Hi guys! Just secondary racked my first Blackberry Wine. I kept a detailed journal of it up to this point, and would covet any input or feedback on what I have done. I have a few questions strewn throughout the journal that would be great if anyone had thoughts. Look forward to the community!
PREPARATION AND PRIMARY FERMENTATION
Date: 22 July 2016 Kit/Source: Hand picked blackberries
Yeast: Montrachet
Starting SG: 1.082
Notes:
This was intended to be a 3-gallon batch of blackberry fruit wine. The recipe was taken from Joy of Home Wine Making book. All quantities in the book were for 1 gallon, so all measurements were tripled. We picked approximately 13.5 pounds of fresh blackberries (this = 4.5lb per gallon). To the touch, I felt at least 25% that were under-ripe for wine making, but we just went with it. The berries were thoroughly cleaned and frozen in the deep freeze for 1 day. They were completely frozen when removed. After cleaning and sterilizing all equipment, we took a portion of our 11.25 quarts of water, and dissolved 15 ¼ cups of sugar. The remaining water would be added after to cool the must faster. The frozen berries were put into our nylon fruit bag, and inserted into our 5 gallon Big Mouth Bubbler. The sugar solution was poured directly over the berries. The remainder of the plain water was put in. The temperature of the must was now approximately 80 degrees. I now added 6 tsp of Acid Blend, and 3 tsp of yeast nutrient. After the must reached 77 degrees, I added 3 crushed campden tablets (1 per gallon). Reaching my clean hand and arm into the must I crushed and squeezed the berries in the bag for approximately 10 minutes. The nylon bag was now securely tied. The airlock and bung were attached and filled half way with a campden water solution. 12 hours later I added 1.5 tsp of Pectic Enzyme. I checked the SG/PA at this time and it was very low at only 1.055. I have no answer as to why this was so low (low sugar in the berries due to some un-ripeness??) I followed the measurements precisely, so need to follow up on this issue. Thus, based on a conversion chart I have, I boiled down (in approx. 2 additional cups of water) 7 more cups of sugar to the must. This brought the SG to 1.080. 12 hours later, I added the yeast to the must (no stirring), and poured in 1 additional cup of plain sugar just to help the SG a bit. This is how I surmise a starting SG of 1.082. Within a day the wine started bubbling profusely with a very very strong sulfur/rotten egg smell. A friend advised that this may be some wild yeast from the berries working its way out. The fermentation was too strong for the cover to stay on, and kept popping the big mouth bubbler cover off. Eventually we just let the cover lightly sit over the opening. The smell continued strongly for another 3-4 days. I added 1 crushed campden tablet on advice from someone to help with this smell. Finally, six days later from the beginning the smell had greatly improved, and though the wine still showed some signs of fermenting, the bubbling had slowed greatly. I noted approx. ¼ to ½ inch of lees on the bottom. We decided it was time to rack to our 3 gallon glass carboy.
SECONDARY FERMENTATION Date: 28 July 2016
Wine temp: 70 degrees
SG: 1.005
The bag of berries was removed from the primary (NOT squeezed). The SG was now taken, indicating 1.005. The 3-gallon glass carboy was cleaned and sanitized with Star San. Upon filling the 3-gallon carboy, we filled it to nearly the top (no wine in the stem of the carboy). Interestingly though, we still had at least 1 gallon of wine in the Primary! Not sure why, as this was supposed to be a 3-gallon batch, but nevertheless, there it was. So we put the remaining gallon of wine into a 1-gallon plastic water jug, and affixed a bung and air lock. I am curious to track down why we have an extra gallon of wine, and how this could have affected our other measurements. The carboy is now covered by a dark box, and in 70 degrees ambient temperature. I did note that immediately after the racking, we already had ¼ to ½ inch of lees on the bottom. Already?! I am supposed to rack again in 2-3 months, but I am tempted to do it sooner with so many lees on the bottom so soon.
So that's where we are at, any thoughts from you all?
PREPARATION AND PRIMARY FERMENTATION
Date: 22 July 2016 Kit/Source: Hand picked blackberries
Yeast: Montrachet
Starting SG: 1.082
Notes:
This was intended to be a 3-gallon batch of blackberry fruit wine. The recipe was taken from Joy of Home Wine Making book. All quantities in the book were for 1 gallon, so all measurements were tripled. We picked approximately 13.5 pounds of fresh blackberries (this = 4.5lb per gallon). To the touch, I felt at least 25% that were under-ripe for wine making, but we just went with it. The berries were thoroughly cleaned and frozen in the deep freeze for 1 day. They were completely frozen when removed. After cleaning and sterilizing all equipment, we took a portion of our 11.25 quarts of water, and dissolved 15 ¼ cups of sugar. The remaining water would be added after to cool the must faster. The frozen berries were put into our nylon fruit bag, and inserted into our 5 gallon Big Mouth Bubbler. The sugar solution was poured directly over the berries. The remainder of the plain water was put in. The temperature of the must was now approximately 80 degrees. I now added 6 tsp of Acid Blend, and 3 tsp of yeast nutrient. After the must reached 77 degrees, I added 3 crushed campden tablets (1 per gallon). Reaching my clean hand and arm into the must I crushed and squeezed the berries in the bag for approximately 10 minutes. The nylon bag was now securely tied. The airlock and bung were attached and filled half way with a campden water solution. 12 hours later I added 1.5 tsp of Pectic Enzyme. I checked the SG/PA at this time and it was very low at only 1.055. I have no answer as to why this was so low (low sugar in the berries due to some un-ripeness??) I followed the measurements precisely, so need to follow up on this issue. Thus, based on a conversion chart I have, I boiled down (in approx. 2 additional cups of water) 7 more cups of sugar to the must. This brought the SG to 1.080. 12 hours later, I added the yeast to the must (no stirring), and poured in 1 additional cup of plain sugar just to help the SG a bit. This is how I surmise a starting SG of 1.082. Within a day the wine started bubbling profusely with a very very strong sulfur/rotten egg smell. A friend advised that this may be some wild yeast from the berries working its way out. The fermentation was too strong for the cover to stay on, and kept popping the big mouth bubbler cover off. Eventually we just let the cover lightly sit over the opening. The smell continued strongly for another 3-4 days. I added 1 crushed campden tablet on advice from someone to help with this smell. Finally, six days later from the beginning the smell had greatly improved, and though the wine still showed some signs of fermenting, the bubbling had slowed greatly. I noted approx. ¼ to ½ inch of lees on the bottom. We decided it was time to rack to our 3 gallon glass carboy.
SECONDARY FERMENTATION Date: 28 July 2016
Wine temp: 70 degrees
SG: 1.005
The bag of berries was removed from the primary (NOT squeezed). The SG was now taken, indicating 1.005. The 3-gallon glass carboy was cleaned and sanitized with Star San. Upon filling the 3-gallon carboy, we filled it to nearly the top (no wine in the stem of the carboy). Interestingly though, we still had at least 1 gallon of wine in the Primary! Not sure why, as this was supposed to be a 3-gallon batch, but nevertheless, there it was. So we put the remaining gallon of wine into a 1-gallon plastic water jug, and affixed a bung and air lock. I am curious to track down why we have an extra gallon of wine, and how this could have affected our other measurements. The carboy is now covered by a dark box, and in 70 degrees ambient temperature. I did note that immediately after the racking, we already had ¼ to ½ inch of lees on the bottom. Already?! I am supposed to rack again in 2-3 months, but I am tempted to do it sooner with so many lees on the bottom so soon.
So that's where we are at, any thoughts from you all?
