Blackberry wine

[Luvabeer]

hi all
I’m not sure am on the right forum but here goes. I’m doing my first wine a blackberry so I’ve put 3lb berry’s 3lb sugar in my fermentation bucket one gallon But I’m not sure how long to leave it before adding the yeast! how much yeast. I’ve got 3oz mangrove jacks r56 premium red wine shall I tip it all in ? Also should I ferment in bucket or demijohn
Any advice much appreciated

 

[jceg316]

I was watching this video and it seems he adds the yeast after the sugar: .

It seems like a good video, but not sure why he waits to take an OG reading as some of the sugars would have turned to alcohol by then. I'm gonna make blackberry wine soon too. I did it once before but can't remember what I did.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

Someone should buy him a decent pair of industrial nail clippers.

 

[Keats]

I’m guessing he plays guitar as the nails on his left hand are short.

@jceg316 yes it does seem odd to measure the OG the next day.

I’ve made blackberry wine and I usually add the boiling water to the fruit and leave it a day or two before straining and then adding the sugar and yeast. The danger with this is leaving it too long and it going mouldy which happened to me last year. Might try this method this year.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

I’m guessing he plays guitar as the nails on his left hand are short.

Well spotted.

Back on topic - do you break the blackberries up to get more flavour from of them?

.

 

[Luvabeer]

Well I added boiling water an dextrose this morning and just added yeast. So the learning curve will continue! Al keep you posted
Cheers

 

[Luvabeer]

P.s og 1010

 

[Luvabeer]

10100

 

[BeerCat]

Seems like too much fruit and sugar for a gallon.

 

[Keats]

Back on topic - do you break the blackberries up to get more flavour from of them?

.

Yes, when I’ve poured the boiling water on I use a potato masher to break them up a bit.

 

[BeerCat]

Did you freeze the berries. What is the gravity? Confused by your post. :-)

 

[Chippy_Tea]

Yes, when I’ve poured the boiling water on I use a potato masher to break them up a bit.

Good idea.

 

[Keats]

Seems like too much fruit and sugar for a gallon.

Yes I freeze the berries. Some of them are from the previous year to make room for the following year’s crop!

Just looked at my notes and I steep 1.5kg of fruit in 5 litres of water, then when I’ve separated the juice from the pulp after a day or so, added 2kg of sugar dissolved in 2 litres of water. Then top up to 10 litres.

OG around 1.07 - 1.08, ending around 0.96.

 

[jceg316]

I’m guessing he plays guitar as the nails on his left hand are short.

@jceg316 yes it does seem odd to measure the OG the next day.

I’ve made blackberry wine and I usually add the boiling water to the fruit and leave it a day or two before straining and then adding the sugar and yeast. The danger with this is leaving it too long and it going mouldy which happened to me last year. Might try this method this year.

Does it ake a difference how long the blackberries are left in boiling water for? Can the berries be removed after a matter of hours?

 

[Keats]

I just leave it a couple of days to get as much juice as possible from the fruit. It might be the case that this is done in a few hours. I just followed a recipe from an old book and it seems to work ok for me. The pulp is very pale when I remove it, which I assume means pretty much all the juice has been extracted.

I’ve remembered that I added some pectolase the last couple of times I made wine to help with juice extraction.

 

[CeeGee]

This is the recipe and method I use, very slightly modified from a recipe from ‘Booze for free’ by Andy Hamilton (an excellent book, btw). Will also make pure elderberry or blackberry, just use 2kg of one fruit:

2kg blackberries/elderberries (equal quantities)
1.5kg sugar
Half cup of very strong black tea*
4 litres water
Juice of one lemon (I use 1tsp of citric acid)
1 campden tablet (crushed)
1 tsp yeast nutrient
1 tsp pectolase
Red wine yeast

Freeze berries overnight (or longer if still gathering), then put into a fermentation bin and allow to thaw. Give them a bit of a squish to get lots of juice out, but try not to crush the seeds too much. Add the sugar, boil one litre of the water and pour it over, stir until sugar has dissolved. Add the rest of the water (cold) and all the other ingredients. My method differs only in that I leave it all for twenty four hours before I pitch the yeast to give the Campden tablet a chance to kill off any remaining wild yeasts and to disperse.

Let it sit in the bin for three-five days, then strain into a demijohn (I strain it into another bin first using a sieve and a muslin cloth, then pour into demijohn up to the shoulder as I make less mess that way). I have a litre plastic bottle that I fitted with an airlock that I put any excess into, then I top up after the most vigorous fermentation has finished up to the bottom of the neck of the DJ, more or less.

Rack after a month or so, let it ferment out. I’ll usually rack again after a few weeks, perhaps a month or two, maybe again if sediment still forming, then hide it away somewhere dark for a few months with a safety bung in it to clear fully before I bottle. Leave in the bottle as long as possible before drinking; pure blackberry less so, ready and drinkable in six months or so.

*If you decide to make pure elderberry wine, don’t add the tea; elderberry has plenty of tannin already. If you make pure blackberry wine, add more tea!

The idea of the half and half is that blackberry wine can be a little sickly, elderberry can be very tanniny, the two together balance each other out.

Quick to make, very labour UNintensive, but requires patience in spades before you drink it!

 

[VW911]

Pectolase added when the must has cooled sufficiently will help with juice extraction...

 

[CeeGee]

Pectolase added when the must has cooled sufficiently will help with juice extraction...

Just realised I hadn’t put one in my recipe. Always goes in! Now edited!