A straw/rasp berry dream

[corky]

I started a 6 gal batch of berry wine today.
18 lbs frozen strawberrys
6 lbs frozen raspberrys
all berrys were fresh picked cleaned and frozen
I ran all the berrys thru a processer
in to the primary with one gallon of fresh clear water
to this I opted to add 1 1/4 teas pectin enyzine
1 teas tannin
6 1/4 teas potassum sulfite
3 teas acid blend
my plan is stir heavy daily for a week
to make a berry slurry before adding 8 to 10 lbs sugar and
water to six gals then extract a yeast starter for pitching

any helpful suggestions I am looking for a table style not a dessert wine

 

[Arne]

Well, you are probably going to be a bit weak on the flavor. Mite need a few more berries to jump it up. No need to wait a week to get it started, the yeast will pull all the goodies out of the fruit as it is fermenting. Use your hydrometer and get the specific gravity about 1.085 or so before pitching the yeast. Then the alcohol will not overpower the taste of the fruit. You have your fruit frozen, that helps break it down, maybe add pectic enzime which helps break the fruit down more and helps the wine to clear later on. Other than that, go for it. Jump in and start a batch, after a few tries you will start to figure how things work. it is fun, and you get something to reward your efforts. Have fun with it and good luck. Arne.

 

[Double Daylo]

I wouldn't run the berries through a processor. The berries are like grapes in that crushing the seeds in the grapes and berries can put an off flavor into your wine.

 

[BernardSmith]

I agree with Arne. You might be better thinking about this as a 3 gallon batch with 8 lbs of fruit to a gallon, rather than your projected 6 gallons which would use 4 lbs of berries to a gallon. In my opinion, the less water (zero being best) you add to fruit to make a wine the richer in flavor is the wine. And conversely the more water you add the more you dilute the flavor. If you are making wine from flowers (elderflower, hibiscus, dandelion, lavender etc) or making a mead (honey) or date wine then that is a different story but berries are full of water (the juice) and it is that juice that has all the flavor.

 

[cintipam]

Hi Corky

you put 6 1/4 tsp of potassium sulfite (I think you mean potassium metabisulfite, we shorten to kmeta) in for what you planned to be a 6 gallon batch? That is a major way too big amount. Generally 1/4 tsp per 5-6 gallons is normal for storage, altho I do use double that when first putting in home grown fruit to kill any nasties a day before adding the yeast. I believe the amount you put in will be noticeable by taste, tho with lots of stirring over several days you should be able to reduce it back to acceptable levels for yeast growth.

If you came up with that number by looking at the label on this product the 2 tsp per gallon is for making up a sanitizing solution you use to sanitize your equipment. That amount should never be added to wine.

Pam in cinti

 

[Scooter68]

While the quantity of berries does seem a little on the light side, a lot depends on the flavor of those berries. I have a 1 gallon batch of Black Raspberry wine aging right not with 5 1/2 lbs and it has a very strong flavor. These were fresh picked from our wild berry patch and then frozen. A wine doesn't have to blow you away with flavor to be good. A very light flavored peach wine can still be very enjoyable as a light drink. Not every fruit wine has be a heavy hitting dessert wine.

Looking forward to hearing more as your wine progresses. IF it does seem light on flavor you could use one gallon carboys to age your wine and let the lees lost reduce your volume down to 5 gallons.

 

[corky]

Thanks for all the great advice.
so I have enough sulfites for a 40 gal batch.
and enough berries for a 3 gal.
this will be interesting and thats what I get for
jumping in before asking how deep the pool is

 

[Scooter68]

As long as the MetaK doesn't spoil it so what if it comes out light on flavor - Just say - "It's light delicate wine that isn't overwhelming but simply a nice light touch on the tongue."

Really, some people like a taste that isn't 'in your face'

 

[Arne]

LOL, jump in, get your feet wet. You should come up with something drinkable. Mite be weak on the fruit flavor, but it will give you an idea of what you want to make with future wines. You will probably have to splash rack back and forth between two buckets to get some of the k-meta out. Just pour it back and forth a few times. This is how we learn. As a little time goes on and you try a few more wines they should start coming out really good. Good luck with the one you are starting out with. If you have any problems, keep asking questions, someone will try and help out. Arne.

 

[corky]

it still tastes like berrys to me .
I'll keep stirring as noted .
If I ever stop learning I'll concider myself done

 

[Scooter68]

Look forward to the fun part - backsweetening! You get to chose if you want a dry wine, semi-dry, semi-sweet, or sweet. My first Peach wine was light on flavor so I just took it to semi-sweet. That brought out the flavor enough with out becoming as dessert wine - which people normally expect to be strong on flavor and high ABV. My second batch of peach is much stronger on flavor already and I'm hoping to be have it ready to bottle by 4th of July.

As Arne said you can't learn if you never start and sometimes those mistakes teach you more than a book on the subject. Sometimes those even the mistakes turn out pretty doggone good.

 

[corky]

I have succeeded in pitching the yeast ,she bubbling away like a good guy.
starting s.g. 1.089
maintaining a contain temp of 70 F
there is a distinct smell of strawberrys in the air

a little side bar was at a estate sale
picked up 9 glass bubblers and 4 5 gal carboys for $ 50 u.s.
so now I am also in the market for large lots of fermentables

 

[Arne]

a little side bar was at a estate sale
picked up 9 glass bubblers and 4 5 gal carboys for $ 50 u.s.
so now I am also in the market for large lots of fermentables[/QUOTE]

And the monster is born. More carboys, more fruit. Good luck with all of them. Arne.