Blueberry Wine

[gaudet]

Here is the beginnings of another project. The missus and I went a berry pickin yesterday. Allegedly we got 5 gallons of them delicious berries. I only had my camera phone so the pictures aren't all that great. They weighed in at 32 pounds on my handy dandy fishing scale.

We picked like mad for 2 hours. We are going to have to make another trip to get more for eating. I think we need another 2-3 gallons

 

[vcasey]

Boy those blueberries look good. I just bottled my blueberry wine this week. Made 3 gallons put th e case away and sat the 3 bottles on the table along with a glass so everyone could taste. Everyone loved it and hubby had a fit when he thought I only made 3 bottles. He was ready to go buy blueberries that night until one of the boys pointed out the new addition to the you better not touch stack. And yes it was a pain to get going never got below 1022 and had to work to get that. low. The up side is it did not need sweetening and it still has a wonderful blueberry taste and aroam. And not that it should shock you since I like oak - it sat on Med. American Oak for 2 1/2 months.
VC

 

[smokegrub]

Blueberry is one of my favorites. Made with steamed juice it is a delight. I had not previously considered oaking a blueberry, but I will certainly give that a go with the next batch.

 

[K&GB]

So you like the oak with the blueberry, huh? I have three gallons that I just cleared and stabilized. I'm considering oaking it, but I'm kind of afraid to. The American oak spirals I used in my black currant and strawberry last year kind of had a negative effect in my opinion. Can you describe the influence of the American oak on the blueberry?

 

[vcasey]

I love what oak brings to wine. Adding the oak with this blueberry, which ended up a bit sweeter then I had planned, helps hide the sweet a bit and at the same time still lets the blueberry come through. The most challenging part of adding oak for me is picking the right oak. So I am trying to figure out what I want in the wine and picking my oak carefully to match the flavor profile I want instead of just using whatever I have on hand. For example I have a Black Currant that will be racked onto some oak soon. The light oak will give it a coconut flavor which it not what I think will work with this wine, so I am leaning towards a medium or heavy toast because I want a big bold wine with lots of coffee, smokey and complex flavors. Honestly I am making this for hubby to give to his wine snob work mates because they refuse to acknowledge fruit wines as wines.
What you could do is split the wine into 3 - 1 gallon carbabies and try 3 different types of oak on each and compare the wines.
VPC

 

[Wade E]

Those look nice buddy!

 

[gaudet]

Those look nice buddy!

Thanks all, I found another place that has them you pick for $6 a gallon. Going to head there in couple hours and try to get another 4-5 gallons. Will be busy juicing in a few weeks....

 

[K&GB]

Good luck with the berries Gaudet. Man that's gotta be fun picking your own!


Thanks for the suggestion vcasey. Good idea. But I already racked the wine and popped in an American light toast white oak spiral. We'll see how that works out in a couple of months.

 

[vcasey]

Good luck Ken, I'll keep my fingers crossed this one turns out well for you. The light toast will give the wine some coconut flavor.
VC

 

[smokegrub]

Six bucks a gallon is a great deal. I bought mine frozen last year because picking my own was going to cost 3 bucks a pound!

 

[grapeman]

Great looking berries for a great deal. If it counts for anything, I have blossoms on mine now!

They won't be ready as quick as yours!

 

[gaudet]

Went to the $6 place and although he had good berries, he looked like he had been picked thoroughly. It was harder to get a gallon than the other place we had been to before. He said he had already been open for 3 weeks. So after about an hour and a half, with some good daylight still going, we picked up paid the man for the 3 gallons we picked and headed to another place for $8 a gallon. In the next hour and a half the three of us were able to pick another 5 gallons of berries. I took home three for myself and they kept the other five. So we know have officially 50#'s of blueberries. Minus the 1/2 gallon we gave away. Tomorrow I will put them in the freezer for some quality time and juice them in a couple weeks.

 

[uavwmn]

Ken & Gina, started your blueberry recipe this morning. I used 8 quarts of the blueberry juice and had to use 6 cups of sugar to get the SG to 1.076. I am sure it will raise some after I put the blueberry bag in there.
I am going to use the cotes de blanc yeast. Unless of course I should need to use a different kind.


Something different, I added 1 Tblsp of tannin to mine.


So, we shall see.

 

[smikes]

SO...
How much does a gallon of fresh berries weigh, and how many picked gallons to a 6 gallon batch?

 

[gaudet]

Well to partially answer your question Smikes, a one gallon ziplock bag filled to the point if you put one more in then it won't close will be about 6 pounds. Last year I used 16 pounds of berries and fermented on the skins for a 6 gallon batch. Although it came out ok, it was very thin and I would say lacked body. The flavor wasn't bad. I plan to steam juice my berries this year and not ferment on the skins. But when my juice yields come in I will figure pounds per quart and try to make it at least 4-6 pounds per gallon unlike last years batch.

 

[Wade E]

The skins would give it extra tannins and more body.

 

[uavwmn]

Wade, I just racked my 3gal blueberry wine to the carboy. How long do I leave it in the carboy? I was thinking maybe 10 days, then start checking the SG for 2 days in a row to see if has stopped fermenting.

 

[Wade E]

You could leave it in there for a year or more! Remember, just like any wine it should age.

 

[gaudet]

The skins would give it extra tannins and more body.

I would have to save the skins/pulp after juicing. If I don't start right away then I would need to freeze the pulp until ready to begin.

 

[uavwmn]

This is the first racking. I haven't degassed, added stabilizer or clarifying agent to it yet.