Dark_Ale said:I've got 15 pounds of berries, so I guess I'm going to make 3 gallons, most of the online recipes call for 4 pounds of berries per gallon. Could I add raisins to get more body....If so how much.....
24hrs prior to fermentation do I add 1 camden tablet or do I add 1 camden tablet per gallon of must...
Thanks
I use jack kellers heavy body recipe which used 6 lbs of blackberries per gallon. Like yooper I also ferment it to dry and oak with a medium toasted oak spiral. Bottle it up after around 8 months and then give it another 6 in the bottle, I need to bottle the 2012 batch in the next few weeks when I get some time. Blackberries have enough body on their own that they do not need raisins added for body.
Here's my blackberry wine recipe (from Jack Keller's site):
BLACKBERRY WINE (2) [Medium Bodied Dry]
4 lb blackberries
2-1/4 lb granulated sugar
1/2 tsp pectic enzyme
1/2 tsp acid blend
crushed Campden tablet
7 pts water
wine yeast and nutrient
Pick fully ripe, best quality berries. Wash thoroughly and place in nylon jelly-bag. Mash and squeeze out all juice into primary fermentation vessel. Tie jelly-bag and place in primary fermentation vessel with all ingredients except yeast. Stir well to dissolve sugar, cover well, and set aside for 24 hours. Add yeast, cover, and set aside 5 days, stirring daily. Strain juice from jelly-bag and siphon off sediments into secondary fermentation vessel of dark glass (or wrap clear glass with brown paper), filling only to the upper shoulder of the secondary, and fit airlock. Leftover must should be placed in a 750-ml wine bottle with airlock (a #2 bung fits most wine bottles) and used for topping up. Top up when all danger of foaming over is past. Place in cool (60-65 degrees F.) dark place for three weeks. Rack, allow another two months to finish, then rack again and bottle in dark glass. Allow a year to mature to a nice semi-sec. [Adapted from Raymond Massaccesi's Winemaker's Recipe Handbook]
I did put some oak in it during one of the rackings, and it fermented dry, to .990, not semi-sec. So now it's bottled and it's dry with a tiny hint of oak. It's really terrific! This makes one gallon- you can easily multiply it for 5 gallons (but still use only one package of yeast). And I used premier cuvee yeast.
20 pounds of fresh berries are washed and frozen.
hmmmmmm ^====that times 5 does not fit into my primary. Had to split it in 2 and I'm fermenting in my bottling bucket. My first wine from fruit...made a hell of a mess in the kitchen too.
OG 1.092 does that sound about right?
Also, should I pick another packet of yeast or just pitch half in each bucket?
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