Brewkowski
Well-Known Member
I wanted to try my hand at winemaking since it's getting pretty cold out for brewing, and I thought a semi-sweet blackberry would be a good start. Never having made wine, I've looked at several recipes and the technique varies, but this is what I was thinking.
3 Gal batch, start off with about 3.5gal to avoid topping off
12lbs of frozen blackberries
6 lbs of sugar
1 tsp pectic enzyme
1/2 tsp acid blend
1 tsp yeast nutrient
Camden to stabilize
3.5 gallons of bottled water
Yeast (Lavlin K1V-1116)
Mix water, berries, and sugar until dissolved and add other ingredients, except yeast and let sit 24 hours. Pitch yeast and watch it go.
Questions:
-Should I heat the water, berry, sugar mixture?
-Do I need to get liquor off fruit in 5-6 days or could it wait until fermentation is over before transferring to secondary?
-How well do I crush the berries, I've seen potato masher up to blender, I'm trying to do it quick and simple just to get some practice, so I was hoping to put it on the fruit and then siphon it off with a grain bag or panty hose on my siphon tip.
-How much would it change the flavor if I added like 64oz of Niagara grape juice (welch's) or maybe did a 4:1 blackberry/blueberry mix?
-I've only had blackberry dessert wine and that's not what I'm going for, but maybe like a semi-sweet riesling.
-How do you gauge residual sugar? Can I just stick to gravity readings?
3 Gal batch, start off with about 3.5gal to avoid topping off
12lbs of frozen blackberries
6 lbs of sugar
1 tsp pectic enzyme
1/2 tsp acid blend
1 tsp yeast nutrient
Camden to stabilize
3.5 gallons of bottled water
Yeast (Lavlin K1V-1116)
Mix water, berries, and sugar until dissolved and add other ingredients, except yeast and let sit 24 hours. Pitch yeast and watch it go.
Questions:
-Should I heat the water, berry, sugar mixture?
-Do I need to get liquor off fruit in 5-6 days or could it wait until fermentation is over before transferring to secondary?
-How well do I crush the berries, I've seen potato masher up to blender, I'm trying to do it quick and simple just to get some practice, so I was hoping to put it on the fruit and then siphon it off with a grain bag or panty hose on my siphon tip.
-How much would it change the flavor if I added like 64oz of Niagara grape juice (welch's) or maybe did a 4:1 blackberry/blueberry mix?
-I've only had blackberry dessert wine and that's not what I'm going for, but maybe like a semi-sweet riesling.
-How do you gauge residual sugar? Can I just stick to gravity readings?