Need advice on my first wine

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lordbeermestrength

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Hey all,

My wife and I are expecting our first baby this October. I would like to brew something that will age through to her 21st birthday. I already fully understand the logistics behind aging this long, as I have done some beers that have aged over a few years. So I know it will be difficult. Also, I have not ever done a wine. Of any kind. The closest thing I have to compare is Edworts Apfelwein. So I am working on exactly zero experience here.

We have a street that is closed down near our house that has just shy of 1.3 bajillion blackberry bushes. My thought is to do a spontaneously fermented blackberry wine. If anyone has experience with this and can tell my why this is a bad idea, I am willing to try the ol' wine yeast method. But it would be much cooler with wild yeast, objectively speaking, of course... So I'm thinking of pretty much mashing up a bunch of blackberries and just lettin' 'em do their thing, adding enuogh water to get to about 1.100 SG.

I would like to do a 5 gal batch, but I only have a 5 gallon glass carboy or a 6 gallon Better Bottle. I have no idea how much headspace I will be needing.


Any thoughts, ideas or suggestions?

Thanks!
 
What a can of worms (or blackberries). A couple thoughts:

-- A fruit wine is not going to age 21 years unless you freeze it, and even then it still won't.

-- A homebrew wine of any sort is EXTREMELY unlikely to age 21 years, just as are almost all commercial wines (by the percentages, obviously there are plenty that actually will).

-- As far as getting the must into fermentable shape, a couple tips: Pick the blackberries when they are cool (temp F, literally), not in the middle of a hot afternoon. This generally helps avoid acetobacter, etc. You might need to acidulate your must. Check the pH. Probably acidulate (with tartaric acid) down to 3.75 or so. It might be a good idea to put a touch of sulfur (30 parts or so total add, not free) in your must off the bat to help avoid oxidation and spoilage.

-- Don't try a native ferment on a fruit wine for your first ever wine.

-- Do everything you can to not oxidize your must or your wine.

-- Sulfur to about 30 parts free before bottling to help with longevity if you can.

All this comes from someone who makes ageworthy natively fermented wine for a living, but has never made fruit wine personally, so take it with a grain of salt perhaps and probably read up on fruit wine making ;)
 
I agree with pbjosh. If you insist on making a fruit wine, or any wine you intend to keep for 21 years, I'd make a sweeter wine and do a step-fed fermentation to boost the alcohol and then fortify it to boost the alcohol even further to the 17%-18% range. I'd also bump the acidity a bit and use the best corks money can buy. Making wine with the intention of laying it down for a lengthy period is difficult at best and even more so for a first time wine maker.

If it were me, I'd buy a quality Port and hide it away for 21 years.
 
Spontaneous fermentation is not a great idea for Blackberry wine or most any other wine for that matter unless you are in an area like Napa or Sonoma (IMHO). As for 21 years, I agree with the other posters and do not think you will have a viable wine after that long a time.

If you want to try something that may last that long, I would go with a bold red wine like Amarone or something along that line. High ABV content and SO2 to protect the wine is needed for long periods. You would also need to use some high quality corks to ensure stability and long term aging potential.

Long term storage would probably need something along the lines of 50ppm or greater for SO2. Use quality bottles of a dark color to avoid light exposure and keep you temp and humidity under control.

Blackberry makes a great wine especially when you add oak to the batch. If you have that much available to you, make it and drink it when it is ready and go for the Bold Red approach.

Salute! :mug:
 
Terry Garey's book "The Joy of Home Winemaking" has a chapter on fortified wines, port, etc. Plus the bulk of the book itself deals with fruit wines. Probably some good suggestions in there to go with the good advice on here.
 
Why not make a blackberry mead of some kind? As I understand it these are much more friendly to long term bottle habitation.

Storm
 
Thanks guys, I had no idea. I have a severe case of the n00bs.

Any other suggestions on a possible blackberry mead? That would be pretty cool too.

If that's not do-able, the port will probably be the way to go.
 
I would definitely recommend a mead, but perhaps not a melomel (Fruit Mead). They age well, but there are substances in the fruit that will oxidize and degrade after that much time. Perhaps just a straight show mead (honey, water, and yeast) with a high abv, or alternately a metheglin (spiced mead).
 
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