low abv country wine

[GeneDaniels1963]

I am planning to make a Blackberry wine at around 8-9% abv. I have about 5lbs frozen berries, so I am thinking about adding some store bought juice to make it go further and to cut down on the acidity.I only need 16 BRIX (1.065) to get the abv I want, but I may use a bit of frozen concentrate to get the must there. My berries are probably only 13 BRIX.

Which juice would have a more neutral flavor, apple or white grape?

 

[Blacksmith1]

You might consider using juicy juice berry and freeze concentrating it. Flavor and SG boost in one.

 

[DoctorCAD]

White grape, its very neutral.

 

[Blacksmith1]

Why a neutral juice instead of one that would enhance his flavor?
Just curious as to your thinking.

 

[GeneDaniels1963]

Why a neutral juice instead of one that would enhance his flavor?
Just curious as to your thinking.

I want just the blackberry to come through, not other tastes. So the purpose of the grape juice would be:

1. make the blackberries go further
   
2. to lower the acidity of the blackberry (instead of using water as most recipes call for)
3. add body
4. increase SG

 

[GeneDaniels1963]

White grape, its very neutral.

Thanks, that is what I was thinking I had read somewhere.

 

[GeneDaniels1963]

Well, I found 9+lb of frozen blackberries in the bottom of the freezer, so I am starting two fermenting pales (2 gal each). Once they thaw, I am going to add white grape juice to top them off. I want my SG to be about 1.065 or 1.070, so I may have to add a little sugar. That should give a PA of around 9%.

I will ferment with Notty and see what I get. I like my ciders not quite dry, so Notty usually does a good job. If I need to I can backsweeten with some Ribena which will also amp up the berry flavor too. I am hoping for a blackberry version of what the Brits call a "turbo cider." If this works I have 8 or 9 lbs of frozen raspberries left from last year that I can go to next.

I will keep you informed.

 

[GeneDaniels1963]

just went to the store and good quality white grape was more than 2x good quality apple juice. So I am using apple juice, just means I will certainly have to add sugar to raise the SG to where I want it.

I don't know how much it will change the taste, but probably not that much. And anyway, I like my ciders so Blackberry and apple juice should be good. I may add some Ribena to amp the berry taste.

 

[GeneDaniels1963]

I started two brew buckets yesterday, one with Notty and the other with Safcider, because I had a half pack of each in the fridge. The ferments started overnight. The Safcider smells really good, rich and fruity.

 

[GeneDaniels1963]

The blackberry/apple is just about finished fermenting. Probably will let sit another couple of weeks then sweeten with Ribena and bottle. It is a beautiful color of purple.

I just bottled up some white muscadine at 9% and sweetened with white grape concentrate. I drank the pint or so that would not fit in a bottle, and it was fairly good. I expect it to be great after 3-4 months, but I may drink some of it in a month just to have some timeline of comparison.

My next country wine, or "fruit cider" will be a raspberry/white grape. Have 9-10 lb of raspberries still in the freezer. That should give me 3 gal final product. I've got to get all the old berries used up before the new crop comes in this year!

Since my wife loves her "raspberry sauce" sweet, I think I will reserve a pint or two of the must from the next batch and use it to heavily backsweeten. That will make it sweet and strong berry taste. Maybe make half of it sweet for her, and the other half semi-sweet for me.

 

[GeneDaniels1963]

Just started a new batch that I think is going to be perfect. Into a 2 gal ferment bucket I just dumped:

4lbs of frozen raspberries
1 1/2 gal white grape juice
10oz sugar
1/2 packet of Mangrove Jack's M02 cider yeast.

That gave me a starting grav of 1.073, means a PA of about 9.5%. According to what I have read, MJ M02 reliably dies out at about 8%. So that means I should be left with about 12 grav points of residual sugar. That should be just about right. If the wife wants it sweeter, I reserved 1 pint of must that I can backsweeten with.

If MJ M02 really does reliably die off at 8%, it opens a lot of possibilities for the low ABV country wines I am trying to make. It would be great to calculate the grave of a low ABV must and know, pretty close, what residual sugar I will have. Until now I did not consider that possible unless I was going over 14-15%.

EDIT: oops, just found the manufacturer specs, says MJ M02 can go high ABV. So I guess this will not leave any sugar behind. Glad i reserved some must to backsweeten with ;-)

 

[bmd2k1]

Just started a new batch that I think is going to be perfect. Into a 2 gal ferment bucket I just dumped:

4lbs of frozen raspberries
1 1/2 gal white grape juice
10oz sugar
1/2 packet of Mangrove Jack's M02 cider yeast.

That gave me a starting grav of 1.073, means a PA of about 9.5%. According to what I have read, MJ M02 reliably dies out at about 8%. So that means I should be left with about 12 grav points of residual sugar. That should be just about right. If the wife wants it sweeter, I reserved 1 pint of must that I can backsweeten with.

If MJ M02 really does reliably die off at 8%, it opens a lot of possibilities for the low ABV country wines I am trying to make. It would be great to calculate the grave of a low ABV must and know, pretty close, what residual sugar I will have. Until now I did not consider that possible unless I was going over 14-15%.

EDIT: oops, just found the manufacturer specs, says MJ M02 can go high ABV. So I guess this will not leave any sugar behind. Glad i reserved some must to backsweeten with ;-)

Ever try an ale yeast like S04 with ur low ABV vinos? I know...I know....sacriledge....but S04 alcohol tolerance is 10% give or take.

 

[GeneDaniels1963]

My other batches of low abv wines were with Notty and Safecider. Both of those are supposed to go about 12-14% I think.

And I am not too worried about being a purist on this batch, I already am a heathen because I use wild yeasts on my regular wines. One of those went over 17%! And without any special treatment. I am holding that one for 2 years or so because when I bottled it up it was way to hot for me.

 

[GeneDaniels1963]

The MJ M02 has started fermenting in only 6 hrs! The temp in the house is 67F. That's a quick start, I wonder how fast it will chew through 73 grav points?

 

[bmd2k1]

My other batches of low abv wines were with Notty and Safecider. Both of those are supposed to go about 12-14% I think.

And I am not too worried about being a purist on this batch, I already am a heathen because I use wild yeasts on my regular wines. One of those went over 17%! And without any special treatment. I am holding that one for 2 years or so because when I bottled it up it was way to hot for me.

Amen! [emoji111]

 

[GeneDaniels1963]

The MJ M02 has taken the raspberry must down to 1.00 in 3 days, at about 68F. You literally could hear the ferment from across the room.

 

[bmd2k1]

The MJ M02 has taken the raspberry must down to 1.00 in 3 days, at about 68F. You literally could hear the ferment from across the room.

Wow....that is smokin fast! Any off odors? How's it flocculate?

 

[GeneDaniels1963]

It smells wonderful. As for flocculation, it is still in a brew bucket so I can't tell. I did not expect to rack it for a few more days. But now I need to rack it ASAP.

 

[bmd2k1]

It smells wonderful. As for flocculation, it is still in a brew bucket so I can't tell. I did not expect to rack it for a few more days. But now I need to rack it ASAP.

Did ya give er an early taste yet?

 

[GeneDaniels1963]

Did ya give er an early taste yet?

yeah, I think it tastes nice as is. My wife likes her wines sweeter, so I will backsweeten a little, but not too much.

 

[GeneDaniels1963]

By mistake I opened a 1 month old white muscadine sparkling, low ABV, wine last night, about 7.5%. It is quite nice. I am not sure if it is better than a really good cider at the same age, but it might be fantastic in 6 months.

 

[GeneDaniels1963]

just opened a bottle of Blackberry/white grape wine, about 7%. It was bottled 2 months ago. it is very nice. I am really liking these low ABV wines/ciders.

By the way, I was just reading "True Brews" by Emma Christensen. She calls any low ABV fruit ferment a "cider." Her argument is something like this. It is true that traditionally only apple-based ferments were called ciders, but a fruit ferment in the same ABV range has much more in common with a cider than it does a wine. So why not call it a cider?

Works for me.

 

[GeneDaniels1963]

I just opened a growler full of 7% Muscadine wine (I prefer to call it fruit cider). It was carbonated (by accident), and tastes great! Exactly what I am looking for. It has just a bit of sweetness which goes very nice with the accidental carbonation. It was fermented with Notthingham. I will surely make more of it when my muscadines ripen this year.