Blackberry Wine

[WVMountaineerJack]

Its not to late to add blackberries to boost your flavor instead of just sugar alone. WVMJ

 

[Bnew17]

There can be good reasons to add sugar during fermentation, like you want a higher than normal ABV, but you don't want unsure stress on the yeast.

To calculate the ABV. Our at least approximate it 131*(sg1-fg1 + sg2-fg2 + sg3-fg3) if you so more sugar additions just follow the pattern.

Thanks. Only problem is i didnt get a SG reading before i added sugar in the first step!!! Ugh!!

 

[saramc]

Bnew...this whole thread sounds super familiar. Did you have one on another forum or in another section of this one? If so, can you link to it?

If you can provide us the initial volume plus the amount of sugar you initially added, and the SG after that sugar addition we can calculate an approximate starting gravity of your fruit.

 

[Bnew17]

Bnew...this whole thread sounds super familiar. Did you have one on another forum or in another section of this one? If so, can you link to it?

If you can provide us the initial volume plus the amount of sugar you initially added, and the SG after that sugar addition we can calculate an approximate starting gravity of your fruit.

The initial volume? It was a little over 2 1/2 gallons . I had that much in 2 different primaries. Once i combined them the other day i had a total of 5 1/2 gallons. Initial sugar added was 2 pounds per primary so 4 pounds total between the 2. My starting SG after adding sugar was 1.081...BUT the next day i realized i had forgotten to add water that the first step called for. It called for 1 quart per gallon so i added 5 quarts total. 2 1/2 per primary. After adding the water the next day the SG was 1.031

 

[ShawnDTurner]

Turock. You mention using calicium carbonate to adust p.h. my ph is around 2.9. Was thinking about cc to bring it up to 3.4. Your thought?

 

[Turock]

Yeah Shawn--use the calcium carbonate to bring the PH up to 3.4 Some people say you can't use that much calcium carbonate to go from a 2.9 to a 3.4 PH because it will lend a chalky flavor. But our blackberry always starts at 2.8 or 2.9 PH and we take it to 3.4 using calcium carbonate with no problem.. We've been doing this for years---so I can tell you with confidence that it works just fine.

 

[ShawnDTurner]

Thanks turock. Do you backsweeten at all or leave dry? If sweeten. .. what s.g. Do you shoot for? Cheers

 

[Turock]

We always sweeten--- 1.015 to 1.020

 

[ShawnDTurner]

Sweet. That is the range I generally sweeten too. Thanks for the information.

 

[Turock]

No problem--always happy to help.

 

[MilesDavis]

Anybody ever try backsweetening with agave syrup?

 

[jamesngalveston]

I have not, wonder if it would change the color any.

 

[MilesDavis]

At our local health food shop they have it in a couple different varieties. Some light and some dark.
I like agave better than sugar, but it is more $$.

 

[Bnew17]

Just an update...i sampled the wine last night and its not very good. Very little blackberry flavor, watery and not much alcohol. I wonder if theres anything i can do? I still have some berries in the freezer

 

[WVMountaineerJack]

Did you not read my earlier post that suggested adding more fruit? You can crush up what you have left, add some pectinase to the crushed fruit, squeeze out the juice and add it all to your must. You also have only been cooking this wine for a few months, might not be enough time for it to be good. You could also add some sugar to the blackberry juice to get it back up to your original gravity and then be patient and let it ferment out and not even consider bothering it for a couple of months. WVMJ

Just an update...i sampled the wine last night and its not very good. Very little blackberry flavor, watery and not much alcohol. I wonder if theres anything i can do? I still have some berries in the freezer

 

[B0gus]

Blackberry is tricky! Next time make sure you mash the fruit before and after the fermentation. Do it by hand and literally sit and squeeze the fruit a few berries at a time. It might take a half hour but it completely changes the flavor of the wine. I've made multiple batches of award winning blackberry wine and after many tries, if you want that strong blackberry flavor, you need to hand crush, back sweeten it and add some citric acid or acid blend before bottling.
Some grocery stores carry blackberry and cherry juice concentrate, it's usually in the organic area. It's something like a tablespoon to a glass of water to reconstitute the juice. Since there are no preservatives, I've added the cherry to an unflavorful batch of rhubarb wine and it turned out great.
Unless you really vacuum sealed the blackberries well, I would be concerned with using freezerburned berries in an already difficult won't to make flavorful. Good luck!