blackberry wine - anyone got a recipe?

[sueelleker]

Picked up a copy of '130 new winemaking recipes' for 20p! Beat that.

 

[grinchy]

What's everyones opinions as to when to add campdens to fresh fruit wines and why?

I've seen some people chucking it in at the start, some after first rack when they have taken the fruit out, and then others at the end with potassium to kill the yeasties good and proper :wha: Does it really make any difference?

 

[Moley]

Add one Campden per gallon at the start of preparing your must. This is to prevent wild yeasts which occur naturally on fruit skins or flowers from starting a fermentation. A general purpose wine yeast or a varietal yeast such as a Burgundy or Champagne yeast has been properly formulated for the job, and you want your yeast to get stuck into the sugars, not Mother Nature's. Pitch your yeast one day after using the Campden.

First racking isn't when you take the fruit out, that's just straining, and you wouldn't usually add another Campden at that point.

When it has finished fermenting and dropped most of its sediment to the bottom of the demijohn, that's when you first rack to a fresh DJ. Crush a Campden between two teaspoons and add it to the wine. This is to prevent bacterial infection and oxidation.

And you're quite right, if you later do a second racking and choose to stabilise with Sorbate, you add another CT then too.

 

[grinchy]

Sorry to be a pain in the rectum but....this is my first attempt at fresh fruit wine and getting myself in a bit of a pickle I have got the C.J.J.Berry book and was going to follow the recipe from there when i came across this thread! So Moley you started as below...

9 lbs Blackberries
4.5 litres Apple Juice
1 kg sugar for now, but I will add more when I've mashed the berries and taken a gravity reading
3 Campdens
1 tbsp Pectolase
2 tsp Citric Acid
Boiling water to 3 gallons

I will go in with a potato masher tomorrow morning, then check gravity. Yeast & nutrient in tomorrow evening, straining to DJs after 5 days.

Can i assume that everything in the list was chucked in together, barring the yeast and nutrient? Coz my book says to strain the juice onto the sugar after 4-5 days...now i'm not sure what to do as i know these are old recipes and you seem to be doing ok with yours :thumb:

 

[Moley]

The CJJB recipe is ok, I've used it before, but many country wines follow the same sort of basic method so I just sort of made it up as I went along.

I poured boiling water onto the sugar and stirred until it was dissolved, then I tipped in the blackberries and added the Campdens and the Citric. I gave the berries a bit of a mashing then added the apple juice and topped up the water. Pectolase is an enzyme which helps break down the fruit and release its juice, and should prevent a pectin haze in the finished wine. It shouldn't go in until the temperature is down below around 30°C.

Incidentally, I didn't have any more sugar at the time, which is why I only started with 1kg. With the berry juice, the apple juice and that sugar it has given me an OG of 1.056 so I want to bring that up by another 40 and will add another 500g of sugar per gallon when I strain to demijohns after 5 days.

Yeast and nutrient went in on day 2, and the berries got another mashing.

Oh, and while it's in the bucket and starting to ferment the fruit pulp will rise to the top, so stir it morning and evening with a sanitised plastic or metal spoon, never wooden.

 

[grinchy]

OK so.... i have just realised that i have 2.5Kg of blackberries NOT 2.5lb as first thought

In my defense i was preparing and measuring last night with the help of my glamourous assistant 'Grinchy's pink party wine'.. it is soooo good, but unfortunatley makes you think you know what you're doing when CLEARLY you dont!

Anywhoooo, am wondering with just over 5 and a half pound of fruit and so far only 1 gallon of water added....how much more water should i add? or indeed should i whack an apple juice in there as first considered; if so again how much?

Also do i need to add anymore of the other stuff into the mix? I have already added 2tsp of pectolase (as the fruit was boiled), 1 crushed campden and just put in 1Kg of sugar, which is when i realised that my measurements from last night were a bit skew whiff!!

 

[Moley]

I think I'd be inclined to chuck in 2 or 3 litres of apple juice and another half a kilo of sugar, then make it up to a 2 gallon brew. Bear in mind that if you've already added one gallon of water, with the juice you're getting out of the berries and some bulking up from the sugar, you're well over the gallon already. A teaspoonful of citric acid or the juice of one lemon probably wouldn't go amiss.

 

[TheCheekyMonkey]

been out to the garden today and what can i say, theres loads of big fat blackberrys all over my hedges, so gonna have to pick them soon before i get the chopper out



:drunk:

 

[grinchy]

Update on the blackberry wine and some advice required please.....

I started the wine on the 22/08/09 (by started i mean added the yeast). It was very dificult to get an S.G. reading as the mix was so thick, it was somewhere between 1070 and 1080. Unfortunatley i had an unplanned trip away and have not been able to strain the wine until today the 28th; having done so and checked the gravity it is now 990! Oh yes and it also tastes very bitter, like i've used unripe fruit (which i can assure you i haven't).

So, I now have about a gallon and three quarters of bitter tasting juice with a gravity of 990.....i thought i was supposed to put it in DJ's for further fermenting, but dont think i can get much more out of it :? what can i do with it??? I have 2 litres of white grape juice, 1 litre of red grape juice, lots of sugar and 10 individual sachets of splenda available for immediate use.

Please advise, as i now have no idea what to do with it :wha:

 

[Moley]

6 days in the bucket should be fine, although if you've been away you've been unable to stir it regularly, so you could have some off tastes from the exposed fruit cap.

Give it a couple of crushed Campdens, divide your brew equally between 2 DJs and top up with the white grape juice. That should smooth, add vinosity and bring your SG back up by at least 10 - 15 points (although it will ferment out again).

 

[grinchy]

Thanks for that. :thumb:

When you say it will ferment out again......how long do i leave it in the DJ's for now?

 

[Moley]

When you say it will ferment out again......how long do i leave it in the DJ's for now?

Sorry if it's not the answer you'd be wanting to hear, but if you've got some off tastes and you're high on tannins (did you wash the berries well?) I would probably be expecting to rack this again in another month (add another CT) and then put it away somewhere cool and dark until next Easter.

You need the patience of Job for proper country wines, that's why I've got a lot on-the-go, and regular large batches of the quick stuff.

Time will usually reward you though.

 

[grinchy]

[/quote]Sorry if it's not the answer you'd be wanting to hear[/quote]

No thats fine... just surprised me that it would ferment again.....i was thinking i dont have a hydrometer which goes any lower, but then i realised i was adding more sugar with the grape juice D'Oh!

I did wash the berries extremely well, as i didn't fancy getting any of them little blackberry maggots in the mix :sick: i inspected each and every one!!

I will sort it out this afternoon and leave it be for a while. Thanks very much. :

 

[rickthebrew]

blackberry wine update:

fermenting stopped about a week ago - so racked of today - fg - 0990 so around 11%

really good blackberry flavour and clearing well - could probably chill slightly like a rose wine!

 

[Wez]

Lovely :

 

[grinchy]

Hey rick, that looks awesome.

How long has yours taken then?

 

[TheCheekyMonkey]

im picking mine tomorrow, bugger it lol, that looks great

 

[rickthebrew]

grinchy - it`s taken just over two weeks to get to that stage!!!!

could sup it straight away to!! :

 

[TheCheekyMonkey]

well heres mine after day 3 in the blackberry house.

smells very tart! heres what ive done so far from my notes


Blackberry wine
Started 09-09-09
1.2 kgs of black berrys washed and mashed up
2 litres of water
1 litre of grape juice
added 750 grams of sugar and simmered to melt
will be topping up with white grape juice
poured into demijohn and cooled
added one teaspoon of pectolase and one crushed campden
left for 24 hours (shaken regular)
then added
1 teaspoon of youngs yeast
1 teaspoon of youngs nutrient
fermented for 5 days on the pulp then strained out to fermentout. (stirred at last twice a day whilst on the pulp)
SG 1180





obviously some of this info hasnt fruited yet, just from my notes.

 

[rickthebrew]

looking good !!

just one thing your SG is 1180!!!! seems really high - if the yeast could ferment all this sugar it would turn out around 25%!!!!!! so if this reading is correct you could have a very sweet - and strong - wine?