A little help. Fruit wine.

[doc294]

I'm going to try a wild and frozen berry wine. I'm worried about acidity as about 3 lbs of wild black raspberries are going to be used, the rest are garden grown. Since I'm mixing several fruits, I don't think I'll need any raisins (black raspberries (not a lot of juice), strawberries, and blueberries). We'll see how it turns out. I'm making this one trying to make a sweet juicy wine that has some good alcohol content.

Also, what would theoretically happen if I started with an SG of like 1.095 or 1.100 instead of 1.085?

I think I have a good grasp on the conecepts of wine making just not overly experienced yet.

 

[Wade E]

What size batch are you going to make with this? You will most likely need to add some acid and i wouldnt go over a starting sg of 1.090 as thats when you really start to lose flavor!

 

[doc294]

um 5+ gallon. I have a 5 gallon carboy but I was thinking of going over by about a gallon and having something to top-off with when I rack. Suggestions of other ways to top-off are more than welcome. I could just top-off with water but I don't want to dilute it. I have an acid blend but everything I've read says I need to watch the acids in blackberries, etc. In this blend off berries, what should the acidity and pH be? Also, do I need to add some raisins or grape concentrate? (i'm thinking yes)

 

[Luc]

Get yourself an acid testing kit, it is worth the few dollars it costs.
Measuring acidity is one of the first steps in creating a fine wine.

An acid measuring kit is easy to use, you can find a sample with pictures on how to use it here:
http://wijnmaker.blogspot.com/2008/11/zuurmeting-01-measuring-acidity-01.html

I would make this wine from pure juice and add nothing else as water (if dilluting is needed) and sugar to get the SG to about 1085.
I would aim to get acidity at .6

Luc

 

[doc294]

Best yeast for this wine??? I'm looking at buying stuff today.

 

[St Allie]

I can only buy the lalvin 1118 yeast here which is a champagne yeast..so that's what gets used for all my fruit wines.

Allie

 

[doc294]

I was also thinking about a Lalvin RC 212. Any other recommendations?

 

[Tom]

No. Use RC212 on big reds only. For fruit wines you can also use Cote des Blancs and Lavin 1116

 

[St Allie]

I notice my kit reds often have the lalvin 71B strain in them.. I don't know if that is because it's more to do with early drinking wines or not... Luc is the resident expert on yeasts.. perhaps send him a private message?.. He hasn't been online for a few weeks. It's elderflower picking time in rotterdam.. so he's probably out collecting them at the moment.

Allie

 

[doc294]

I'll probably opt for the Cote de Blancs. I just ordered my stuff. I also bought some energizer ( I have nutrient already ). I want to make a good one. My very first batch ever turned out rather good. It was a kit and it is actually getting better the longer it rests in my basement. I'll document everything and take pictures. i'll keep ya posted. (we just had our son last wednesday and I have two weeks off. I'm hoping to get everything going by Monday...and start seeing some bubbles before I go back to work.)

 

[doc294]

I notice my kit reds often have the lalvin 71B strain in them.. I don't know if that is because it's more to do with early drinking wines or not... Luc is the resident expert on yeasts.. perhaps send him a private message?.. He hasn't been online for a few weeks. It's elderflower picking time in rotterdam.. so he's probably out collecting them at the moment.

Allie

Oh, I'm sure Luc was out there today. I'm really hoping to make this quite the hobby to take into my older years (I'm only 29). I'm really enjoying it now!

 

[St Allie]

Congratulations on the birth of your son !!

.. What name did you give him?

Allie

 

[Madriver Wines]

Champagne yeast is one of the best yeasts to use for fruit wines. One of the cheaper ones as well. Cant go wrong with Champagne and fruit hic!*
What was the question??

 

[doc294]

Thanks for the congratulations! I named my son Maddox. He's a very good baby too.

I got my shipment of stuff yesterday. I got some Cote de Blancs, a funnel with some mesh filters. I also got some energizer and some acid reducer.

I have some frozen wild berry cocktail, is that "wine-able"? It has some additives but mostly just high fructose corn syrup and some citric acid, stuff like that. no sorbates. I think it would work fine. (this might be a different batch).