Blackberry wine strength

[divingdavey]

A while ago I made my second ever country wine which was blackberry. I followed this recipe:
Ingredients

1.75kg blackberries (slightly more or less will make no difference)

1.5kg sugar (we use ordinary British white granulated)

4.5 litres water (boiling)

2 tsps pectic enzyme (this breaks down the pectin in the fruit which helps the wine to clear)

Yeast nutrient (follow your brand’s instructions. You can substitute 1/4 tsp of Marmite, yeast extract or malt syrup dissolved in a little hot water)

It's been bubbling away for weeks and since then I've got interested in specific gravities etc and realised that that's quite a bit of sugar! I've calculated that I should end up with a wine of sound 17% :sulk: !

Is it normal for country wine recipes to be so strong, and if I had reduced the sugar to make a more sensible strength would that have adversely effected the wine?

Thanks folks :

 

[RobWalker]

some say that more sugar will strip the flavour out. i'm not so sure, I think you just stop tasting it quicker :lol:

anyway, ours was about the same strength and it's lovely after a year, so don't worry. :thumb:

 

[divingdavey]

Thanks Rob :) I'll rack it in a week or two and sneak a quality control taste.

 

[Robbo]

I always try to achieve around 15%abv with my elderberry and blackberry wine and fermentation usually takes between 4 and 6 weeks.
Like Rob says, it's always better to age it for a year or so. I've got a batch bottled ready to age for next Christmas

 

[oldbloke]

Older recipes tend to be higher in sugar. You have to be careful with anything CJJB wrote, for instance.
But 1.75kg of berries should be plenty of flavour, even if it ferments right out and does go to 17%

 

[divingdavey]

Thanks folks! :thumb:

Does anyone know why older recipes are so high in sugar? Was the idea to leave some sugar there for sweetness after the yeast had all been killed off by the alcohol? If so, is that the reason country wines seem to have a reputation for being so potent?

 

[oldbloke]

I've heard it said sugar used to be somewhat less concentrated than it is now (it's a crystal), so we now get more actual sucrose in the same weight.
I don't know if this is actually true, but it would explain some of the older recipes.

 

[Dano]

I once made a blackberry (with a hint of elderberry) it too was 17%, I think it came from the old Boots book. It was fantastic, for some reason it made your shins go numb...my dad laid a bottle down, it must be 7 years or more old by now, I may try and talk him into opening it at Xmas

As I remember it had a very slight sulphur smell early on, that went with a bit of airing, one friend said it was as good as any high end wine sold in the shops

Good luck with yours