Raspberry Wine - 1st attempt

[DConnolly]

Some of my rookie mistakes and speedbumps have been documented well enough in other threads but everything is going great now thanks everyone's help on here. This is our first attempt at making wine and the raspberries are unbelievable right now so we figured we'd give them a shot. Here's the recipe I used and a few pics. Having done some reading on here I now wish we had used more fruit, but you can't get it perfect on the first try, right?

15 lbs. fresh raspberries (these were picked so perfectly ripe you can't even imagine)
10.5 lbs. sugar
2 T nutrient
3/4 t pectic enzyme
2.5 T acid blend
water to 5 gallons
Lalvin K1V-1116 yeast

The initial SG was 1.120 (oops!) Added a gallon of water to bring the batch to 6 gallons and the SG came down to 1.100. Waiting on my acid test kit so no reading to share on that.

The start was slow but on day 4 signs of fermentation finally began. Days 4 and 5 (today) things are really cooking and it's bubbling like it's being simmered on a stove. Pretty neat thing to watch having never done this before. I'm already thinking about what I want the next batch to be....another fruit or maybe a kit. Any recommendations for a good red wine kit?

Here's a few pics of me and my brother we took along the way....

 

[Tom]

1st welcome
Now 6 gal and 15# of fruit is only 2 1/2# per gallon. Way to low. 6+# per gal is avg
Never add sugar directly. Take some must out, heat it, add sugar, stir in pot till dissolved
you need 1/2 tsp PER GALLON (3tsp) of pectic enzyme
I would have froze the berries. Frozen berries will break down the cellular walls better.

BTW if you added water after berries were in the bucket the berries would have displaced some of the water

 

[DConnolly]

Thanks Tom. If I had only found this forum before mixing up my first batch!

 

[joeswine]

rassbery wine

SLOW DOWN YOUR MOVING TO FAST DON,T RUSH GOOD TO SEE YOUR ON BOARD..

 

[Larryh86GT]

All good advice here. You are still going like the raspberry wine you end up with I bet. My first batch was a 1 gallon batch made with 3 lbs of raspberries and my own rookie mistakes and it came out great. Freezing the berries first kills a lot of the things on the berries that could effect the wine.



Larry

 

[Hairybhoy]

How long do you freeze the berries for?? and how long should i thaw them???

 

[Tom]

Till ther are frozen. A few days is fine

 

[Hairybhoy]

and then thaw and use???

 

[Tom]

Yep. Then let the Pectic Enzyme do its thing...

 

[DConnolly]

Day 6 today - removed the pulp bag. SG was 1.028 this morning and is just a fuzz over 1.020 this evening. It tastes very good. The color is beautiful and it's still retaining a lot of raspberry flavor. I'm very curious to see what the change in taste is from here to dry. The taste of alcohol is already pretty strong. Hoping to get it under 1.010 based on posts I've read on here then rack it by Monday.

 

[mmadmikes1]

Till ther are frozen. A few days is fine

too funny

 

[Tom]

too funny

Simple question - simple answer .. LOL Butt, TRUE

 

[DConnolly]

Update and a question about my raspberry wine. SG hit 1.010 on Saturday so I snapped on the lid with an airlock. Monday morning it was .998 so we racked it to a carboy. It tasted very good (and strong) and the color is incredible. My question is, should I have added a campden tablet when I racked or not? I've read in a few different places to do that and others don't mention it. Also, should I have added a clearing agent at that time or wait to see if it clears on its own first?

 

[Tom]

Wait a few days and ck the gravity. It should go to .990 then stabilize.

 

[DConnolly]

Tom - you are dead right about the lack of flavor with the amount of fruit I used. SG is at .990 and although I still think the wine tastes good, the raspberry flavor seems lost in the alcohol. Live and learn. I'm going to make an f-pac so hopefully that'll help a little. I did not pick enough fresh raspberries to save for an f-pac (didn't even know what an f-pac was). Our raspberry picking is over now unfortunately. I know it's not ideal, but should I just buy some frozen raspberries from the store? Any better suggestions?

 

[mmadmikes1]

Use frozen. It will work the same and picking them then frezing. Thaw and check for mold. I have had moldy berries from freezer pacs at Costco and Krogers

 

[Tom]

I get mine from ALDI's under $4.00 a pound

 

[DConnolly]

I added k-meta and Sorbate per instructions and stirred very well to distribute and de-gas a little. Was out of town for a couple days so on the 3rd day after stabilizing I made an fpac and added it which topped the bottle up perfectly. It's been about a week and it's already clearing nicely. It is also darkening as it clears - is that normal? I have about 3/4 inch of lees in the bottom now. How do you know when to rack it again (if at all) and how many times/how often you should rack it before bottling?

 

[Tom]

Let it sit 2-3 weeks and rack. then every month. Patience, just because you see sediment it dont mean rack. You will have many rackings and maybe in 6 months -bottle

 

[Hairybhoy]

1st welcome
Now 6 gal and 15# of fruit is only 2 1/2# per gallon. Way to low. 6+# per gal is avg
Never add sugar directly. Take some must out, heat it, add sugar, stir in pot till dissolved
you need 1/2 tsp PER GALLON (3tsp) of pectic enzyme
I would have froze the berries. Frozen berries will break down the cellular walls better.

BTW if you added water after berries were in the bucket the berries would have displaced some of the water

so is displacing the water a good thing or a bad thing!!!!