Blackberry Wine 2017

[BamaProud]

Started with 25 pounds of blackberries most of which came from my vines I planted 2 years ago in my backyard.
Freezing them helps release the juice and makes it easier to crush them.

It was easiest to crush them in half-filled ziplock bags, and no where near as messy as other ways I have tried.

Love these wide-mouth Fermenters.

Wine Must:

Unfortunately the Wide Mouth fermenters don't do well with temperatures above 140.
Oops

Big mess and a ruined fermenter. When I poured 4.5 gals of boiling water in it, it began to shrink and naturally the must started spilling out the top. Luckily I had some 1/2 inch tubing nearby and was able to siphon it (burning my tongue) into a bucket fermenter. I probably lost a half gallon of must. :livid:

Nice color:

I'm using Jack Kellers Brazos Blackberry Wine [Heavy Bodied Dry] recipe. I have had great results from all of his recipes.
http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/blackbr2.asp
It should be ready to bottle in 3-4 months and ready to drink in 6 months to a year.

 

[Yooper]

My blackberries aren't ready yet, but I have 18 pounds from last year in the freezer to deal with so I'm going to be making some soon. It's one of my favorite wines.

 

[jgmillr1]

I'm looking forward to getting blackberries in the next week or two for this year's batch. Plan on splitting between wine and port.

I've been happy with using 100% blackberries and not adding water like the Jack Kellar recipe suggests. Much stronger and delicious flavor this way. I also don't crush the berries. By the time I've dumped the berries into the fermenter and stirred in sugar, the must is sufficiently crushed to begin fermentation. Something I've also been doing is adding some tannin to the must. It seems to help retain color a little better and gives nice mouthfeel.

Gotta love the fruit rolling in during the summer!

 

[BamaProud]

OG 1.087 just about perfect.