Help me with my Blackberry Jam wine recipe

olusteebus · Feb 21, 2015

I will be starting my first straight blackberry jam recipe next week and I would like your opinion on it please.

Here is what I have thus far:

14 jars of smuckers seedless blackberry Jam melt in hot water

Pectic enzyme

Scott Lab Rouge tannin

2 tsp acid blend (test first)

Fermaid K

G-Ferm at 1/3 and 2/3 sugar depletion

EC 1118 yeast

My questions thus far:

Should I measure acid after mixing everything up?

What ta do you suggest for this wine?

Right now, I don't have a clue as to how much tannin. They say .5 pounds per 1000 gallons! My calculations come to 1.3 grams - I am way out here!

I understand that it is often difficult to get it down to completely dry. That is why I am using fermaid and go firm. Do you agree with that.

I have on hand some Pasteur Champagne yeast, should I use it or the 1118?

I plan on this being a semi dry wine but may make it more sweet after tasting. I think 1.010 would be a little sweeter than I would want. I have never had blackberry wine that was not real sweet.

What do you think I should shoot for as I don't like sweet wine?

Any other suggestions are appreciated.

Deezil · Feb 21, 2015

I've never made wine from jam before, but I know it works.

Go-Ferm is used during yeast rehydration only
Fermaid-K is used at 1/3 and 1/2 sugar breaks

You'll most definitely want to measure the acidity, and probably won't need any acid blend. For a drier wine, I'd go for 0.60-0.65% TA. Too low and the fruit will be subdued, too high and it'll have an acidic bite

FT Rouge is recommended at 0.77-1.92 grams per gallon; 5 to 11 grams for a 6 gallon batch

1118 will give you a better chance at getting it fermented dry

You'll have to try sweetening glasses of it to different levels to find what you like, but that's a ways down the road yet.

Hope that helps some

Bergmann · Feb 21, 2015

I like everything Deezil said. I would add to try to keep the starting SG below 1.100 with the stepped in nutrients you should be able to get it to ferment to dryness. Then you can back sweeten with the same Jam, You will have to add sorbate and sometimes a touch of pectic enzyme, but boy the blackberry flavor it produces is great. I did one like this a year ago last fall, great in the bota bag while skiing.

olusteebus · Feb 26, 2015

Here is my finalized recipe. If anyone has any suggestions, please post

Blackberry Jam Wine

Ingredients:

13 18 ounce jars of seedless Blackberry Jam
5 tsp Pectic enzyme
Acid Blend as needed
5.67 grams Rouge Tannin
EC 1118 yeast 5 gramsin 85 mls of water
6.25 grams Go-Ferm
5.67 grams of Fermaid K at 1/3rd depletion of sugar and also at 2/3 depletion
Sugar for SG to 1.100
Water to 5 gallons
2 ½ tsp of potassium sorbate
¼ tsp of Kmeta
Smuckers Seedless Blackberry Jam to backsweeten. 12 grams of sugar per tablespoon

Process:
Blend jam with warm water until liquid
Add water to a little over 5 gallons
Take sg reading
Add sugar to 1.100sg
Take ph and ta readings and adjust as necessary
Hydrate yeast as follows:

heat about 80 mls of filtered water to 110 degrees
Add 6.5 grams of Go-Ferm stir so no lumps
After water cools to 102 – 95 degrees, sprinkle yeast break up any clumps and wait 15 to 30 minutes – for ferment to start
Add 40 mls of must wait 10 to 15 minutes
Add mixture to must
After ferment has started, with foam and bubbling, add first dose of Fermaid K
Stir must daily
AT 1.070 to 1.060 SG, add second dose of Fermaid K
Continue to stir must daily
Place airlock on ferment bucket at 1.010
At 1.000 or less, rack to carboy leaving lees

After 3 days of steady SG, add potassium Sorbate and Kmeta
Backsweeten as desired.