@winemaker81 it appears that I have degassed enough then. I will be out of town for a couple weeks so the wine will sit undisturbed.
Hope I did not pull out too much CO2.
Hope I did not pull out too much CO2.
Other FWK Frutta Blackberry and Strawberry
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It's probably fine. Folks have reported going very aggressive with vacuum degassing and been ok.
Welcome!
Although I planned to rack the Blackberry & Strawberry last weekend, home renovation projects sapped my time. Yesterday morning was free, so I racked both.
I had not labeled the 19 liter carboys or 4 liter jugs, figuring I could tell the difference between Blackberry and Strawberry, right?
My sniffer is not what it used to be, and I found them to be quite similar. Argh! Looking at the carboy didn't help, both look like red wine.
I made a determination as to which was which, then poured half a glass of each -- the Blackberry is significantly darker, so my decrepit sniffer was right, after all.
Both taste pretty good for 5 weeks old, although they certainly need sugar.
This reinforces my habit of labeling everything!
Then I took a leap of faith -- each wine comes with 2 conditioning / backsweetening packs, and I blindly added Packet D (sorbate/K-meta) and 1 of the packs to each wine. Reading feedback from others, Mr. "I don't backsweeten much" decided that the wines were going to need sugar, so I took that leap of faith and backsweetened.
Not surprisingly, the sugar perks both wines a lot. Fruit wines need backsweetening -- I've yet to make one that didn't.
Now the wines will bulk age for ~3 months, and I expect I'll backsweeten more at bottling time. This addition will be by taste -- I'll add 2 to 3 oz, stir well, and taste.
One last point -- I topped up both wines with my 2020 second run, a Merlot-heavy mixture of Bordeaux grapes + Zinfandel. It's relatively light bodied, with some oak, and I figure it may add a bit of complexity without overshadowing the fruit.
I had not labeled the 19 liter carboys or 4 liter jugs, figuring I could tell the difference between Blackberry and Strawberry, right?
My sniffer is not what it used to be, and I found them to be quite similar. Argh! Looking at the carboy didn't help, both look like red wine.
I made a determination as to which was which, then poured half a glass of each -- the Blackberry is significantly darker, so my decrepit sniffer was right, after all.
Both taste pretty good for 5 weeks old, although they certainly need sugar.This reinforces my habit of labeling everything!
Then I took a leap of faith -- each wine comes with 2 conditioning / backsweetening packs, and I blindly added Packet D (sorbate/K-meta) and 1 of the packs to each wine. Reading feedback from others, Mr. "I don't backsweeten much" decided that the wines were going to need sugar, so I took that leap of faith and backsweetened.
Not surprisingly, the sugar perks both wines a lot. Fruit wines need backsweetening -- I've yet to make one that didn't.
Now the wines will bulk age for ~3 months, and I expect I'll backsweeten more at bottling time. This addition will be by taste -- I'll add 2 to 3 oz, stir well, and taste.
One last point -- I topped up both wines with my 2020 second run, a Merlot-heavy mixture of Bordeaux grapes + Zinfandel. It's relatively light bodied, with some oak, and I figure it may add a bit of complexity without overshadowing the fruit.
FYI. When I made Oh So Strawberry, I put in both sweetener packs and extra sugar. I thought it was good and bottled it. Tasting it a few months later, it is still pretty tart. Don't be afraid to add a little more sugar to take the edge off.
Good advice. I have a commercial Vignoles that is listed as sweet. It's really high acid, so much that it tastes off-dry. Neither Frutta tasted that acidic yesterday, but the wines clearly need more sugar. We'll see what happens in 3 months.
Moved post to FWK thread instead of here, since this thread is specifically blackberry and strawberry and my post was about kiwi and strawberry. All good stuff!
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It doesn't matter to me. These threads tend to meander where they do, and it's all FWK Frutta, so it's close enough. Having a separate thread for Frutta, regardless of what we call it, makes sense.
DavesWine
Member
Has anyone taken a SG reading on their blackberry wine after back sweetening? I know that SG and taste don't always correlate, but it helps me to understand what level people are sweetening to.
Most have not mentioned SG, but most of the responders added both packs, plus possibly more sugar. While that seems like a lot, it may not be, depending on the acid level.
I have discarded all preconceived notions of what I'll do in a couple of months. The wines will tell me how much sugar to add, and based upon feedback so far, it's going to be more than I expected.
Checking my notes, I discovered that the amount I have backsweetened wines ranges from 0.5% to 13%.
I'm starting up Bryan's thread again because I received my FWK blackberry today and I'm super excited. Coming from the Island Mist fruit wine, and Apres Dessert wine kits the FWK is the next level. Pitching yeast tomorrow! Thanks Bryan for the guidance or advice to get me started in the right direction.
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These fruit wines are very tart. I added both sweetener packs plus some sugar to my strawberry and it's still tart. I like tart, but my wife does not. I'm ready to bottle my blueberry and I've added a ton of sugar. It still has a little pucker, but has amazing blueberry flavor.
Ohio Bob
Senior Member
I’ve done blackberries which are also very tart. I use chocolate powder to back sweeten. If I taste chocolate in the wine, port actually, I’ve added too much. The point is it’s for downplaying the tartness, not giving the perception of sweetness.
I bottled both wines on 10/05/2022. The Blackberry's FG after fermentation was 0.996. In July I added Packet D and one conditioner, and the SG rose to 1.006. The final Adjusted SG after adding the second conditioner was 1.016. According to the calculation I did, the RS is 4.8%.
When prepping to bottle, I added part of the conditioner, stirred, and tasted -- it was still tart. Added more, still tart. Figured what others had said was correct, so I added the entire second packet.
I think it's just right -- it's got some sweetness to it, but I don't think of it as tart. Note that I'm a dry red drinker, so if anyone prefers wine a bit sweeter, 2 conditioner packs may not be enough.
When I bottled the Strawberry, I just added the conditioner pack. It came out similar to the Blackberry.
Note the SG on the Strawberry was almost identical to the Blackberry: 0.996 / 1.006 / 1.015.
With our FW Blackberry, I added 1-1/3 packs of the conditioner and we'd describe them as off-dry, very fruity and flavorful. If people we give bottles to or serve like a sweeter wine, we always tell them to mix sugar in their glass to taste. Easy to add sweetness but can't go backwards.
I really like the option that FW gives us to adjust the final version of wine to our personal sweet spot!
I really like the option that FW gives us to adjust the final version of wine to our personal sweet spot!
What are people's overall opinions on the FWK frutta series wines? Does any one stand out from the rest as superior? Do you like them enough to make again? Or one and done?
I pitched the yeast this morning on my blackberry so its SHOW TIME! My juice was 71* with 1.090 sg with my fermenter filled exactly to 6 gallons. I have never seen a kit like this so well put together. Now I admit my experience is very limited but this kit is no doubt better than anything I've done.
This is not the normal type of wine I make, but I'd make them again, eventually.
I was curious also what others added as far as sweetener. I have a Blueberry. As others said very tart. I’ve been adding the conditioner 200 ml at a time. I’ve now added both and its pretty close. Very good blueberry smell and flavor, but very tart. Another think to watch out for is when I first stirred it, it overflowed. I have a nice blue pattern on my concrete floor now!
We've only done the blackberry but plan to try their blueberry when our supply from Walker's Juice runs low.
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