real quick question about freezing blueberries

[TimTheWiner]

A friend of mine has a nice size (antique I think) press. I kind of like the idea of thawing in the freezer bags and them taking a small rubber mallet to em, lol. Either way I think I would put them in some kind of mesh bag since I think if I was trying to rack off all that mass on the bottom it would probably be difficult and lose a lot of liquid in the process (vs squeezing out some of the mesh bags).

 

[saramc]

I wonder how grapes get washed/rinsed on their way to becoming wine?

But the question was: should they have been rinsed/washed before freezing?

And I rinse not only to "rinse" but the residual water helps create a quick ice layer around each berry (think individual quick frozen).

Everyone has very valid responses. The bottom line is: wine can be made from those berries, regardless of their preparation/storage method. I like it that we are not all robots, and have individualized thoughts.

And it is quite interesting to see those dirty, buggy grapes get turned into wine.

 

[djrivard]

From my experience making berry wines, really no need to rinse the fruit before freezing (unless you suspect chemical spraying <10 days before harvest which is unlikely).

Freezing, then thawing is a great idea, you will get better yield, better extraction and hence better flavour and aroma.

Good luck!

 

[UBB]

I've searched and it seems opinions vary on the lbs of fruit/gallon of wine. I'm aiming for full bodies wine and figured between 6 and 7 lbs/gallon.

Am I close?

Also, I rinse and then freeze my fresh fruit. While probably not necessary it does give me peace of mind.