Blackberry wine

[sdt7618]

Excellent idea - I never thought of that. Don't like the plastic demijohns but if the water is cheap enough.... How much is it? I guess it'll be about 5p or summat in Aldi.

have done it a few times with beer kits when trying out different hops to dry hop with.

They are only £1.10 for the 5l bottle so cna really be treated as disposable. I drilled and glued on a grommet to a couple of lids, so just chuck the bottles and clean the lids etc.

 

[Deltabrew]

We noticed the good crop of blackberries this year too, picked 8kg last week and shoved them in the freezer, the plants had as many again to give if they ripen in the next few weeks.

We just pour boiling water over, mush up and put the whole lot in the bucket to ferment, is there any advantage to sieving it before?

 

[Deltabrew]

I do all my cider and wine in 25L buckets now, it's much easier, quicker, cheaper and they don't take up nearly as much room. I made a mistake buying Djs and will be selling them off.

 

[Bigcol49]

I have the same problem looming. Looks like a visit to gumtree is in order. I've got some of those plastic ones for emergency use but they're crap. Can't let any of these blackberries go to waste!!

Hi!
I use the plastic ones to speed up the ageing process; I leave the wine in plastic for a couple of months before transferring to glass for the last few months.

 

[Bigcol49]

We just pour boiling water over, mush up and put the whole lot in the bucket to ferment, is there any advantage to sieving it before?

Hi!
I ferment on the fruit, giving it a stir every day until primary fermentation is complete. I pass the wine through muslin when transferring to the secondary vessels. I've always had good results doing it this way.

 

[Bigcol49]

Now - blackberry brandy!!! I need that recipe!

Hi!
1 litre brandy (as cheap as you can buy it)
450g blackberries, washed
250g sugar (a little more if you want a very sweet liqueur)

Put berries in a large Kilner-type jar, add the sugar and pour the brandy in.
Seal the jar and agitate until the sugar has dissolved - this may take several minutes (Whole lotta shakin' goin' on)
Put the jar in a dark place and agitate every day for the first week and then once a week for three months.
Strain through muslin, bottle and hide - everyone will want it!

 

[Gunge]

Hi!
I ferment on the fruit, giving it a stir every day until primary fermentation is complete. I pass the wine through muslin when transferring to the secondary vessels. I've always had good results doing it this way.

Same here, but I've given up with the muslin. Got a couple of fine-mesh nylon straining bags off the internet, they hold back all the gunk and feel like they'll last forever.

 

[Deltabrew]

Same here, but I've given up with the muslin. Got a couple of fine-mesh nylon straining bags off the internet, they hold back all the gunk and feel like they'll last forever.

They'll be cleaner too. That's a good tip thanks, just got some ordered:thumb:

 

[needmorstuf]

where's best place for em?

 

[Gunge]

where's best place for em?

Got mine off ebay - there's millions of sellers but mine happened to come from BJ Filters and are jolly good. Meanwhile I've just got 5 x 5 litre bottles of water from Morrisons at £1.07 a pop to use as demijohns. Coincidentally I picked another 3Kg of blackberries today hehe. The water will be used for tomorrow's brew. Win win! I can't believe these containers are being sold for up to a fiver but without the water!!

 

[Gunge]

Getting out of hand now - gallon number 9 just made and there ain't no sign of the blackberries slowing down.

 

[needmorstuf]

yeh, I have only done 1.. going out at the weekend to pick some more. I may fortify with some red grape powder I am getting and then chuck in some neutral spirit when its fermented out half way and have a go at a port also.

 

[Bigcol49]

Got mine off ebay - there's millions of sellers but mine happened to come from BJ Filters and are jolly good. Meanwhile I've just got 5 x 5 litre bottles of water from Morrisons at �£1.07 a pop to use as demijohns. Coincidentally I picked another 3Kg of blackberries today hehe. The water will be used for tomorrow's brew. Win win! I can't believe these containers are being sold for up to a fiver but without the water!!

Hi!
Make sure that they are well cleaned after use and don't store with the lid on - I dumped a dozen because, although rinsed out, mould developed inside because I left the lids on. Doh!

 

[Gunge]

The last four gallons of blackberry were made with Young's Burgundy yeast cos Wilko were out of Gervin universal. Blimey this stuff is outrageously foamy. Anyone else used it? The demijohns are only 3/4 full but I'm so fed up of mopping up already that I've put them in the bath to catch the outpouring of froth until they calm down. Good job I only get in the bath once a month! As for the missus and kid, well that's their problem.

 

[Clint]

Outrageously clever!

 

[Gunge]

Getting too silly now. 4 demijohns in the bath, 4 on the dining table, 2 in the corner of the living room, 2 on top of the stereo unit and 1 in the kitchen. A few more still fermenting on the pulp scattered around. The house stinks of active fermentation. I'm calling it a day - the birds and stuff can have the remaining berries... there's still millions.

 

[Vinotinto]

Getting too silly now. 4 demijohns in the bath, 4 on the dining table, 2 in the corner of the living room, 2 on top of the stereo unit and 1 in the kitchen. A few more still fermenting on the pulp scattered around. The house stinks of active fermentation. I'm calling it a day - the birds and stuff can have the remaining berries... there's still millions.

Pity you could not use a large fv. Instead.

 

[Gunge]

Pity you could not use a large fv. Instead.

I ought to have really. Just didn't plan on making so much but I couldn't help but knock up another batch as the berries kept coming! I'll definitely do the bulk thing next year, assuming the crop will be half as good.

 

[Vinotinto]

Thing that puts me off doing a large batch is boiling all that water. Defrosting berries today. Going to do a 3 gallon batch tomorrow. Going to up the blackberries to 11lb instead of 9, add a youngs concentrate and reduce the sugar very slightly. The last time I did this it came out very strong.

 

[Stevieleeds]

I've done this as per the initial post, but it's fermenting extremely slowly, and I mean not even enough to move the airlock. Should I introduce more sugar?