Adam:

I don't know how much gravity per lb you'll get but I would advise not
to add citric acid to the must. Blackberries are naturally acidic even
though they taste sweet. I made a batch of blackberry wine last summer
(still aging) and it's tasting a bit tart too. I ended up adding a
bunch of sugar to increase the Brix and balance. Pectic enzyme is a
good idea as it helps break down the berries. Straining is preferred
to crushing with a crusher too--I tried both and the crusher just
didn't cooperate. Sounds like you've got it figured out. Have fun!
The port sounds like a good idea.....



Adam Preble wrote:
> 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.