blackberry wine recipe

[jclowes]

Has any one got a good recipe to make 5 gallon of blackberry wine?

they are nearly ripe!!!

thanks

[mrbenbod]

This will make 1 gallon:

Blackberry Wine (dry)

3 lbs blackberries
1/2 pint red grape juice
2 1/4 lb sugar
1/2 tsp nutrient
1 tsp pectolase
Pommard yeast
Water to 1 gallon

Wash and drain and crush berries.
Pour on 6 pints boling water.
When cool add pectolase, grape juice, nutrient and yeast.
Ferment for 5 days on pulp then strain and press, stir in sugar, top up with water and continue fermentation.

I've got 12 litres of this on the go, but I added a few crushed apples and used 1/2 lb of raisins instead of grape juice.
I also just use Wilkinsons general purpose wine yeast for all my wines.
If you want to make a medium wine, let it ferment on the inital sugar for a week then add another 1/2 lb.
For sweet add an extra 1 lb in two 1/2 lb batches at weekly intervals. Rack at S.G. 1.020 and add a campden tablet.

[moobli]

got one in my old faithful winemaking book by cjj berry
medium blackberry wine

4lb of blackberries
3lb of sugar
1 gall of water
yeast and nutrient
pectic enzyme




wash the fruit well removeing any small maggots sometimes found on the fruit
place in polythene bucket and crush with a potatoe masher
pour over the boiling water,stir well and allow to cool to 21 c
add pectic enzyema according to label
a day later add yeast and nutrient,cover closely and leave for 4 or 5 days stirring daily
strain through some nylon netting or nylon seive on to 3lb of sugar stir well to make sure it is all dissolved
pour into dark fermenting jar filling to the shoulder and fit airlock
keep any spoare liquid in a smaller bottle with lid
when the ferment settles a bit and there is no risk of it bubbling into the airlock after say a week top up with spare liquid and refit airlock

leave until it clears and then rack for the first time

this recipe can be used for dewberry,loganberry and raspberry


hope it helps

[GrafVonJon]

I made my first blackberry wine at the weekend (made 50/50 with elderberries).

I'm worried about the amount of sugar I used:

Mr. Berry, and the likes, suggest adding 3lb of sugar to 4lb of fruit.
I was using a hydrometer for the first time on this brew, and after extracting the juice I had a starting gravity of 1020, or 8oz of sugar already there from the fruit.

I wanted to start the wine off at around 1080 (which = 33oz sugar) so I added 25oz (IE 33-8 = 25).
This brought the gravity to 1075, so I added another 2oz and got a gravity of 1082.

My worry is that I have only added 1lb 11oz sugar to 4lb fruit, which is a long way off the 3lb recommended.

If it ferments out to 1005 then it should be just over 10%, which is a bit weedy perhaps.

Am I going to be with this, or have I misused the hydrometer on it's first outing??

[Dr. Dextrin]

Wine made with just blackberries can tend to be a bit on the light side. The colour fades quite fast too, especially if any light gets to it. This is less of a problem if you're drinking it soonish, but it can end up more of a rose than a red wine if you keep it for any length of time.

For a more convincing red, I'd recommend looking for a recipe with a few elderberries in as well.

[tractor]

Hi All

Just a quick question, is there a specific reason why you use a potatoe masher as opposed to somthing like a handheld blender?

I got two carryer bags full of frozen blackberries so i'm gunna have a go at this tonight

Thanks

[mrbenbod]

GrafVonJon, sounds about right to me.
3 lbs of sugar is a lot to add, and would make a high alcohol, sweeter wine.

tractor, I don't think it matters what you use to mash up the fruit, i'd say the blender will be fine, just watch you
don't splash juice everywhere