My First Batch! BlackBerry!

[GhostHawk]

SG 1.01

Activity from yesterday has slowed a little but I can still see lots of bubbles and the occasional sediment floating near the glass of the carboy. My wife says it looks like a huge glass jar of Blood. The color really is rich.

 

[myakkagldwngr]

I got to rereading the posts here and see that you bought 25lbs at your market. Heck, at our grocery stores they want $3.00 for 12 ounces of fresh blackberries!
I have to wait for them to bring the peaches down below a dollar before I'll buy enough.

 

[GhostHawk]

I got to rereading the posts here and see that you bought 25lbs at your market. Heck, at our grocery stores they want $3.00 for 12 ounces of fresh blackberries!
I have to wait for them to bring the peaches down below a dollar before I'll buy enough.

I think I payed 2.30 for 16oz. it was worth it though to get a batch started.

 

[WhineMaker]

Looking real good Chuck!!

 

[GhostHawk]

Looking real good Chuck!!

Thanks Darryl! Now, do you think it will keep this color or will it clear out away from this look?

 

[WhineMaker]

Not sure.. I will guess the final color to be close to a White Zinfandel. Will be real interesting to see the final product! Keep the pictures coming!

 

[WhineMaker]

Looks like I am way off!! Look at the link below

Blackberry Wine Color?

 

[GhostHawk]

Looks like I am way off!! Look at the link below

Blackberry Wine Color?

Interesting, Good read. Guess I have to make sure to do at least 4 rackings. I suppose ill be doing vaccume gas removal with my foodsaver too. Time will tell. In the reading it almost looks like the wine should be drank before 2 years. This sounds like keeping bottles for longer will not be a good thing. HMM.

 

[GhostHawk]

SG 1.00

Activity is pretty slow now. Bubbles at about once every 3-5 seconds. Im thinking that this is when I want to Rack it off to the next carboy and get it off of the Lees. Or should I keep it there for another week and let it gain the flavor from the lees? The color has gone from that creamy red color to a deep red. Will the bubbles keep going for some time and will the SG go below 1.00 with time?

I need a little help here guys. Please. Thank you!

 

[Wade E]

The color will change dramatically! It will be dark blackish/purple when it clears. The second one from the left is my Blackberry.

 

[Midwest Vintner]

mine have all come out to be a dark purple also. love blackberry wine!!

 

[GhostHawk]

Racked Wine off Lees to 6 gallon Carboy. The bubble action is so slow now and the yeasty smell has gone down quite a bit. I moved the Carboy to the basement in my wine Closet so it can be in the dark and nice and stable as far as temps go. Sitting right around 65.

 

[GhostHawk]

So the Blackberry wine has been sitting for 10 days after the first racking of carboys finishing the secondary. I have been keeping it in a dark closet deemed the wine closet in the basement. I think that before we bought the house a month or so someone used it for the same as it is set up just right to hole 4 carboys and has all the racking to hold at least 150 bottles.

When I racked it to the second carboy I only used one Kmeta tab. No sorbate. I am thinking ill rack it again in a couple of weeks as the color has drasticly gone to a deep black purple and I have a little bit of Lees. 1/4 inch maybe. When I rack it again how much Kmeta and Sorbate should I use? I do not open the airlock at all and I have about an inch to the stopper full of juice. SWEET!

Its smelling really good too. Good God.

 

[Midwest Vintner]

you can never have enough carboys/containers and bungs! get a few for larger bottles (we like our hot sauce, in a gal ).

we started in the basement closet and then just outside the closet and then in some basement cabnetry..............now moving into a 30x30 garage. lol will it ever end? i hope not.

i will warn you about peach. it's not easy to get good results. we've made it 2 times bad and another was good, but a little light on flavor. we like more full bodied wines, but it can get expensive that way.

 

[Wade E]

Ghost, the recommended dosage is 1 campden tablet per gallon or 1/4 tsp per 5-6 gallons. This would be done about every 3-4 months of aging after the initial dose right after fermentation ended.

 

[GhostHawk]

Ghost, the recommended dosage is 1 campden tablet per gallon or 1/4 tsp per 5-6 gallons. This would be done about every 3-4 months of aging after the initial dose right after fermentation ended.

Thank you Wade, This is exactly what I needed to Hear.

 

[GhostHawk]

Racked after 1 month in the second racking carboy. This time I added 6 cambden tablets and the 3/4 tbs of sorbate per gallon dosage. While I racked it to the new Carboy, I couldnt believe how clear it is already going through the tube. I put some in a glass and did the flashlight test and it is clear as a waterbottle. WOW. Still had a little of a yeast smell but I could deffinatly smell the blackberry. For some reason my drill mount degasser wont fit in the neck of my carboy so I may just hook it up to the foodsaver. That will be for another day though. Maybe next racking or before bottling. I figure Ill let it sit now for a few months as I got very little Lees from this racking. I added a little red wine to top off from what I lost in the racking. Maybe a cup or so.

This smells better than any red wine I have ever had and I cant wait to share the experience of my first home made wine.

 

[Midwest Vintner]

if there are not bubbles in the wine, i don't usually degas unless there is an off flavor. usually you can pick it out, but maybe not for a first timer. it's not a bad idea to degas, but i don't think it's always necessary either.

i'm glad it's coming out good. for some reason, our first 4-6 batches were excellent. maybe a winemakers beginners luck? lol. i guess you have to make mistakes to learn sometimes too.

my personal first totally by myself (my dad got me into it and we'd co'op quite a few before) was watermelon. it spoiled before it got into the secondary....it was reallllly bad.

 

[GhostHawk]

I actually found the tubing for my food saver and will be buying a non drilled bung so I can drill it out the size I need to hook it up right. So using a vaccume will work out just fine. My wife is due to have our second baby, a boy tomorrow and she cant wait to try the wine. It should be perfect timing when it is ready for her.

 

[GhostHawk]

Racked off the lees. There where not too many and the wine in the tubes looked very clear. Added 6 Cambden Tabs and sorbate. Ill leave this batch in the closet for a couple months now before I Rack again. I also got some un drilled bungs so I can drill them my size for my food saver so I can degass.