blueberry mess

[dcrnbrd]

Here is my problem. I squoze out 15 lbs of blueberries that were frozen for 1 week. By the time I could get it all pressed out the pretty purple juice had turned ugly brown. What happened and how can I fix this? I have made other kinds of fruit wines with no browning why now?

 

[Wade E]

Use Ascorbic acid. We use it especially in apple juices to prevent this as it will not hinder fermentation. Ive never heard of blueberries going bad that quick though! Add this to the bucket that you squeeze the juice into to prevent it from oxidizing. I would not use this as a replacement for K-Meta at bottling time but this product is very useful if you are going to make a sparkling wine so you can protect your wine without worrying about secondary fermentation in the bottles later.
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Ascorbic Acid - 1 lb.


This reduces oxidation in bottled wine when added just prior to bottling (not effective for bulk storage).</td>
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Edited by: wade

 

[dcrnbrd]

Should I have added that to the juice as I was pressing? I usually add to the juice after adding water and other ingredients. I added all of the skins into the juice bagged up of course, I hope that will bring some color back. Nobody wants to drink brown blueberry wine no matter how good it is.

 

[Wade E]

Yes, you should have a container with a mixture of some water and Ascorbic acid pre-mixed to prevent this from happening.

 

[dcrnbrd]

Ok I have never needed this. Thanks wade

 

[dcrnbrd]

How about an acid blend will it do the same?

 

[Wade E]

Not at all!!!!! That will just make your wine tart.

Edited by: wade

 

[dcrnbrd]

I hate losing that much juice. This is awful.

 

[Wade E]

I know the feeling. When I switched over from campden to k-meta powder I miscalculated and over sulfated 2-6 gallon batches and had to dump them both after stirring the heck out of them for days trying to get all the S02 out to a point where they would start fermenting but that never happened!

 

[Waldo]

dcr you can still make wine from the juice just fine. Just add some grape concentrate with it during fermentation to add the color back

 

[grapeman]

Whenever I make a fruit wine like that. I just put the frozen fruit in the bag. I add water and everything else, using warm water so it will thaw the fruit. I also put in pectic enzyme to help break down the fruit and the ascorbic acid. I guestimate the sugar on the low side(using the hydrometer of course) but don't worry about squeezing the fruit yet. I let it sit for a day and then squeeze the bag in the primary bucket. Give it a stir with the bag in there and then check the SG. Adjust it up to the desired point with any more needed sugar. I then at that point add the yeast and let it go. The fruit retains its color and the pectic enzyme does its job. I give the bag a good squeeze and a stir every day and by the time it is ready to transfer, there isn't much left in the bag- and the juice doesn't turn brown.

 

[NorthernWinos]

I agree with Waldo....Add some red grape concentrate...the color will be really pretty....We put WinExpert Red Grape Concentrate in many of our fruit wines...it adds body, color and gives the wine some viscosity [legs].

 

[gaudet]

When I started my first batch of blueberry a few days ago, it turned brownish, but after stirring and squeezing the bag a few times it has returned to a pretty purple. But I think I will follow appleman's advice next time and not squeeze them until I pitch the yeast.

 

[dcrnbrd]

Ok I will keep going and add some concentrate as soon as I can get it. Will this add to the overall sg? I have not added any sugar yet, but plan to get everything going this afternoon. I have to place an order with george to get the concentrate and ascorbic acid. I want to get this corrected on this batch due to I have another 30lbs of blueberries in the freezer along with 30lbs of blackberry.

 

[Waldo]

It will raise the SG so i would recommend you add it and stir the snot out of it before you take an SG to determine how mnuch sugar to add to hit your target.

 

[NorthernWinos]

Some fruit wines need a little color boost.

The S.G. of WinExpert Red Grape Concentrate is usually S.G. 1.060....so if you use ½ a bottle [aprox 8 oz] it would raise the S.G. of the total batch a bit....just ½ a bottle would insure a nice color and not change your flavor much.

Some of our resident Scientists could figure the rise in S.G. out for you.

 

[dcrnbrd]

Thanks everyone for the help. After I calmed down and gave the fruit socks a good squeeze I got a lot of color back. Now I am just going to wait until tomorrow morning to throw the yeast. Starting sg is 1.090. As soon as I get this in the carboy I can start the blackberry.

 

[gaudet]

dcrn,

here are the pics of my must prep and final color when I racked it this morning. I hope yours is as pretty purple as mine.

Mike

http://www.finevinewines.com/wiz/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=5965&amp;PN=2

Edited by: gaudet