Blackberry wine, yeast not taking off

[Jayjay1976]

I'm brand new to wine making so kind of winging it here. I wanted to make a small test batch of blackberry wine, and knowing they aren't very high in sugars I used corn sugar to supply much of the fermentables. Problem is, 30 hours after pitching I don't see any signs that fermentation is under way. I don't think I went about this the right way so hoping someone can help me out. I used 36 oz frozen blackberries, which I pasteurized in a sous vide bath, then added 1.5lbs corn sugar and enough water to bring it up to about 5 quarts. I added 1tsp of DAP/urea yeast nutrient, and pitched a packet of red star premier blanc. I've had a lot of luck with this yeast, two batches of cider earlier this week that finished out in 3 days, so if everything were okay with this batch I'd expect it to be fermenting furiously by now. I didn't check the pH before pitching, could that be the issue?

 

[Jayjay1976]

I discovered Yooper's thread on blackberry wine shortly after posting this question. After some reading I'm convinced the must is too acidic, so I'm going to add a quart of water and a bit of oyster shells to buffer. Not sure if I need to pitch fresh yeast.

 

[Miraculix]

I discovered Yooper's thread on blackberry wine shortly after posting this question. After some reading I'm convinced the must is too acidic, so I'm going to add a quart of water and a bit of oyster shells to buffer. Not sure if I need to pitch fresh yeast.

Had the same thing going on, as you already found out, it's probably the pH. Fresh yeast won't hurt, but I think it's not a must.

 

[Jayjay1976]

Fresh yeast won't hurt, but I think it's not a must.

I see what you did there
Thanks for the reply!