My First Brewday - Blackberry Wine

[SheyMouse]

Right. It's 9:30 on a Sunday morning. I've been thinking of this moment for weeks. And now, I can't get away from it...

My First Brewday has arrived!

Today I am embarking on a journey into making blackberry wine. Due to the amount of blackberries I have (sub 1kg) I am going to be using a mixture of about 3 recipes.

Crush blackberries.
Add 1 gallon of boiling water, mix well and allow to cool
Add 1 litre of apple juice
Add 1 tablet of campden
Add previously boiled water to make up the 2-ish gallons
Add pectin enzyme
Leave for 48 hours
Add yeast
Add yeast nutrient
Ferment on pulp for 5 days
Strain into demijohn(s) and ferment out

How does that sound? Am I missing anything in particular?

Also, when should i take my first SG reading? Before adding the yeast?

 

[corby_brewer]

That sounds good to me. Take you SG reading b4 you add the yeast.

 

[SheyMouse]

Thanks for the tip.

I also spotted an error in my recipe.

I will be adding 750g of sugar as well. :wha:

 

[tubby_shaw]

I think that it is recommended to leave 24 hours between adding the pectin destroying enzyme and the yeast rather than 48 ?
This is what I do :wha:

 

[SheyMouse]

I think that it is recommended to leave 24 hours between adding the pectin destroying enzyme and the yeast rather than 48 ?

I'll do that. The reason for the 48 hours is that I've seen people recommend 24 hours after adding campden and others 48 hours. Plus, Tuesday is the first opportunity for me to add the yeast.

What I have currently done is add the campden, but not the pectalase. I'll add the pectalase tomorrow and then the yeast on Tuesday.

 

[SheyMouse]

Everything seems to be going swimmingly so far. I'm adding the pectolase today, and then the yeast tomorrow. I am currently using a 2.5 gallon plastic FV. Should I have drilled a hole in the lid for after I put in the yeast? Or will I be ok? The liquid is only up to the 2 gallon mark so there is plenty of room in there.

 

[tubby_shaw]

It'll be fine, no airlock needed whilst fermenting "On the pulp" :thumb:

 

[SheyMouse]

:thumb: Cheers.

Mrs. Mouse is rather concerned about the FV blowing up and so I can reassure her a bit more that what I am doing is fine.

 

[tubby_shaw]

If she is that concerned, show her that you have only snapped the lid on 3/4 of the way around allowing the gas to vent :thumb:

 

[Moley]

But with 2 gallons in a 2.5 gallon bucket, make sure it's on a hard floor or worktop. If it's on carpet, stand it on a tray, just in case, or Mrs. Mouse might have your guts for garters.

 

[SheyMouse]

Too right! I am planning on using the top of our frigdge as the fermentation centre, but I am also geting a tray today. I'm actually tempted to buy a cheap roasting tray as it will hold more spillage if the yeasties to completely mental!

 

[SheyMouse]

Right-o. Just added the pectolase. Leaving it for a day and then in go the yeasties! WooHoo! :party:

 

[SheyMouse]

The yeast is finally in and hopefully liftoff is happening.

Here is a photo journey of the past few days.

The equipment

Everything mixed in and cooling

(Two days later) Getting ready for adding the yeast nutrient

Taking a temperature reading

Taking a SG reading

Adding the yeast (having added a teaspoon of yeast extract and waited 15 mins)

Putting it in a bin bag on top of the fridge to begin its fermentation

It's been fun so far. I hope that everything ferments and I get something out of it. The SG was 1040. Don't know if that's high, low, or about right. :)

It would be good to get something drinkable. :drink:

 

[Moley]

The SG was 1040. Don't know if that's high, low, or about right.

That's ok for starters but would only give you 5-6% alcohol, so ideally you should be adding about another half a kilo of sugar per gallon (as syrup) when you strain off the pulp to DJs.

 

[SheyMouse]

That's ok for starters but would only give you 5-6% alcohol, so ideally you should be adding about another half a kilo of sugar per gallon (as syrup) when you strain off the pulp to DJs.

Thanks for the tip. I'll do that.

 

[SheyMouse]

Today's fun and games involves filtering out the pulp and sticking everything in demijohns.

Oh, and adding extra syrup as moley suggested. Pictures to follow.

 

[SheyMouse]

The pulp stitting on the top of the FV

Everything was seived into a secondary vessel to capture a lot of the pulp

My secondary vessel - a washing up bowl.

Filtering the juice. Quadruple layered muslin. It took ages to finish!

The final result two demijohns of liquid (with extra syrup as advised by moley). The middle bottle is the extra juice waiting to be topped up after any initial crazy fermentation.


It is now 48 hours on, and there are bubbles being formed in the juice, but nothing crazy to suggest everything will foam over. Shall I add top the DJs up to the neck now?

 

[Moley]

Judging by the fruit cap in your FV it has already been going well and has probably finished the crazy phase in the bucket.

Looks safe to top up to me, maybe not right up to the neck just yet, go halfway and give it another couple of days.

Looks very nice :thumb:

 

[SheyMouse]

Fantastic. Cheers for the vote of confidence. I was expecting a bit of a fermentation rush due to the extra KG of sugar (total, not per DJ ) I put in.


:idea: Top tip for anyone reading this:

If you are keeping juice/liquid aside for topping up, the 2l plastic bottle is excellent. When you put the liquid in, squeeze the bottle. As fermentation takes place, the bottle will reshape. If you aren't ready to use it just yet, squeeze the bottle and then unscrew the top a bit to push out the CO2 inside. While still squeezing do up the top again - this avoids any air being drawn back into the bottle.

 

[SheyMouse]

So, I racked my blackberry wine last night. Got load of a ton of junk from the bottom of the DJs. Yay.

However, now that I have done that, there is less liquid in my vessels. Do I just top up with treated water? Juice? Battery acid?

Also the gravity was down to 1000. Can anyone have a guess at the abv? I know the calculation, but I added a kilo of sugar when I moved the liquid off the pulp and into the DJs. I took the gravity then, and it was on or around 1040 - I actually forgot to write it down. Tasting it the other night, it tasted sweet and low in alcohol, which I feel is about 7%-ish.

As always, your help is greatly appreciated.