View Single Post
  #2 (permalink)   Report Post  
Posted to rec.crafts.winemaking
Matthew Givens Matthew Givens is offline
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 18
Default Blackberry port and how to extract juices

When I make plum wine from freshly picked Chilton County plums, I use short
bursts on a blender to chop the fruit. With blackberries, I place them in a
straining bag, drop them into the primary, and crush them to release the
juice. I use my hands to crush and squeze, but you could use anything,
really.

A crusher would be a LOT easier, but I have to work with what I've got. And
it works.


"Adam Preble" > wrote in message
...
>I am planning to make a blackberry port soon. I'm trying to keep the berry
>taste in the final result, which I think means using more fruit than for a
>regular wine. It's going to be a dessert wine for friends. I'm hoping to
>have it ready fairly young, and wanted to know what I should do to extract
>the juices.
>
> The plan here is to use 10 pounds of berries per gallon. I want to halt
> fermentation while it's still fairly thick and sweet--perhaps 1.045--with
> the addition of sherry until ABV is 22%. With the additional berries, I'm
> trying to anticipate the amount of sherry I might need. Specifically, I
> am trying to gauge my OG.
>
> How many gravity points can I expect per pound of berries per gallon?
>
> Also, I'm trying to determine how to extract the juice without too many
> tannins. I don't see this lasting many years and thus don't want to wait
> that long to even get there. My first effort with real fruit was a
> cranberry wine that I squished by hand after a primary fermentation. I
> see recipes that involve crushing before pitching yeast.
>
> I don't have a press, so my plan right now is stuff the berries in nylon
> bags, and seep with boiling water. When cooled, pitch yeast for primary
> fermentation. Note that I'll put in some additives like some citric acid,
> but that's not my primary concern. Near the closing gravit I want, I plan
> to lightly squish the berries. There's this thing at the homebrew store
> for pushing floating berries down that I think would work. I'd add some
> pectic enzyme afterwards. The squishing would be light.
>
> I'm hoping for some tips before I go all out on this because I'm looking
> at 50 pounds of blackberries, which isn't necessarily cheap. That and my
> cranberry wine is extremely bitter and will take a long time to age. I
> don't want to see that with this port.