impressed with how fast I picked this all up. I think he's just jealous.

 

[Wade E]

A week is a little long, if after 4 days there is no sign then I start doing something whether it be warm it up, stir it up, or after 2 more days do a starter yeast.

 

[WildSeedGrrrl]

Ok four days. Well, I started it on Tuesday so i'll give it until Saturday. I looked at it just a bit ago and there were some bubbles and it smells yeasty but not the kind of activity I've had with this blueberry. I stirred it and moved it to the living room area, where it's warmer (70 degrees).

 

[Wade E]

Do you here a sizzling sound at all kind of like a soda pop? Some fermentations just fizzle alot and not foam up as others. yeast variations will also cause different types of fermentations. Once you kow its fermenting, leave it in a cool place like low 60's and let it do a long cool fermemt and you will have a much better fruit wine in the end.