Blackberry juice concentrate from homewinery.com

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croakersoaker

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hey guys and gals i want to start another pure juice blackberry. this time im going to use the juice concentrate from homewinery.com. i talked to the guy there on the phone and he said they come in 64 ounce container and that they are 68 brix.i asked him what strength they are and he said they were 3 parts water and 1 part concentrate to make single strength blackberry juice.Something doesnt sound right to me. that would give it a brix of 17 for 2gallons of liquid.I then asked him how much i need to make six gallons of full strenth blackberry wine and he said i would need one half gallon container and i pint. and i said if i add 3 parts water that would ony give me a little over two gallons and he said i wasnt accounting for all of the sugar i needed to add wtf? anyway i ordered 4 64 ounce containers so i will have 2 gallons of concentrate. i have looked all over the web and it seems to me that single strength blackberry would be around 10-13 brix so should i just keep adding water until i get to between 10 and 13 brix and then adjust to 1085ish with sugar if i want to make a pure juice wine?
 
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I then asked him how much i need to make six gallons of full strenth blackberry wine and he said i would need one half gallon container and i pint. and i said if i add 3 parts water that would ony give me a little over two gallons

Is it possible he said one and a half gallons plus one pint? That would be much closer. Just guessing.
 
croakersoaker, I buy the blackberry concentrate from homewinery all the time. The concentrate comes in 1/2 gallon containers and that one container will make a 5 gallon batch of wine. My blackberry is very good, there are a handful on here who can attest to that. Since there is 4 pints to a half gallon, the guy you talked to is correct, 5 pints will give you 6 gallons of wine. Do you have a 3 gallon carboy, I would buy two 1/2 gallon concentrates and make nine gallons of wine. And stop worrying about what the brix of the concentrate is. All you are doing is trying to outthink how they came up with the concentrate. Add your water and then just figure out how much sugar you need to add to get the brix you want.
 
I also buy it all the time and got 2 1/2 gallons of blackberry headed my way right now, Julie is right 1/2 gallon makes a 5 gallon batch and it's some kind of good.
 
Thanks for the comments guys. I'm trying to make my blackberry wine strong as if I pressed them and used no water. Is that the way your wine is with just a half gallon of concentrate plus water to make five gallons. What about the acid? on a pure blackberry you have to much acid .is that the case with this ?do you cut this with calcium carbonate? I'm not trying to mess up there recipe I'm trying to learn how to make from scratch without a recipe. Let me ask it this way. if you make five gallons of wine with one of these half gallon concentrates will it be as strong as if you made 5 gallons of wine using a hot packed pail from walkers.. Thanks for the replys I love this forum and I learn more every batch I make with the help of you fine people
 
Buy the acid from them, its measured out to match the juice. Mine is in no way a thin or light wine. What I do is add the juice, 4 gallons of water to a bucket, then add sugar to get the sg I want. Then if its not 5 gallons, I finish topping it up to 5 gallons. I get a nice bold blackberry that does not need blending with something to knock the tartness down. I will tell you if you make 4 and 1/2 gallons of juice and have a wife like mine that loves to experiment you can loose 2 gallons quick to her for jelly. Mind you the jelly is fantastic, just the right taste.
 
I do as dralarms and like he said mine comes out very good. Great mouthfeel, lots of flavor.
 
On the recommendation from dralarms, I also bought a half gallon of this blackberry concentrate. I can't wait to get it started. I think my fermenting bucket will be free by this weekend.

Do you all just add the ingredients that came with the concentrate (acid and pectic enzyme), or do you add anything else? How about oak, or any other additions?
 
AK,

I've added nothing else but what came with the juice, I know some have oaked their blackberry with much success. I do not but their pectic enzyme, I buy it in a larger container. I also do not follow their schedule. The "instructions" are supposed to be idiot proof but I follow a normal fermenting procedure. I will tell you that you do not want a "hot" ferment on these. I had to move my operation out of my office, the computers were keeping my stuff to warm.
 
I have a half gallon in the fridge waiting for it to cool down some here to start it. I also bought their elderberry.
 
Thanks guys I bought 4 containers . There prices are really good so ill run the first batch the way you guys suggest and I'll have plenty left to experiment with
 
Regarding a hot ferment I live in houston Texas even with the ac on I will be between 70 and 80 degrees Fahrenheit not much I can do about that. Will it be ok?
 
Yes you will be fine and to let you know their shipping costs are very good as well.
 
dralarms WE have never had it either so we thought it was worth a try because we have heard it is good.
 
With these concentrates do you ferment in a bucket or in the carboy as the sugest ???
 
For those that have done Blackberry jam wine and the concentrate, which do you prefer .I've got 21 pounds of jam for my next batch, but this appears to be cheaper, is it better or comparable?
 
With these concentrates do you ferment in a bucket or in the carboy as the sugest ???

in a bucket, you should always start your ferments in a bucket, starting in a carboy does not give your must the oxygen they need and ferments can possibly become stuck.

For those that have done Blackberry jam wine and the concentrate, which do you prefer .I've got 21 pounds of jam for my next batch, but this appears to be cheaper, is it better or comparable?

I believe it is better.
 

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