Mixed Berry Port

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RobertChartier

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Here is my plan as it stands. Please critique.

I have the following bunches of frozen fruits available to me.
7 pounds of Blueberries
4 pounds of blackberries
4 pounds of Raspberries
1 pound of strawberries

I have 2 1/2 pounds of table grapes (for additional tannins, if nothing else) and a few pounds of frozen sliced apples for more body.

I figure putting all the fruit (currently frozen) in the bucket, topping it up to about 5 gallons. K-meta, acid blend and peptic enzyme to bring out all the flavor and wait a day or 2.

My plan is to load up initially for about 29-30 Brix, pitch EC1118 and stop fermentation at about 6 brix by adding EverClear 190.

When I add 2x 750ml bottles of Everclear 190, it should put the ABV around 19-20%.
 
Ec1118 will go the distance, but I would plan on adding some kind of yeast nutrient in there. No sense stressing it and you'll need all the help you can get with that ABV destination.

I feel that with the other, bolder fruits, you won't gain much with a lb of strawberries - either bump it significantly or leave it out.

Also not sure how much only a few lbs of apples will contribute to body. In my experience you'll need a lot more. I'd be inclined to add grape juice concentrate instead....white grape if you're wanting to emphasize a berry flavor instead of grape.

Shouldn't have much of a problem with too little acid with that concentration of black and blueberry.

Lastly - you appear to be using too little of fruit for a port and that will leave it a little thin, even with your proposed body builders. I would recommend 6-7 lbs of fruit per gallon instead.
 
Blackberry flavor will dominate the others flavors with possible exception of the Raspberry (Red?). (Black Raspberry and Blackberry are both dominating flavors when compared to either blueberry or strawberry. I'd save my time and effort and go with one berry flavor. If you want, make separate batches and then blend before bottling.

One more thing. You're going to need more fruit

With blackberries you can get a decent wine with 4-5 pounds per gallon. (but more is better)
Blueberry wines are much better at a rate of 5-6 pounds per gallon. (Acidity becomes an issue over that amount - Too acidic)
Red Raspberries and Strawberries are probably going to need to be at a rate of at least 6-8 lbs per gallon for a good wine.
If you have Black Raspberries (Especially wild variety_) you can get a really good wine with a little as 4 lbs per gallon. (But again more is better there too.
Using white grape juice is fine as and additive but store bought red grapes or concord grape juices will skew the flavor. Table grapes low on sugar
 
Stay away from everclear. It leaves a funny after taste. Try a flavored vodka or something of that type. I did a mixed berry with everclear and it was very harsh.
 
Stay away from everclear. It leaves a funny after taste. Try a flavored vodka or something of that type. I did a mixed berry with everclear and it was very harsh.

Totally agree - Why would you add that to a wine when you could first use a step feed approach to raise the ABV as high as the yeast will support THEN go to a brandy to raise the ABV? EC1118 can get you very close to the target of 19-20% ABV then just use Brandy.
 
I agree with Scooter68, use Brandy to fortify port style wine. Nothing else is suitable in my opinion.
 
I'm not saying go high end, but definitely avoid the lowest cost brandies. They can have an artificial, vanilla-ish taste (in the worst way possible) that takes a little bit to age out.
 

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