Red raspberry wine

[Mdrew]

My in-laws have an awesome vine/s going in their yard in in the Pacific North West. Already, mid-late June we're getting raspberries off the vines. I'd like to look into making raspberry wine out of it. I found this recipe but it calls for 4lbs of raspberries, and another thread on the forum steered me away from that one. Any suggestions? Thanks!

 

[iridium]

What I have heard in general terms is that the more fruit you use the better the finished taste. Most recommend about ten pounds per gallon. I made a blackberry wine that was close to ten pounds of fruit per gallon. It turned out well and I was glad I used that much fruit. The less water and more fruit the better the taste.

 

[Mdrew]

That's straight forward enough for me, thanks!

 

[iridium]

Also you might search for a thread on blackberry wine in this forum. It is a long read but provides a lot of good information on berry wines that could apply to raspberries. It is called critique/I formation on blackberry wine.

 

[Mdrew]

I'll check that out @iridium, blackberry wine is also on the list of to-ferment this summer. I did that search "blackberry wine" and it turned up too many results! Can you point me in the right direction?

 

[Stressbaby]

This is the legendary blackberry thread:
https://www.winemakingtalk.com/threads/critique-inputs-for-blackberry-wine.38273/

 

[iridium]

Thank you for finding the link. I need to learn how to copy links in the app

 

[mikewatkins727]

Raspberries are the one fruit that "more is better" does not hold true. Keep raspberries to 3 to 4 lbs per gallon.

 

[ceeaton]

I did a 3 gallon batch with 18 lbs of raspberries, sugar to 1.085. Back sweetened to 1.005. I wouldn't add any more berries unless you backsweeten to a higher FG. It is 26 months old at this point and getting pretty good.

 

[JuiceMan]

Red Raspberry Juice Concentrate makes it all quite easy. Each quart is made from over 20lbs of fruit: https://www.brownwoodacres.com/red-raspberry-juice-concentrate/
https://www.brownwoodacres.com/images/products/3371.jpg

 

[ASR]

The amount, like much of wine making, is a matter of taste. I made a pear wine from a recipe with 4 pounds of fruit and it tasted good with the pear taste coming in more as an after-taste than an up-front taste. I did it agains with 8 pounds and had a more consitent flavor from start to finish. If you add too much fruit it can become more of a dessert wine than a drinking wine; which is not a bad thing if that is what you intend.

 

[rbqricchi]

Red Raspberry Juice Concentrate makes it all quite easy. Each quart is made from over 20lbs of fruit: https://www.brownwoodacres.com/red-raspberry-juice-concentrate/
https://www.brownwoodacres.com/images/products/3371.jpg

I know this is an old thread, but I'm wondering about this product. If it truly is equal to 20+ pounds of fruit, would it really make 5 gallons of wine, assuming you'd normally use 4# of raspberries per gallon?

 

[Ohio Bob]

Perhaps the only way to know for sure is to use your hydrometer.

 

[Rice_Guy]

The listed brix is 65.
There is some variation in SG, looking at juice I have had numbers like 2015- 1.030; 2018 - 1.037 TA 2.26%; 2019- 1.035; fall everbearing 2019 1.034 with a TA of 2.82%.
I use total acidity as the guide. I will guess if the juice has been doctored as by adding sugar or if it is sour tasting fall crop. A must typically is 0.5 to 0.7% TA. Yes you can build this back with acid blend, but the flavor and color may feel thin. Likewise running over 0.75% will likely produce an acidic wine which requires some back sweetening. ,,,, I grow so I normally back sweeten.
How rich do you want the finished wine?

 

[rbqricchi]

I thought maybe juiceman would answer, but then I noticed he's only posted 14 times since Nov 2017 so he's not active here, AND I also noticed his avatar shows the same juice he was recommending so he probably has ties with the company.

65 Brix would make a gallon of 1.040 must by my calculations. I once made Jack Keller's heavy bodied blackberry wine which used 6# blackberries per gallon of must. I tested the must before adding any sugar and had a gravity of 1.020. This was just the juice from the blackberries and the water. That wine turned out excellent.

Gives me an idea that I could make up to 2 gallons of must with that juice. I'll probably start with a gallon and see how it looks/tastes, and then maybe add more water until I'm comfortable with the results. I don't want it too intensely flavored because I'd have to sweeten too much to balance the acidity and I don't want that.
Thanks for the replies.