Blackberry Port recipe needed

[Fred Semon]

I am looking for a Blackberry Port recipe.

 

[AK-Jeff]

Ingredients

• 5 lbs ripe blackberries 5 15oz cans
• 5lbs blackcurrants
• (recipe works well with 5 lbs of either fruit
• 3lbs granulated sugar 2.5 lbs
• 1/2 tsp. pectic enzyme
• 1 tsp. Citric acid
• 2 l water
• Campden tablets
• 1 tsp. yeast nutrient
• 1 sachet high alcohol yeast 4028 WYeast
• Wine Finings
• Potassium Sorbate
• Brandy or Calvados

Process

• Put the fruit in a nylon straining bag and crush.
• Add sugar & citric acid to the bag and mix
• Tie or clip the top of the straining bag
• Put crushed Campden tablet in a jug and dissolve in boiling water
• Add Campden tablet & 2.0L boiling water to the fermentation bucket
• Leave 24 hrs.
• Add half a teaspoon of pectic enzyme dissolved in warm water
• Leave 24 hrs
• Measure original gravity with a hydrometer (1.102 in the video)
• Create a yeast starter culture of yeast & yeast nutrients in fruit juice & add to the primary fermenter.
• Ferment on the fruit for around 3-5 days until SG is below 1030 and violent frothing has finished
• Strain the fruit squeezing the nylon bag to ensure all liquid is kept
• Siphon liquid into a sterilized demijohn, fit an airlock & cover until fermentation complete.
• When no further gas bubbles pass through the airlock, test specific gravity again (0.992 in the video )
• Calculate ABV by the formula (Original Gravity - Final Gravity) x 131.25
• (1.102 – 0.992) x 131.25 = 14.4%
• Rack the wine into a clean sterilized demijohn
• Add finings to the wine, refit the airlock and brown paper cover & wait for the wine to clear.
• Rack the wine off the sediment
• (Optional) Run the wine through a wine filter
• Dissolve 1 crushed Campden Tablet & 0.75tsp of potassium sorbate in warm water
• Add stabilisers to the wine and wait 24 hours
• Dissolve 1 kilogramme of sugar into 1 litre of boiling water and allow to cool (up to 2kg may be required)
• stabilised wine (4.2 litres at 14.4%ABV is 0.605 litres of alcohol)
• Add Calvados or brandy (1.2 litres at 40% ABV is 0.48 litres of alcohol)
• This produces 5.4 litres of port containing 1.085 litres of alcohol.
• This is 20% ABV
• Add sugar syrup to taste to back sweeten wine
• Bottle wine – this recipe may produce up to 7 litres of the finished port.

 

[Ohio Bob]

I also make blackberry port annually. I add ~10% red raspberries since I have them on hand. Also raisins, light malt. I don’t have access to black currants on my property but if I did I would ferment them separate until I knew the 50/50 blend is what I wanted.

You won’t need, nor want, the sorbate. Fortifying to 20% alcohol is all you need to stabilize the port. I do not fortify with any spirit other than Everclear, it’s tasteless and it’s so high in alcohol you don’t need much, which preserves the flavor of your hard work.

 

[Hazelemere]

I do 6 lbs blackberries with 3 lbs cane sugar with 1 Imperial gallon of water 160 fluid ounces with pectic enzyme from frozen blackberries. I put sugar on frozen blackberries to let them thaw and soak in sugar for 2 days before adding water. For every 5 imperial gallons i.e. 30 lbs black berries I add at least 8 ounces and as much as 1 lb of dried elderberries. The above black currant idea sounds equally good to me. I use Lalvin Bayanus yeast because it can handle 18% alcohol. I pick wild blackberries in my neighbourhood. I never add acid to fruit wines and prefer acid from fruit e.g. frozen raspberries same doe 6 lbs raspberries, 6 lbs blackberries . I get the alcohol up to 18% by adding high quality yeast nutrient containing vitamins to the must. I press the must after 6 days active ferment through a pneumatic press. You can use panty hose and then oak 30 American medium toast cubes per 5 imperial gallons for 120 days with sulphite 1/8 th tsp potassium metabisulphite per Imperial gallon. I feed the must with cane sugar every time the SG drops to 1.010 until I get to about 16% alcohol and then add corn sugar (dextrose) which gives a better aftertaste. I add French Chambord or French Cassis with rum or brandy or vodka to get the alcohol up to 20% after removing the oak cubes. I use 75 ppm total sulphite which is an additional 1/16 tsp potassium metabisulphite per Imperial gallon after the end of fermentation. I never add sulphite to a port until the ferment is done at 18% alcohol. I'm tasting Tripleberry Chambord/Chenin Blanc blend as we speak which is frozen organic wild blackberry-frozen domestic organic raspberries-dried elderberries (sweet low acid) with Brehm Chenin Blanc juice. wine (high acid):

This mix is very tasty.

Don't be afraid to mix wines in the glass to train your palate to discover what you really like. e.g. I've never tasted this combo before and try strange combos all the time to train my nose and palate.

Good luck with your wine

Namaste