Blueberry wine

[AAASTINKIE]

In August when we go kayaking we can pick wild blueberrys after, they are everywhere, it's just that they are small and it would be hard to clean enough for a 5 gallon batch, but if the timing is right, I just have to remember to get a blueberry rake off of ebay. (I pretty much look there first for things now)

 

[MedPretzel]

I look first on ebay too. Winemaking things are usually bought either at my yokel-local store or online. The price usually determines which shop I use. I think Fine Vine Wines is going to be my next store I try out.

But just about everything else "I need" is bought on ebay.

 

[AAASTINKIE]

I was just looking at the recipes and you only need 10-15 pounds of blueberrys for 5 gallons of wine, I would really like to try this one, I have till August to come up with a "Master Plan", it's definetly going to need a touch of maple.

 

[MedPretzel]

You might want to make the one with maple syrup in an extra 1-gallon jug. I would hate to see you make something that doesn't exactly fit the "norm" for that work you put into it. You always have next year to make a huge batch of "blueberry-maple" -- but I seriously would caution you to go head first into it.





I believe Mr. Glenvall has a great blueberry wine recipe that I am sure he'd be more than willing to share with you.

 

[geocorn]

MedPretzel,


WARNING: Advertising Time!


I look forward to serving you, just be sure to register and get the 5% first order discount. In addition, if you are a kit person and buy more than one at time, you get 5% off every kit after the first one.


I also have a rewards program. Once you spend $500 with me on products, you are entitled to 5% off ALL future orders.


Advertisement over.

 

[MedPretzel]

That sounds verrrrrrrrrrryyyyyy good!



Hmmm, I'll have to save my pennies!

 

[Hippie]

Well if blueberries were readily available fresh here, I would definitely have a recipe, but alas, they aren't. Now Blackberry Wine, I can make.

 

[MedPretzel]

Glenvall, I trust you can make just about any kind of wine.





I still don't think that maple syrup would be a good idea, but maybe I'm being too conservative. You know, thinking inside the box.

 

[Hippie]

Well I certainly do not know a thang about maple syrup, but know I cannot make good mead and do not like it to begin with. I keep thinking maple syrup wine would be akin to mead, but it probably ain't so.

 

[AAASTINKIE]

So I go to the local Canaan Maine redemption center, I get talking to
the guy and he wants me to take 20lbs of frozen blueberrys home with me
and make wine and just bring him a bottle. I told him I'd think it
over, he says he makes blueberry wine and his buddies love it. Here is
his incredible recipe, mash the blueberrys and just take the juice and
put it in the 5 gallon carboy (water cooler jug) I guess he adds water,
I didn't get into that much detail, put in 3 cups of sugar then 1/2 cup
per day for 10 days, filter with cheesecloth and put in gallon
jugs...drink...I said what kind of yeast, he said you don't use yeast
it will give you ale, so he's using the yeast on the fruit, no
chemicals, not hydrometer, no nothing..LOL

 

[Hippie]

Yep. Whatever makes em happy. Some say that powdery white stuff on the blueberries contains the yeast. I think grapes have it too. You should try some of their blueberry wine and see if it contains much alcohol. I was surprised once.

 

[RAMROD]

Whoa George so I am like $162 from5% off all future ordersgo ahead you da man!

 

[AAASTINKIE]

A rough idea of my plan so far, use two primarys so I don't have to worry about a foaming mess, three gallons in each one if I have enough berrys.


First question, I have a 10 gallon SS filter rig for maple packing, it has hooks to hold a 2 gallon wool filter, I was thinking of mashing my blueberrys without a bag and filtering after the primary, I have a stack of used filters I don't need so staining one isn't an issue.Edited by: AAASTINKIE

 

[Maui Joe]

Aloha Stinkie,


I don't know how far you have gotten with your blueberries yet, but I thought that you would find some good info at Jack Keller's site: http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/and look up "Blueberries" as a guide.


If you have more than enough berries to use, you can always pack them in the freezer for later use. It will extract more juice as well.


Hope this helps ...Edited by: masta

 

[AAASTINKIE]

I picked up the frozen blueberrys today, they are still in the freezer.

 

[masta]

Great tip from Maui on checking out Jack Keller site....I had read this part just recently and makes me think using a very aggressive yeast like K1V-1116would be in order with plenty of nutrient and energizer.


Quote from Jack:


The oft-cited caution that they contain sorbic acid and will not ferment is completely untrue. It is their richness in chemistry that sometimes makes them difficult to actively inoculate with yeast, but this same richness makes for complex and varied wines once fermentation has run its course. Indeed, in a recent survey of favorite non-grape wines, blueberry was second only to blackberry in popularity.

 

[geocorn]

Just got back from LD Carlson and learned quite abit about the fruit bases. Too tired to go into a lot of detail, but sulfiting the fruit bases is probably NOT necessary at all. The canning process should take care of all bacteria, but the sulfiting is just precautionary. Bottom line is keep the sulfite to an absolute minimum.

 

[Hippie]

Ther sulfiting is just to keep the wild yeasts and bacteria at baywhile the pectic enzyme is working on the fruitbefore the yeast is pitched.

 

[AAASTINKIE]

Long day today, glad to be back at work...I finished cleaning my 80 bottles, the few that were dirty on the inside I just put back in the return bin, no sense making more work than needed. Then I cleaned the blueberrys and finished just in time to come to work, they are thawing out now, I also boiled two SS pots with 1 gal of water and 6 lbs of sugar in each one. My wife went and picked up the chemicals for me so I'm all set. I'll post this on the other thread tomorrow I just didn't have time to resize the picture I took and want it to look right.

 

[Bill B]

Hi Stinkie, Im now in the middle of 10 Gal. US of Blueberry. I used the recipe from Winemaker Mag. The only change I made was I used 30 lbs of Blueberries which yield a bit over 11/2 gal of juice per 5 gal batch. I then added most of the berries back in a straining bag, and let soak for the duration of primary fermentation. I know this may sound a bit much, however it is ijustright. After racking to carboy I did add these new Infusion Spirals made from Oak (med toast). Batch #1 I used Montrachet yeast and Batch # 2 I used Lalvin EC-1118. Neither yeast caused any problems with foaming. I did use a 7 gal primary.


By the way I kept my berries frozen a few months with no problems. theydid produce quite a bit more juice when defrosted.





Bill