Recipe (3 Gallons)
4.9 Kg Blackberries
3 Kg Sugar
1.5 Teaspoon Citric Acid
2 Teaspoon Tartaric Acid
3 Teaspoons Pectolase
3 Campden Tablets (crushed)
Yeast Nutrient (Brupak)
Water to 3.8 Gallons (approx)
Yeast: Sauternes
OG came out as 1079
Method
Wash then crush berries. Put into primary fermenting vessel. Add a couple of gallons of boiling water and 3 crushed Campden tablets and the pectolase. Stir to mix thoroughly. Cover and leave for around 24 hours.
Next day stir again, to mix it, cover and leave 24 hours or so. Next day add all the other ingredients, give it a really good sloshy, splashy stir. Measure the gravity and then adjust with more sugar and or water to your OG range. Make the total volume considerably more than 3 gallons because when you remove the pulp you'll lose a lot, and then racking etc likewise. Then add the yeast and cover. If you have excess this is good for topping up at the racking stage, keep it in a bottle with an airlock (or something improvised like filter paper secired with a rubber band). Every day stir sloshily once or twice for the next few days. After 6 days of fermenting and stirring remove the fruit pulp (with a sieve), transfer the must to secondary fermenters and fit airlocks.
Thoughts
I won't be able to stir this for the 3rd and 4th days of primary fermentation. So hopefully all will be well. If I get plenty of air into the must over the next 36 hours then I reckon that will be enough to keep the yeast happy. So it will bud (reproduce) and make a big healthy colony. On the 5th day it'll get a stir. I expect the ferment to be a little slower than usual, but other than that I'm hopeful no harm will be done ... that's the theory anyway! Will move to secondary on the 6th (or 7th) day.
Progress report here
Hi
ReplyDeleteI have followed your video on you tube and am at the stage where I to strain the pulp into demijohns. I bought all my equipment from a car boot sale and have a wine fermentation container with a heating element in it. Should I use this heater and do I need to add anything further to the wine? I also got a Vinbrite filter, are these any good? Thanks for the video, I found it very useful.
hi Anon,
DeleteThanks for your kind comments, and congratulations on scoring all your equipment from a car boot sale.
Personally i don't use a heating element, and never have done. I prefer to pick a yeast variety that works in the temperature range of our home. You'll usually find that information on the packets of yeast. If not then the homebrew shop will almost certainly have leaflets from the yeast suppliers which give details on the yeast varieties. And failing that the homebrew shop will be able to advise you. So all you need is a thermometer to establish the temperature range of your home.
If you get into using specific varieties of yeast, and i recommend doing so, then you won't look back. You can pick them to suit your needs and wants. I like yeasts that are low foaming because i hate cleaning up spatters on walls and carpets! I also like a lower temperature yeast variety because our house is cooler than most. It's important to match the temperature range to the yeast, it affects the quality of your product.
At this stage of your brew you shouldn't need to add anything else. That's assuming all has gone according to plan. If you find that you've made a mistake with volumes then you may want to top up with sugar solution, just sugar, or just water. As far as clearing is concerned i always give my wines time as the first step. If it's not looking good after weeks then rack and degas it (then stabilise if you don't mind using sulphites and potassium sorbate). If more weeks or months pass and it's still not clear then you may want to consider finings.
As for the filter ... i have one too, but have only used it once, and to be honest i found it too fiddly to be bothered again. But it's down to you. Some say that filters also remove enough flavour molecules and so take away more than they remedy. Others value the brilliant clarity sufficiently to make this sacrifice. Personally i'm very happy with the clarity of my wines without filtering. I just give them time, and if they're really stubborn then put them outside in the winter.
I suppose you could consider adding tannin or oak chips? but it's probably better to add them earlier in the process. Besides, they add months to the aging process. Which is often worth while, but I'd guess you're keen to drink this brew as soon as you reasonably can. If it's pure blackberry, no elderberries, then i'd recommend 6 months minimum. And i'd encourage you to stash some away for at least a year. You'll appreciate the difference. In the meantime give some quickie wines a go. It seems like cheating or prison hooch, but i guarantee you'll be gobsmacked by the results. And best of all ... they're ready to drink only 6-8 weeks after starting them. So great everyday table wine, which means the likes of your blackberry wine will stand a chance of getting the conditioning time it deserves.
happy brewing, and thanks for the questions.