Winemaking (rec.crafts.winemaking) Discussion of the process, recipes, tips, techniques and general exchange of lore on the process, methods and history of wine making. Includes traditional grape wines, sparkling wines & champagnes.

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Default Blackberry port and how to extract juices

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.
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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.



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Default Blackberry port and how to extract juices


When I use berries I usually freeze them first it helps to break them down
and extract the juices better


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Default Blackberry port and how to extract juices

Adam - I suggest going to Lum's site http://www.geocities.com/lumeisenman/.
Look at his berry port recipe and method under fruit wines. This looks like
a good way to make port-style wines. I made a Baco Noir port two years ago.
I used Everclear grain alcohol and very cold temperature to stop
fermentation. The wine is still bulk aging and has retained an alcoholic
flavor I don't care for. You may have the same problem using sherry to bulk
up the alcohol and I would consider brandy in lieu of sherry if you do use
spirits to increase alcohol. I would consider keeping the bananas in the
recipe to add body to the wine.

Bill Frazier
Olathe, Kansas USA

"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.



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Default Blackberry port and how to extract juices

I second the suggestion to use brandy (high proof if you can get it) or
everclear instead of sherry. It will take a LOT of sherry to get the
alcohol up and it will influence the taste too much.



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Default Blackberry port and how to extract juices

I made a blueberry port earlier this year. My suggestions would be to
first use twice as much fruit per gallon as you would for a normal
fruit wine (Jack keller reccomends 6 lbs per gallon instead of 10). Be
carefull though. In my recipie I used fresh fruit for both the
blueberry and elderberry and it became hard to get enough fruit per
gallon to make the wine (when considering the additions of sugar
needed)

second, add sugar to the fermentation to top out natural alcohol
production. You will hankyour self later when you only have to add
half a liter of brandy instead of 4 liters of brandy.

Use brandy. Do not use unflavored spirit, like everclear. It boosts
the alcohol enough, but it tends to make the wine taste like a mixed
drink instead of a port. Brandy has the je ne se quois needed to make
it taste right. Use a pearsons square to determine how much to add.

You may think that you do not want the tannin in there. But with all
that alcohol and sugar, you will be glad if you let some the the tannin
get extracted. Otherwise you may find the wine tastinig a bit insipid.

I would let the fruit ferment out fairly well and then just set the
fruit bag in a colander and lightly press out the remaining juice.
Well actually i would press it out with a sausage press, but I have
that luxury.



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.


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Default Blackberry port and how to extract juices

Droopy wrote:
> I made a blueberry port earlier this year. My suggestions would be to
> first use twice as much fruit per gallon as you would for a normal
> fruit wine (Jack keller reccomends 6 lbs per gallon instead of 10). Be
> carefull though. In my recipie I used fresh fruit for both the
> blueberry and elderberry and it became hard to get enough fruit per
> gallon to make the wine (when considering the additions of sugar
> needed)


That's interesting. I was looking at a recipe on there for 5 gallons
and doubled that. On the one hand, I'm not looking forward to getting
50 pounds of berries. OTOH it would be a good time to try second runnings.

There's a farm an hour and a half away with blackberries. They don't
think they'll freely have that capacity for sale this weekend, but they
should be ready next weekend.

> Use brandy. Do not use unflavored spirit, like everclear. It boosts
> the alcohol enough, but it tends to make the wine taste like a mixed
> drink instead of a port. Brandy has the je ne se quois needed to make
> it taste right. Use a pearsons square to determine how much to add.


OK I had forgotten about brandy, and others are mentioning it. I wasn't
fixated on sherry or anything.

> You may think that you do not want the tannin in there. But with all
> that alcohol and sugar, you will be glad if you let some the the tannin
> get extracted. Otherwise you may find the wine tastinig a bit insipid.


I just don't want to wait too long for this to be ready. That as, I'd
like something passable 2 months after bottle, and perhaps have
something for the holidays.
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Default Blackberry port and how to extract juices

On 5/31/2006 5:48 PM, miker wrote:
> I second the suggestion to use brandy (high proof if you can get it) or
> everclear instead of sherry. It will take a LOT of sherry to get the
> alcohol up and it will influence the taste too much.



Miker,

Would you use a flavored brandy (most of these are fairly sweet) or a
'regular' brandy?


Cheers,
Ken

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Default Blackberry port and how to extract juices

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.


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Default Blackberry port and how to extract juices

Try to get the highest proof brandy you can and no, not flavored
brandy, you don't want the fortifier to influence the flavor of the
port. If you have access to a winery that makes port perhaps you can
obtain some high proof brandy through them. In most cases its probably
not legal for them to sell it to you, but see what you can work out.

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