BlackBerry wine

[silverbullet07]

Pitched the yeast in yesterday evening and 13 hours later it seems to be feeding.

 

[silverbullet07]

Wow 22 hours and big cap now.

I stirred it good and Squeezed the Mesh bag of pulp good too. How often should I squeeze the mesh bag?

 

[Scooter68]

First couple of days once or twice a day, after that the berries should be pretty well broken down. If you have a long handled potato masher that will help.

 

[silverbullet07]

First couple of days once or twice a day, after that the berries should be pretty well broken down. If you have a long handled potato masher that will help.

Thanks. I Have been pulling the mesh bag up and rolling it up as I left it out. Then squeeze and mash With all I have. The size in the bag has really reduced. not much left in it.

 

[David Violante]

Nice... that looks great!

 

[Scooter68]

Thanks. I Have been pulling the mesh bag up and rolling it up as I left it out. Then squeeze and mash With all I have. The size in the bag has really reduced. not much left in it.

That would be correct, Blackberries break down to practically nothing in fact the a lot of the bits an pieces left are so small most fermentation bags won't call a lot of it. It will settle out though after fermentation ends.

 

[David Violante]

How’s your SG looking?

 

[silverbullet07]

This evening it is still bubbling away. It is down to 1.030 now from 1.090

 

[silverbullet07]

this morning SG is 1.022
couple questions.
do I keep stirring the must everyday until the fermation stops? should I be scraping the bottom as I stir?

After fermation stops, should I wait A few days with out stirring before racking to carboy to get some of the Particles to drop to bottom So it does not get transferred to the carboy? With each racking I know you want to leave the bottom stuff. With me stirring i was afraid it is not dropping much.

also I added 2 tsp of yeast energizer before pitching yeast. Seems like I may have did a little after SG drops and the a little as it dropped more. Should I add any after it drops below 1.010 or would adding more not be good?

 

[David Violante]

I believe the answer is that this is both the science and the art of how you make your wine, and experience will guide you with help from the folks here.

I’ve seen people use bentonite a few days in from the start of fermentation to help drop out the lees and particles, especially with BlackBerry wine. I imagine stirring / punching down the cap is necessary to ensure that it doesn’t dry out, mixes all the ingredients, allows for gas escape and exchange, etc... There are a few ways to make wine, on and off the lees, but I believe you want to get it off the gross lees after about 5 days or so. I will defer to Dawg and others here who have far more experience with non-grape fruit wines. @vernsgal did a fantastic posting of her experience making BlackBerry wine, where she explains a lot of this. Your must will continue to ferment even after you rack it off the gross lees.

I don’t know the answer about adding more energizer now, I would love to hear that as well. My understanding is to add half up front and half around 1.030 I believe.

 

[Scooter68]

You might try add a little more nutrient now. Not more than 1/3 dose - Montrachet can get stressed with too much or too little nutrient so go easy. As the wine gets closer to finishing I would stop with vigorous stirring. Let things begin to settle. Perhaps 1 good stir after you add nutrient then just check the SG. If it stalls out above an SG of 1.010, you might try EC-1118 or K1-V1116. If it stalls below 1.000 call it done.

 

[silverbullet07]

Would you pull the mesh bag out before the formation is over at some point?

 

[silverbullet07]

SG down to 1.020. Gave it 3/4 tsp yeast energizer.

 

[Scooter68]

Would you pull the mesh bag out before the formation is over at some point?

No, leave the bag in until ferment is finished. Pull it out gently and let it drain.

 

[silverbullet07]

No, leave the bag in until ferment is finished. Pull it out gently and let it drain.

pull it out gentle and let drain? I been rolling it up and squeezing it every day. On the last day I have to be gentle?

SG is 1.010 this morning.

 

[Scooter68]

Gentle in pulling it out, try not to stir up the sediment. You want to let whats on the bottom stay on the bottom. If there is enough left in the bag your might wring the bag out over a different bucket then put that juice in a container and place in a fridge to settle faster. (Speaking of when ferment is done and you rack into a carboy. ) Once that ferment is over you want to bring a little residue into the carboy as possible.

 

[silverbullet07]

Starting day 6 and SG was down to 1.000 this morning. It is still bubbling. I went ahead and pulled the Mesh bag and will let it sit undisturbed for a day or two to let sediment settle some before transferring to glass carboy and jugs.

 

[Scooter68]

That should work. You can even leave it the bucket until fermentation is finished, just don't let it sit in there very long. Now that it's below 1.000 you could snap a lid on and an airlock. From the rate the SG is dropping it should finish in the next 2-3 days if the temps don't change on you.

Sounds like a good ferment all in all. Time to plan the next batch.

 

[silverbullet07]

Sounds like a good plan, to snap a lid and airlock on. Just let it sit for a couple days. It is still creating a lot of stuff on top. Do I want that stuff to fall down before raking it or does it stop creating it when finished fermenting?

I am going to work on my pear wine now. I have 32 pounds cored, chopped and frozen. Just sit them out to start thawing. I have another thread with it started.

 

[Scooter68]

Rack based on the SG. You are at the point where an SG that doesn't change for 3 days or hit .990 is finished. Don't wait for stuff to settle, more bad than good can happen at that point.