To dilute or not to dilute?

[Coughie]

About to make my first batch of wine. Picked 60+ lbs of blackberries, haven't got the final weight yet. Ive been doing the research required for me to make it and every recipe I come across requires me to dilute the juice with water. Is this necessary? Can I go with pure Bberry juice or would it be overkill? I want it to taste like fresh Bberries. Also how many Bberries do you think it would take to get 5 gallons of juice? Any input would be much appreciated.

 

[vin_man]

You need the water. Save 10% of your juice to flavor your wine with, then you should have plenty of flavor. Just fermenting straight juice might not turn out like you think. The acidity in blackberry juice would be too high.

 

[Tom]

About to make my first batch of wine. Picked 60+ lbs of blackberries, haven't got the final weight yet. Ive been doing the research required for me to make it and every recipe I come across requires me to dilute the juice with water. Is this necessary? Can I go with pure Bberry juice or would it be overkill? I want it to taste like fresh Bberries. Also how many Bberries do you think it would take to get 5 gallons of juice? Any input would be much appreciated.

1st welcome

2nd figure 6# per gal.

add 3/4 gal of water per 6#

Add pectic enzyme. Wait 24 hours.

Ck gravity. You want 1.085. Take some water out, heat, add sugar till dissolved. Add back in. ( use WineCalc for amount needed http://mpesgens.home.xs4all.nl/thwp/winecalc.html

Ck acid

Add yeast (Cote des Blanc)

 

[Coughie]

Thanks for the replies guys! I started the must on 11/30 and I am now a week into secondary fermentation! I have to say I was not expecting that smell but it has already grown on me! Been tasting it every time I check gravity and it is getting pretty strong! Me likey!

 

[Coughie]

Coming close to a year later and I have 1 bottle left of blackberry wine. For my first batch I am extremely pleased with the results! I'm going to start this years batch very soon. This time I'll also be using a 1 gallon growler for topping off the carboy. After racking my first batch many times I had a lot of air space.

 

[GreginND]

Glad your wine turned out good. Did you end up diluting it? Please tell us the derails in how you made it.

 

[saramc]

CONGRATS! Your recipe would be great, if you can confirm it. Did you oak it, backsweeten, etc?

 

[Coughie]

I kept a journal because my memory isn't the best.

30lb blackberries
4 1/2 gallons water
10lb sugar
2 1/2 Tsp pectic enzyme
5 campden tablets
2 1/2 Tsp acid blend
5 Tsp yeast nutrient
1 pack cote des blanc

Day 1
mashed berries in primary
added 2 gallons boiling water let cool
added campden
added pectic enzyme

Day 2
adjusted volume and gravity by adding 2 1/2 gallons water with 10lb sugar dissolved
added yeast nutrient
added acid blend
gravity 1.084

Day 3
added yeast to a cup of warm water with 1 Tbsp bberry juice
2 hrs later I pitched the yeast.

Day 8
gravity 1.028
strained pulp
racked to carboy

Day 18
gravity 0.996
2 1/2 inch of sediment
bubbling stopped
re-racked

I racked a couple times in the next couple months as it cleared adding 5 more campden along the way and bottled sometime in february or march. I didn't add and juice or sweetener and I have found that I like dry wines. I might play with this years batch a bit more and even split it up into 1 gallon batches.

 

[Tom]

F Y I. next time you do a fruit wine let the pectic enzyme do its thing. No neeed to "mash" you will not get as much sediment.

 

[Turock]

We make blackberry with all fruit and no water dilution. The result is BIG blackberry flavor. We freeze them first, which yields a lot of juice and macerates them so no need to mash.

However, all blackberry can be harsh because of the malic acid. So we use a malic metabolizing culture, 71B, and it makes the wine nice and smooth without that harshness.

Yes, you should get the pectic enzyme in the vat on the first day to break down the fruit further then the second day, PH test. It's very important to PH adjust blackberry to about 3.4 so that your acids are blanced. Blackberry, especially wild blackberry, can be very high in acid.

 

[saramc]

Agree wholeheartedly to freezing the berries and making sure to use pectic enzymes as this will prevent the need to mash. Good job on the first run of blackberry wine & thank you for posting your recipe.

 

[Coughie]

I'm finally starting my second batch. I ended up moving at the beginning of 2013 and have had too much going on to spend time making wine. I've already thawed my berries and have them in straining bags in my primary. Yesterday I added the boiling water, campden and pectic enzyme. Today I'm going to adjust volume and gravity then add the acid blend and yeast nutrient. Tomorrow I'll pitch the yeast.

 

[Turock]

Don't pitch the nutrient until you've pitched the yeast and it has taken off and is active. Split the dose in half---first half when yeast takes off and second half at 50% sugar depletion. You shouldn't add acid blend unless your PH meter says you need it. We like our blackberry at a 3.4 PH. If you use 71B culture, you'll have a less harsh and smoother wine because it metabolizes some of the harsh malic acid.