Blueberry Wine (3 Gallons)

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Effington

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The Kiwanis nearby has a blueberry sale each summer in 10 lb quantities. I created this wine recipe to use them all in a 3 gallon batch.


  • 10 lbs fresh blueberries, frozen
  • 1 campden tablet, crushed
  • 1 tablespoon acid blend
  • 1 tablespoon yeast nutrient
  • 1/2 teaspoon wine tannin
  • 1.5 teaspoons pectic enzyme
  • 6 lbs sugar
  • 1 teaspoon yeast energizer
  • Water
  • 1 packet Montrachet yeast
  • Stabilizer (sparkolloid or similar)
  • 1.5 teaspoons potassium sorbate

Blueberries should be frozen. They can be added to a primary ferementer to thaw provided they are clean and free of debris/stems. Crush blueberries, with a fruit press or potato masher. Add campden.

Separately, boil about 4 quarts of water and dissolve sugar in it. Allow to cool slightly and add to blueberries. Add additional water if necessary to get about 3.5 gallons. Add acid blend, nutrient, tannin and pectic enzyme. Cover with a lid or clean dish towel and wait about 24 hours.

Add the yeast energizer and stir vigorously to introduce oxygen. Pitch the re-hydrated yeast and wait a couple of hours before stirring again. Stir daily, punching down the fruit "cap" that forms.

After about 5-8 days, if the SG is 1.030 or less, separate the fruit from the wine by pouring into a sanitized bucket lined with a nylon bag. Suspend the bag above the bucket with a strainer and then rack the wine to a 3 gallon secondary vessel.

If necessary, top off with grape concentrate or sugar water. Wait two to four weeks for fermentation to complete.

FG should be about 0.990. Rack into a clean carboy, degas and add stabilizer and sorbate. Wait two weeks for wine to clear.

Backsweeten to taste if desired: rack to a clean carboy with 2-3 cups of sugar, stir to dissolve.

After two more weeks, no new fermentation should have started and the wine is ready to bottle.
 
The receipt you have is for a 5 gallon. Not 3.

It's a 3 gallon recipe. Most blueberry wines call for about 3 lbs of blueberries per gallon. With 10 lbs of blueberries, I figured a 3 gallon recipe would give me more blueberry flavor and so far, so good.
 
Effington said:
The Kiwanis nearby has a blueberry sale each summer in 10 lb quantities. I created this wine recipe to use them all in a 3 gallon batch.


[*]10 lbs fresh blueberries, frozen
[*]1 campden tablet, crushed
[*]1 tablespoon acid blend
[*]1 tablespoon yeast nutrient
[*]1/2 teaspoon wine tannin
[*]1.5 teaspoons pectic enzyme
[*]6 lbs sugar
[*]1 teaspoon yeast energizer
[*]Water
[*]1 packet Montrachet yeast
[*]Stabilizer (sparkolloid or similar)
[*]1.5 teaspoons potassium sorbate


Blueberries should be frozen. They can be added to a primary ferementer to thaw provided they are clean and free of debris/stems. Crush blueberries, with a fruit press or potato masher. Add campden.

Separately, boil about 4 quarts of water and dissolve sugar in it. Allow to cool slightly and add to blueberries. Add additional water if necessary to get about 3.5 gallons. Add acid blend, nutrient, tannin and pectic enzyme. Cover with a lid or clean dish towel and wait about 24 hours.

Add the yeast energizer and stir vigorously to introduce oxygen. Pitch the re-hydrated yeast and wait a couple of hours before stirring again. Stir daily, punching down the fruit "cap" that forms.

After about 5-8 days, if the SG is 1.030 or less, separate the fruit from the wine by pouring into a sanitized bucket lined with a nylon bag. Suspend the bag above the bucket with a strainer and then rack the wine to a 3 gallon secondary vessel.

If necessary, top off with grape concentrate or sugar water. Wait two to four weeks for fermentation to complete.

FG should be about 0.990. Rack into a clean carboy, degas and add stabilizer and sorbate. Wait two weeks for wine to clear.

Backsweeten to taste if desired: rack to a clean carboy with 2-3 cups of sugar, stir to dissolve.

After two more weeks, no new fermentation should have started and the wine is ready to bottle.

Why do you add grape concentrate?
 
I made this, except I didn't have sparkeloid. It didn't need it, cleared up on its own. I substituted 3 pounds honey for half the sugar. The color is great, a very dark wine. Good flavor and body. Really a good dry taste too. I made a simple syrup with some blueberries and will try back-sweetening some but I don't think it needs it.
 
I had a problem with the blueberry syrup I made to backsweeten with. It made a sediment in the bottom of the bottles I used it in and no amount of mixing seems to dissolve it. Is this something anyone else has noticed before?
 
This recipe probably calls for too much sugar or my blueberries are really sweet. The wine improves with aging.

Dominic1920, let the sediment settle, carefully pour or siphon off the wine (rack?)and rebottle it Throw away the sediment (or drink it).
 
Thanks Fishguy, I finally opened a bottle of this and its very drinkable sediment and all. The stuff on the bottom seemed to be jelly-like and sweet, kind of like having a dollop of blueberry jam in the bottle. Perhaps it was a reaction to the pectic enzyme when I added the homemade f-pac.
 
The wine I made last year was too sweet because high temps. stopped fermentation early. It was a really good sweet wine and great after a year. It's all gone now and started another batch in August.
 
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