Starting Blueberry Wine - I need help!

[tsmithee]

Hello everyone,

I am new to wine making and I am following a recipe I found but I need help so I thought I would ask you guys to see if you can help me. I am using a fermenting bucket. So this recipe tells me to smash my berries and mix with sugar and then add a gallon of water, citric acid, pectic enzyme and yeast nutrient. After that it says to cover it for 24-48 hours mixing twice a day. My question is when it says to cover it does that mean to cover it with a lid and airlock? or just the lid and leave the hole open?

 

[Yooper]

Hello everyone,

I am new to wine making and I am following a recipe I found but I need help so I thought I would ask you guys to see if you can help me. I am using a fermenting bucket. So this recipe tells me to smash my berries and mix with sugar and then add a gallon of water, citric acid, pectic enzyme and yeast nutrient. After that it says to cover it for 24-48 hours mixing twice a day. My question is when it says to cover it does that mean to cover it with a lid and airlock? or just the lid and leave the hole open?

It's a good idea to cover it to keep out fruitflies and things- so you don't want to have a lid with a hole open. I cover mine with a towel, and if there are fruitflies around, I use a giant rubber band to hold the towel closed around the rim.

For small jugs, I use a coffee filter (with a rubber band around the rim again). You want it covered to keep out critters. If you have a ton of fruitflies, a lid and airlock won't hurt but it's better for c02 escape and to make it easier to stir twice a day if you don't have to wrestle with a tight fitting lid.

 

[Jim311]

Use a lid and airlock if you have one, no reason not to.

 

[bernardsmith]

Use a lid and airlock if you have one, no reason not to.

But actually there IS a reason not to. Wine ain't beer and when you ferment fruit the CO2 will force the fruit to the top of the ferementer. That cap needs to be constantly stirred so that it does not become a solid mass that prevents the CO2 from leaving AND so that the top surface does not dry out enough to allow rot to set in. A tightly fitted cover with bung and airlock will dicourage you from stirring. So that's one reason.
A second reason that covering with a cloth means that the stirring you do - and you likely stir two or three times a day - degasses the must /wine. Again, wine ain't beer and half the amount of sugar by weight (BY WEIGHT) is converted into CO2. CO2 inhibits fermentation. So that's a second reason for loosely covering the primary. You want to be able to stir with little impediment.
A third reason - and this one is more controversial - is that during active fermentation the yeast cells benefit from oxygen. Banging in a bung and sealing that bung with an airlock means that whatever O2 was in the must as you pitched the yeast is the O2 that the daughter cells have when the yeast bud (after, that is, the yeast cells you pitched have consumed virtually every last molecule of O2 in the first 20 minutes or so after pitching). A cloth towel or loosely placed lid then enables you to stir the cap, remove the CO2 and provide a trace of O2 during active fermentation. So, not one "good" reason, but three related reasons - a bung will inhibit you from stirring whereas a towel won't AND a towel will allow for an easier flow of gases

 

[tsmithee]

thanks everyone. I will use a towel as suggested.

 

[tsmithee]

ok I have another question about this same recipe. So this recipe tells me to smash my berries and mix with sugar and then add a gallon of water, citric acid, pectic enzyme and yeast nutrient. After that it says to cover it for 24-48 hours mixing twice a day. This morning it pretty much looked like it did when I started it but when I got home tonight it had the berry lumps on the surface. I stirred it and it has a film on the top of it. Its not mold or anything just a grey film. I'm guessing thats normal???? Anyways, my 48 hours is up tonight at 10-11pm. I tried rehydrating my yeast and its not doing anything so I'm not sure if the store didn't refrigerate it correctly or it was stuck on a truck too long during shipping but thats the only one I had. I am not gonna be able to get another one until 10 am. Is my must gonna be nasty? or do you think it will be ok until 10 am tomorrow? Ive never made wine so this is all a learning curve for me. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[Yooper]

ok I have another question about this same recipe. So this recipe tells me to smash my berries and mix with sugar and then add a gallon of water, citric acid, pectic enzyme and yeast nutrient. After that it says to cover it for 24-48 hours mixing twice a day. This morning it pretty much looked like it did when I started it but when I got home tonight it had the berry lumps on the surface. I stirred it and it has a film on the top of it. Its not mold or anything just a grey film. I'm guessing thats normal???? Anyways, my 48 hours is up tonight at 10-11pm. I tried rehydrating my yeast and its not doing anything so I'm not sure if the store didn't refrigerate it correctly or it was stuck on a truck too long during shipping but thats the only one I had. I am not gonna be able to get another one until 10 am. Is my must gonna be nasty? or do you think it will be ok until 10 am tomorrow? Ive never made wine so this is all a learning curve for me. Any help would be appreciated.

Boy, if you didn't use campden tablets, going 24-48 hours without adding yeast is a huge mistake. Even with campden, it's important to add the yeast by 24 hours after mixing up the must. It's troubling that you have a grey film- not a good sign.

Put the yeast in anyway, I guess, right away, and see what happens. The batch may be spoiled if you went 48 hours without adding yeast. Think how fast (without preservatives) goes south if you accidentally leave it out on the counter overnight. I'd be really concerned about any "recipe" that tells you to leave a must out for two days without yeast.

 

[tsmithee]

Seems like I should start over. The recipe says I would know when to add the yeast because it would have the lumpy berries on top and I didn't get that until tonight. I guess I will toss this batch and start over and add yeast at 24 hours. Maybe I should also find a new recipe. I only went with this one because it seemed very detailed with pictures. Thanks for the reply.

 

[Yooper]

I don't know that recipe, but I've been making wine for 30 years, and I've never heard of such a thing. I'd get some campden in there right away, as earlier I just assumed you had added it. Then pitch the yeast 12 hours after that. You will have a problem if there hasn't been any campden added or the berries haven't been pasteurized.

Try one of these recipes (from Jack Keller's wonderful site):
His recipes are for one gallon, so just size up x5 for 5 gallons, etc, except for yeast. One package of yeast is fine for up to 6 gallons.


BLUEBERRY WINE (1) [Full Bodied]

2 lb. blueberries
1 lb. raisins
2 lb. granulated sugar
1/2 tsp. pectic enzyme
1-1/2 tsp. acid blend
1/2 tsp. yeast energizer
1 gallon water
crushed Campden tablet
wine yeast
Bring water to boil, then set aside. Wash and crush blueberries and put in primary fermentation vessel with all ingredients except yeast. Add hot water and stir to dissolve sugar. Cover well and allow to cool to 70-75 degrees F., then add yeast. Stir daily for 5-6 days or until specific gravity is 1.040. Strain out fruit pulp and press. Siphon into secondary fermentation vessel and fit fermentation trap. Rack in three weeks and again in three months. When wine is clear and stable, rack again and bottle. Allow a year to mature. Improves with age. [Adapted from Stanley F. Anderson and Raymond Hull's The Art of Making Wine]

BLUEBERRY WINE (2) [Full Bodied Semi Sec]

2 lb. blueberries
1/2 pt. red grape concentrate
1-3/4 lb. granulated sugar
1/2 tsp. pectic enzyme
1-1/2 tsp. acid blend
1/2 tsp. yeast energizer
1/2 tsp. wine stabilizer
7 pt. water
crushed Campden tablet
wine yeast
Wash and crush blueberries in nylon straining bag and strain juice into primary fermentation vessel. Tie top of nylon bag and place in primary fermentation vessel. Stir in all other ingredients except yeast and red grape concentrate. Stir well to dissolve sugar, cover well, and set aside for 24 hours. Add yeast, cover, and daily stir ingredients and press pulp in nylon bag to extract flavor. When specific gravity is 1.030 (about 5 days), strain juice from bag and siphon liquor off sediments into glass secondary fermentation vessel. Fit fermentation trap. Rack in three weeks and again in two months. When wine is clear and stable, rack again, add stabilizer and red grape concentrate, and bottle. Allow a year to mature. [Adapted from Raymond Massaccesi's Winemaker's Recipe Handbook]

If you don't know his site, I highly recommended starting with the "winemaking basics" page, where he explains things that aren't always in recipes but we always just sort of know if we're winemakers. http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/basics.asp

 

[tsmithee]

This is very helpful. Thank you so much.

 

[tsmithee]

Also do you use organic blueberries or just regular?

 

[Yooper]

Also do you use organic blueberries or just regular?

I pick them, so I guess you'd call them organic. I grow most of my own fruit, but what I don't grow I forage (like chokecherries).

 

[tsmithee]

ok, I used organic berries in my first attempt so I will keep using organic. The only thing I have growing currently is grapes. Trying to figure blueberry wine out first before I use my grapes. I will really be upset if I ruin my grapes.

 

[A_McG]

I don't want to hijack a thread but what's an ideal starting gravity for blueberry? And a final abv thats good for taste/ageing?

I haven't made it before but got blueberries last week that I've processed and froze while I await my brew supply order.

 

[bucketnative]

@Yooper - Probably should note to use care when adding hot water to a glass fermentation vessel. That has been known to be catastrophic to glass carboys. And, if using a plastic (PETG) fermenter, like a Big Mouth, high temperatures (>140°F), can greatly deform the container.

I realize OP is using a bucket, but someone coming through here may not be.

 

[Yooper]

I don't want to hijack a thread but what's an ideal starting gravity for blueberry? And a final abv thats good for taste/ageing?

I haven't made it before but got blueberries last week that I've processed and froze while I await my brew supply order.

I think a good starting ok for mild fruit wines is usually 1.085. They'll generally finish at .990 or so.

I drink my wines dry, but many others like fruit wines sweetened.

 

[Jfette1968]

 

[Jfette1968]

This is the recipe I use never stir and it makes great wine I agree you should stir and degas it however