frozen blackberries

[iceo]

i should be getting 5+kg of frozen blackberries this week but just don't have space in the freezer . so a wine and some pies it is

what's the best way to do it? thinking defrost, mash, strain , ferment
just blackberries or a mix of fruits/juice for a blend

 

[Moley]

Defrost, cover with boiling water, allow to cool then add yeast, nutrient, pectolase and some (but not all) of your sugar.

Ferment in the bucket for 5 days, stirring 2-3 times a day, then strain to DJs or other closed fermenter and add the rest of your sugar.

As a rough guide, 3 lbs fruit to the gallon / 1.5kg to 5 litres and you'll want around 2.75 lbs / 1250g sugar.

If you can mix in some other red fruits, so much the better, or you could use some red grape juice or apple juice instead of just water.

 

[iceo]

thanks moley.

was thinking a carton of cranberry and blueberry juice /juice drink to add a sweetness

 

[Moley]

If you have a plastic or stainless steel spoon which is long enough to stand clear of the surface of the must but short enough to allow you to close the lid, then you only need to sterilise it once and you can leave it in the bucket.

Add whatever fruit juice you like, but read its sugar content off the carton and deduct that from your required total.

The quantities I suggested above would give an OG around 1.100

Your juice / juice drink isn't going to add sweetness to the final wine as it will usually ferment out to dryness unless you stop it early or exceed the yeast's alcohol tolerance, but you could top up with a juice after racking and stabilising when fermentation is finished.

 

[iceo]

some the the juice drink have sweetners in so that should be carried in to the finished wine i dont like bone dry or sweet wines so some where in the middle would be nice

 

[Robbo]

I like slightly sweet wines so I ferment to dry, stabilise with potassium sorbate and campden then back sweeten to around 1.005 on the hydrometer. Just right for me and the missus.

 

[Moley]

some of the the juice drinks have sweetners in so that should be carried in to the finished wine

:thumb:

I'm probably stating the bleedin' obvious but you will have to judge by taste at the end because your hydrometer won't measure artificial sweeteners and should still finish around 0.990

Like Robbo I allow everything to ferment to dryness and then sweeten to taste after stabilising. Reds stay around 0.992 while pinks and whites usually get bottled between 0.995 to 1.000 for us, and up to 1.010 for mother-in-law.

 

[peteplus1]

Moley - wondered if I could just ask you about back-sweetening? Was going to start a new topic but saw this discussion. ..
Basically this new to wine making chap (me) has first flower whites which are a bit sweet so gunna blend those but I will shortly have my first red which will need sweetening.. it's a blackberry I've fermented to dryness and hence looking to back sweeten. So sorry for the novice questions but here goes. ..

Do I just use ordinary sugar (as this has fermented right out)?
At what point do I do this (prior to bottling I presume)?
And at what quantities for a demijohns worth of wine... (I have 1 gallon and I guess little by little to nudge it up a bit, take a reading and take a sip)?

Many thanks!

 

[Moley]

You can't sweeten a wine with any form of fermentable sugar unless you have stabilised it with Campden tablets and potassium sorbate, otherwise any dormant yeast cells are just going to wake up and get back to work.

I would always sweeten after racking, when the DJ or other fermenter probably needs topping up again, and then I would leave that under airlock for a few weeks / months to make absolutely certain fermentation had been stopped before bottling.

What I sweeten with might depend upon what sort of volume I had to make up. If it was half a litre or so, I might use grape juice or even a fruit cordial. If it just needs a splash then I would dissolve some sugar in half a mug of boiling water and let it cool a bit.

It takes 28g of sugar to sweeten 1 litre of wine by 10 gravity points.

For example, your wine is bone dry at 0.990 and you want it medium-dry at 0.995, that's 5 points = 14g/litre.
Your wine is bone dry at 0.990 and you want it medium at 1.000, that's 28g/litre.
If you want it medium-sweet at 1.005 that's a 15 point increase = 42g/litre.

 

[peteplus1]

Cool. So I'll rack it and adjust the sweetness accordingly. After a campden and potassium sorbate...
Does this (potassium sorbate) need diluting in a little of the wine or adding straight to the demijohn?
And at what quantity, teaspoon?

 

[Moley]

Does this (potassium sorbate) need diluting in a little of the wine or adding straight to the demijohn?
And at what quantity, teaspoon?

Half a teaspoonful to the gallon.

Straight into the DJ, leave it to dissolve for a minute and then shake the jar.

 

[peteplus1]

Thanks. Appreciate that feedback. Will get on with this some time this week. So...
Rack.
Campden.
PS.
Sweeten to taste.
Leave.
Bottle.
Leave.
Drink!

 

[Robbo]

Don't forget to de-gas the wine after stabilisation, it will clear a lot more quickly. Some people use a fining agent, I normally let it clear on its own.