Hi there from Ft Myers, FL Newbie

[mwhitnell]

Hi, I've been reading over post on this forum for a couple of months now, thought I would share.
I bought 330 lbs of blueberries for 35c per lb and have the freezer full of 25lb bags.
I am on my second batch. The first batch I have in a carboy with airlock. I used 25lbs blueberries, 2.5 tsp acid blend, 2.5 tsp pectic enzyme, 3 tsp yeast nutrient, 3/4 tsp tannin, 1/4 tsp k meta, EC-1118, and started with 8 lbs sugar, 5 gal total, sg was 1.100. After 7 days sg was .996, I added another 1.5 lbs sugar with some water. Sg went to 1.000, Day 9, Sg was .994, I racked into carboy and fitted air lock.
Is what I did ok? I have a second batch, in primary first day, with 1 oz oak. Shall I change anything from what I did in the first batch?

I was thinking about a 3rd batch 25lbs blueberries, 5 lbs strawberries. Any suggestions?
Mark

 

[Arne]

Welcome to the forum. Looks like you are doing ok. Your ABV is going to be fairly high, it will probably have to age for quite a while to smooth out some. Should be good, tho. Good luck with it, Arne.

 

[fabrictodyefor]

Welcome. I'm pretty new at this, what was the reason to add the second 1.5lbs of sugar and additional water? Not judging in any way, I was just wondering. From what I have read, with many fruits, blueberries included it is recommended to keep the abv lower so the fruit flavor comes forward. Or like Arne says it will need to bulk age in order to mellow out. Sounds like a great find on blueberries!

 

[mwhitnell]

Extra sugar added at day 7

Well, I'm new to this, and most recipes I have seen called for 10lbs sugar. I added 8 lbs at day 1, the sg was 1.100 so I thought maybe 10lbs was a bit much. I figured my abv would be less than 13%, maybe closer to 12.5%. I figured I should shoot for 13.4% or in this area., so I added the extra sugar when the sg was .996. If this calc is correct...(1.100-.994) x 131 = 13.8%.

Feedback is welcome, thanks, Mark

 

[sour_grapes]

Your calculation did not account for the extra sugar you added! A better calculation would be:

{ (1.100-0.996) + (1.000-0.994)} * 131 = {0.104 + 0.006}*131 = 0.110*131 = 14.4%

(Note that this calculation ignores the change in volume when you added the second batch of sugar, but this will indeed be negligibly small.)

 

[blackspanish777]

Welcome to the forum! That sounds like a blueberry wine that will knock your socks off from an ABV standpoint. But like everyone says, let it bulk age to let the alcohol even out.

 

[wildvines]

Welcome


Sent from my iPhone using Wine Making

 

[sour_grapes]

Oh, I didn't notice you were new! Please, let me welcome you to WMT, too!

 

[geek]

Hi, I've been reading over post on this forum for a couple of months now, thought I would share.
I bought 330 lbs of blueberries for 35c per lb and have the freezer full of 25lb bags.
I am on my second batch. The first batch I have in a carboy with airlock. I used 25lbs blueberries, 2.5 tsp acid blend, 2.5 tsp pectic enzyme, 3 tsp yeast nutrient, 3/4 tsp tannin, 1/4 tsp k meta, EC-1118, and started with 8 lbs sugar, 5 gal total, sg was 1.100. After 7 days sg was .996, I added another 1.5 lbs sugar with some water. Sg went to 1.000, Day 9, Sg was .994, I racked into carboy and fitted air lock.
Is what I did ok? I have a second batch, in primary first day, with 1 oz oak. Shall I change anything from what I did in the first batch?

I was thinking about a 3rd batch 25lbs blueberries, 5 lbs strawberries. Any suggestions?
Mark

my brother lives close by (in Cape Coral).

Where did you get so many pounds at such a low price?

 

[jojabri]

Welcome to WMT! I Love the Ft Meyers/naples area. Have family there and it's pretty much my primary vacation spot.