Homemade Blackberry Wine, Part I
Sweet homemade blackberry wine...it's that time of year again! Andy is a hobby wine-maker. He doesn't even drink it, but knows my Momma and others love to. Typically we start the year off with 3-5 gallons of cherry wine. Unfortunately, the late freeze killed our cherry crop. That was a huge tragedy for me as cherry wine is my favorite! When we married last year, after 9 years of thinking about it, nobody drank the store-bought wine (and no it wasn't in a box) after a sip of the homemade wine. Wine making takes effort, an investment and patience, but it's worth it!
We got our fruit from Mr. Rose's vineyard and he let us know muscadines will be ready before too long. When Dale and Amanda got married last year (it was a really busy year for our family) Andy and I bottled sweet muscadine wine with custom labels as a gift for all the rehearsal dinner guests. That went over very well.
Wash and pick through berries. To make 5 gallons of wine, we used almost 3 gallons of fruit. 1 gallon of fruit will yield close to 2 quarts of crushed fruit. Since blackberries are very plentiful on a good year, I crush berries until I yield 5 quarts.
Crush fruit in food processor by pulsing.
Measure out 5 quarts of crushed fruit. We found these handy containers at a local restaurant supply store and they are perfect for wine making!
Add 15 pounds of sugar to a clean 5 gallon bucket. Pour in about 2 gallons of water. Stir well until sugar starts to dissolve. Line bucket with a white pillow case.
Pour berries into pillow case Sprinkle 1 pack of yeast on top of fruit. Do not stir the first day!
Using a wire tie, tie off the pillowcase.
Cover the bucket with a cloth and close off with a wire to keep gnats out.
For the next five days, stir juices once a day with a wooden spoon.
I wish y'all could smell how good this fruit smells! Come back next week and I'll show you the next steps!
When you say 1 packet of yeast, I am assuming you mean a wine yeast. Do you have a preferred type?
ReplyDeleteWhen we buy yeast specifically for wine-making, we order it from here: http://allseasonsnashville.com/product-category/home-brewing/wine-ingredients/wine-yeast/ or drive up there and pick out a few varieties for red and light wines.
ReplyDeleteHowever, Andy has used 1 pack of Fleischmann's yeast countless times and I personally cannot tell the difference. Thank you for checking out my blog!
Thank you! So far I've made a very simple grape wine (several years ago, and cannot find the recipe I used), and 2 years ago made dandelion wine (it is POTENT stuff now!) and serviceberry wine. It's been fun! Blackberries are my favorite berry, and I prefer sweet wine. My daughter is likely to get married in a year or so, and I'd love to have some homemade wine for the wedding celebration. Now I just need to make a trip later this year to where the blackberries grow and get me a bunch! :)
DeleteMy favorite wine is the cherry wine. When my son got married, we made gift bags for everyone who attended the rehearsal dinner. Inside we included a jelly jar of our homemade barbecue sauce and a small bottle of muscadine wine. I fixed a cute label and everyone loved them.I found the bottles online. They were screw tops and reasonably priced. From somewhere in Seattle??
ReplyDeletewhat temp is best for fermenting the wine?
ReplyDeleteDanny L, we normally do this in our house which is typically 70 degrees and have had good results. At other times, we let the jugs process in a block building and that temp hovers around 75-80 degrees. It seems like this performs even better. Thank you for visiting Man That Stuff Is Good.
ReplyDeletedo you transfer it to the glass bottle the fifth day after stirring or the sixth day and if its the sixth day stir first?
Deletenever mind. I read it again and saw where its the fifth day. Thanks for the recipe and the reply!
DeleteNo worries! Feel free to ask any questions. We will do our best to answer. Good luck! Let us know how it turns out. The blackberries are looking fabulous this year! :-)
ReplyDeleteyes they are! We found a honey hole of blackberries here in NE Georgia this year!
Deletehow and what do you bottle it in?
ReplyDeleteA friend saves their 1/2 gallon screw top wine bottles for us. We clean and reuse them.
ReplyDeleteWhat temperature is the water when you pour it over the sugar berry mixture?
ReplyDeleteWater faucet temperature is what we use. Thanks! Denise
DeleteWater faucet temperature is what we use. Thanks! Denise
DeleteIs it normal for it to foam up when you stir it. It almost overflows the 5 gallon bucket when I stir it.
ReplyDeleteWe have had it to foam up also but not enough to overflow it. We do not fill up the bucket all the way with water and I'm assuming you aren't also. I'm not sure why that happens sometimes and other times it doesn't.
DeleteWhere would I find part 2?
ReplyDeleteLook immediatley under the last picture to find the link. Thank you!
DeleteHey Denise! What fabric is your pillowcase made of please?
ReplyDeleteWe just use what we buy at Walmart. They’re not microfiber but a cotton blend. They’re pretty much stained and end up getting tossed.
DeleteThey sell the mesh bags at wine stores also. While either works fine I have washed and reused mesh bags. Def discolored and squeeze a little easier than pillow cases.
DeleteWould this recipe work for huckleberry wine ??
ReplyDeleteIf in basement put cardboard under fermenting container. It’s a barrier from cold floor. Wine making for years and we using fermenting belts. It’s a heating belt to keep temp in fermenting range. Low to mid 70’s is a great temp. For yeast, if you go to a wine supply store the different yeasts they have lead to a different alcohol content and dryness/sweetness. Mostly grape wine for 20 years but have made killer dandilion and elderberry wines. Both very strong. Called them Eldershine and Randylion. Going to make some blackberry wine very soon. Thank you for you information. Do you do any brandy?
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing all your helpful tips! We have not tried brandy. Andy is retiring this year so hopefully he will have the time to do so.
DeleteLove the names of your wines by the way!
DeleteThanks. Usually made very high end Oakes reds but even the most persnickety wine drinkers asked for both. They were sooooo strong! As for the brandy, real brandy is distilled but whether it’s actually ‘brandy’ this is some made in cracks and stays in the sweet and thick side. Will try to find a friend of a friend to see how to do it. With retirement try some wine kits. Kits are pricey but get very good wine, any type and any time of the year. And most yield 6 gallons. Their are a few little tricks to better the quality, which I will pass on if you are interested and do not buy the low end kits. Usually 3 tiers will cutoffs approx 70$ 90$ and next tier 125 and up. But everything is included, oak, yeast and nutrients and stopping and clarifying agents. Thanks again for your info! Gonna make 6 gallons do Friend gets then in flats with 10 pints so will have him get 4 flats. Or more? Is the 3 to make 5 gallons after processing?
ReplyDeleteI reread and found the amount answer. Will use 4ish gallons berries and 18 lbs of sugar. Can’t wait!
ReplyDeleteDo you have a peach wine recipe?
ReplyDeleteI made 2 batches of blackberry wine, using your recipe and we love.
Can I use the same fruit to sugar and water ratio for peach wine, as this blackberry wine recipe?
I’m so glad this recipe has been successful for you also. There is nothing better! We have not made any peach wine so I am unable to confirm that. Andy has an old wine making book, I’ll see if there are any suggestions in it.
DeleteAfter the bubbling slows and active fermentation reduces, I rack into a second carboy leaving the thick sediment. Replace the airlock and let the wine finish for four to six weeks. I find this really helps the clearing process.
ReplyDeleteDo you mix the yeast packet according to the instructions on the packet before pouring on top of the mixture?
ReplyDeleteNo. I sprinkled the dry yeast directly on top.
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