Starting Correctly this Time

[BerriedAlive]

Been lurking around this form since March. Just bottled my first run at Blackberry wine. Thankfully your knowledge helped me rescue that disaster of a recipe.

So, I'm blessed with a healthy blackberry patch, we harvested 130 lbs. last year and look to surpass that this year. Right now I'm trying to use up the last of the 2013 bb juice before I starting steaming for 2014.

So I bought my acid testing kit and my Ph meter (Extech) and have a primary full of juice and a yeast starter growing.

The must facts are:
- Ph is 3.25 @ 68 degrees
- Acid is 7.5%
- Juice is very cloudy

What should I do to tame the acid?
Is this a good/bad/OK starting Ph or do I need to adjust downward?
What is a recommended amount of pectin enzyme for blackberry. My first gallon took 3.5 months to clear, even with ice baths, lots of time in a cold garage and Sparkalloid.

Muchas Gracias.

BerriedAlive

 

[djrockinsteve]

You may get some acid reduction with a cold stabilization. Check the tutorial section on how to manually reduce acid.

Blending is another option

 

[sour_grapes]

Welcome to WMT -- love the name! (Sorry, cannot help with your particular questions.)

 

[Turock]

We make lots of blackberry wine and have certain ways of dealing with this fruit because it's malic acid can make a harsh result. The first thing we do is adjust the PH pre-ferment to 3.4 using calcium carbonate. Don't adjust the acid down--adjust it up to 3.4. We use pectic enzyme on it to help break down the pulp. Be sure to control the seeds in some manner so they don't get over into the secondary. Ageing on the seeds can result in bitterness. We deal with it by bagging the fruit before it goes into the vat.

Use 71B culture to metabolize a portion of the malic. Be sure to sulfite your must, 24 hrs later add the pectic enzyme (don't add them together or the sulfite will inactivate the enzyme), then rehydrate the yeast with Go-Ferm because this helps 71B dominate the must as it's sensitive to normal flora. So sulfiting and using Go-Ferm is highly recommended for 71B. This culture will lower the malic and you'll have a much smoother wine.

On the 3rd day of the ferment, add a dose of bentonite to the primary. This will help a whole lot in clearing.

Don't be afraid to ask if you have more questions.

 

[Turock]

By the way--add 1 tsp of pectic enzyme per gal. Freeze the fruit first so that you'll have lots of juice yield. We use no water on our blackberry but you can use water if you don't like it big and bold---just be careful not to use too much water and use lots of fruit per gallon. At least 6-8 pounds per gallon.

 

[mikewatkins727]

Acidity

Been lurking around this form since March. Just bottled my first run at Blackberry wine. Thankfully your knowledge helped me rescue that disaster of a recipe.

So, I'm blessed with a healthy blackberry patch, we harvested 130 lbs. last year and look to surpass that this year. Right now I'm trying to use up the last of the 2013 bb juice before I starting steaming for 2014.

So I bought my acid testing kit and my Ph meter (Extech) and have a primary full of juice and a yeast starter growing.

The must facts are:
- Ph is 3.25 @ 68 degrees
- Acid is 7.5%
- Juice is very cloudy

What should I do to tame the acid?
Is this a good/bad/OK starting Ph or do I need to adjust downward?
What is a recommended amount of pectin enzyme for blackberry. My first gallon took 3.5 months to clear, even with ice baths, lots of time in a cold garage and Sparkalloid.

Muchas Gracias.

BerriedAlive

BerriedAlive: Acid might be a bit high. Jack Keller has a blog on some this subject. Try linking to:

http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/acid.asp

Mike

 

[BerriedAlive]

Mike, Turock & DJ RockingSteve,

Wow, thanks for the feedback...can't reply until tomorrow, babysitting 3 veggie gardens + my own
and shall we say I'm in TOMATO and SQUASH HELL!

 

[BerriedAlive]

Hello All - I greatly apologize for falling 'off the forum' after my enthusiastic post.

Finished up with my berries, I think I've got 35-40lb frozen...but I had a hand
injury which required surgery and 25 stitiches. Can't get it wet, gotta do some
PT, so winemaking will have to wait for a few more weeks.

Thanks.

 

[Arne]

Keep em frozen and they will be waiting for you to get better. You are lucky to be getting tomatoes. Our garden got hailed off pretty bad. We are getting a few, but nuthing like we had planned. One last row of green beans we planted for a fall crop. Tried for fall peas also, but must of had some bad seeds, not one plant came up. Oh well, have to try for a better garden next year. Good luck with yours, Arne.