Dried Blackcurrants?

[Bill W]

I'm having difficulty sourcing frozen blackcurrants locally. Only seem to be able to find mixed summer fruits. Fresh ones are way out of season. Then I stumbled across dried Blackcurrants and began to wonder if they would be a good basis for wine. Generally, they are fiercely expensive but I've found these ones on Amazon that seem reasonable for 4x 200g. Bodrum Dried Blackcurrants 200gr x 4 : Amazon.co.uk: Grocery
From what I can gather, 100g of dried is approximately eqal to 1kg fresh. I'm thinking that 200g, plus water, plus sugar should make the basis of a decent 1 gallon recipe.
Has anyone here used dried blackcurrants before? Does 200g per gallon sound about right?

 

[Tavi-brewer]

Hi
I've used dried cherries and cranberries before and you're right they can be rather pricey.
I usually throw them into a secondary to add a bit more flavour to a mead/melomel. My only experience with dried fruit was using blueberries to make a mead. The difficulty is when they rehydrate and increase in volume! They took over the kitchen almost tripling in volume. Had to transfer the 'must' into a much larger fermentor to accommodate! Doh!
So watch the swell!
Your measures seem sensible but remember a good proportion of the sugar will be in the fruit and likely turn out a tad stronger than expected (hopefully)
Have fun, blackcurrant wine done well is beautiful.
T

 

[Bill W]

Thanks Tavi, that's helpful.

If I decide to try this, I'll probably rehydrate the dried currants with boiling water and a cautious amount of sugar, bring it up to volume and test the SG, adding more sugar if needed. I like a red with a reasonably high ABV but I don't want rocket fuel.

I didd blackcurrant about 35 years ago, from real blackcurrants from a pick-your-own farm. It was extrordinarily good, on a par with a good Cabernet Sauvignon I would say.

 

[Bill W]

Decision made. Dried Blackcurrants ordered Bodrum Dried Blackcurrants 200gr x 4 : Amazon.co.uk: Grocery

I'll post something in the wine & cider brewday section when i get started on it.

 

[Bill W]

Oh well, won't be doing that one. They cancelled my order. Due to "import difficulties" they didn't have them in stock.

 

[An Ankoù]

Why not get a cordial from Sainsbury's? Iremember there was one with a high concentration of fruit and no additives.

 

[Bill W]

Why not get a cordial from Sainsbury's? Iremember there was one with a high concentration of fruit and no additives.

We don't have Sainsbury's on our little island. No Tesco, No Asda, No Lidl either. A limited range of Waitrose stuff is available from one of our retailers and a limited range of Morrisons from the other.

 

[Binkei Huckaback]

My only experience with dried fruit was using blueberries to make a mead. The difficulty is when they rehydrate and increase in volume! They took over the kitchen almost tripling in volume. Had to transfer the 'must' into a much larger fermentor to accommodate! Doh!
So watch the swell!

I once used dried elderberries in place of fresh for Berry's elderberry and runner bean wine. I don't remember them swelling, but I do remember not reading the recipe properly and halving the quantity. It was like syrup and even when the bottles were empty, they looked full. Even ten or fifteen years later it's really earthy and not really drinkable. It's getting there though. Maybe in another ten it'll be perfect!