Blackberries!
After thoroughly enjoying my last couple of tastes of my original Blackberry Wine, and after receiving great feed back on it from family and friends, I decided I need to make a new Blackberry Wine. Unfortunately, if you'll notice from my first posts, I took no notes while making the original batch, so it will not be duplicated. But I will try to come as close as possible. I got the recipe for that one from Jack Keller's Winemaking Home Page. He has about 5 different recipes though, and I think I'm going to try a different one.
I went to the Farmer's Market on Saturday and bought about 28.5 pounds of fresh blackberries at a good price. I used between 14 and 16 pounds for the original, so I'm thinking about making a more full bodied wine this time. Of course, I could make 2 batches of something similar to what I did last time. Sorry, I'm kind of thinking out loud here.
I'm trying to decide which kind of yeast to use. I'm leaning towards a Lalvin RC-212 or a Red Star Pasteur Red yeast, both of which are said to give a bit more of the fruit's flavor to the wine. The alchohol tolerance for both yeasts is around 12 to 14% abv, which should be fine.
The berries are in the freezer in freezer bags. I'll have to wait to start this until I can free up some room in my 6 gallon carboy. It's full of the Carm/Cab right now. Although, I could put the blackberry wine into a 5 gallon carboy once it's ready, and put the rest into a half gallon or gallon jug. I could try to add oak chips to this gallon, or use it for blending, or find some other type of experiment to do with it.
Anyway, In about a year, I should have a fresh new batch of Blackberry wine. I want this one to be my best one ever. It's got a lot to live up to though! I'll have to make a lot of decisions with it - dry, off-dry, or sweet; sur lie; oak; etc...
Carm/Cab Update:
I need to check the SG on this wine. If it's down to 0.992 or so, I'll go ahead and add the stabilizer and fining agents. Then it'll be time to wait for another 8 days before racking!
I went to the Farmer's Market on Saturday and bought about 28.5 pounds of fresh blackberries at a good price. I used between 14 and 16 pounds for the original, so I'm thinking about making a more full bodied wine this time. Of course, I could make 2 batches of something similar to what I did last time. Sorry, I'm kind of thinking out loud here.
I'm trying to decide which kind of yeast to use. I'm leaning towards a Lalvin RC-212 or a Red Star Pasteur Red yeast, both of which are said to give a bit more of the fruit's flavor to the wine. The alchohol tolerance for both yeasts is around 12 to 14% abv, which should be fine.
The berries are in the freezer in freezer bags. I'll have to wait to start this until I can free up some room in my 6 gallon carboy. It's full of the Carm/Cab right now. Although, I could put the blackberry wine into a 5 gallon carboy once it's ready, and put the rest into a half gallon or gallon jug. I could try to add oak chips to this gallon, or use it for blending, or find some other type of experiment to do with it.
Anyway, In about a year, I should have a fresh new batch of Blackberry wine. I want this one to be my best one ever. It's got a lot to live up to though! I'll have to make a lot of decisions with it - dry, off-dry, or sweet; sur lie; oak; etc...
Carm/Cab Update:
I need to check the SG on this wine. If it's down to 0.992 or so, I'll go ahead and add the stabilizer and fining agents. Then it'll be time to wait for another 8 days before racking!
posted by Rob | 12:39 PM
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