Homemade Blackberry Wine Part II
For five days, Andy went out to the building to "stir the wine."
He'd lift up the pillowcase full of crushed fruit and stir the juices real well. (I wish y'all could smell the fruitiness of the blackberries!)
After a good stir, he'd drop the fruit back into the juice/water and repeat this step for five days.
On the fifth day, Andy squeezed out all the juices. We used to have a little contraption he made that helped with this process but there's really no easy way to do it. It's sticky and messy no matter what you do.
Can you believe this ball of crushed fruit started as three gallons of blackberries?
Pour the mixture into a 5 gallon jug (carboy). Fill to the top line with water.
Add water to the marked line of the airlock. This keeps bugs out and releases the built up pressure. I can't wait to go out in the morning and watch the big air bubbles come up and rattle the top! Bloop!
Home, sweet home for the next 6-8 weeks! Once it stops "bubbling" it's ready to bottle.
so you don't need the Camden or any of the other stuff the store sell you. just juice from fruit, sugar and yeast and of course time... ? How long does the wine keep and how many bottle does this make?
ReplyDeleteWe make it just like recipe says. We have a bottle from 2011 that still is good. Depends on what size bottles you pour it up in. It makes slightly less than 5 gallons. If you pour it up in 1/2 gallon bottles, you will have nine 1/2 gallon bottles. You will lose on average 1/2 gallon.
ReplyDeleteDoes this method only work for blackberries or other fruits as well?
ReplyDeleteRefer to Muscadine and cherry instructions for those fruits. We have three gallons of red raspberry wine we are testing with these instructions. I'll let you know the results this fall. But so far, so good!
ReplyDeleteI have already juiced my berries, can I make this just using the juice ?
ReplyDeleteYes, you can. I'm not sure how much juice you would need per gallon. Andy has used 10 big cans of frozen concentrate to make 5 gallons of wine. Maybe that will help you figure that out. I would test a small batch first.
DeleteI never read how much yeast or what type to use
DeletePlease go to part 1 below. We use one pack of regular yeast.
Deletehttp://manthatstuffisgood.blogspot.com/2012/07/homemade-blackberry-wine-part-i.html?m=1
It said to sprinkle the yeast on top of fruit and not to mix for the first day, do you ever mix it in or do you just leave it
ReplyDeleteJust leave it. You will stir the liquid for five days after leaving it alone the first day. Thank you!
DeleteHi,I have a question. Is it necessary to add water? I have been following your recipe and tomorrow it's ready to go into the demijohns. Mine are slightly smaller so will have enough to fill the demijohn without adding water. Is this ok? Thanks in advance. Chantell
ReplyDeleteIt should be fine. If we are unsure, we typically adjust fruit and sugar required for smaller batches. Let me know how it turns out. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteOk I will do, thanks. Im from England so I've been converting the gallons to litres and didn't think to check my demijohn before I started. Smells delicious! don't want to waste it!
ReplyDeleteIt is so hot outside now, 105! I think my wine is not bubbling anymore after only 2 weeks. Can I bottle it now?
ReplyDeleteWe have had that happen to us. Believe it or not, when we thought ours wasn't doing anything, we would randomly see it bubble...albeit it slowly.. We waited 6-8 weeks before we bottled.
DeleteAndy just said you might want to carefully remove the air lock system and give your wine a quick stir and place it back on. Let me know how it turns out.
To anonymous: wine can be bottled when fermentation is completed, but it will be cloudy! Cloudy wine should not be bottled simply because the taste and finish will be so much better after clarification.
DeleteWhen active bubbling ceases, 7 to 10 days, I rack the wine into a clean, sanitized carboy taking care not to transfer sediment. Replace the air lock and let it sit for at least two or three more weeks or until the wine clears. Stubborn clearing May even require clearing agents like Chitosan and kieselsol and a third racking. If not clear on all this, there is quite a lot on the internet on the subject.