jerry wrote:
> I got my blackberry wine started yesterday and today.
>
> I've been picking and freezing blackberries for the past three weeks. The
> harvest was a little bit late this year in Oregon. I had about 32 lbs. of
> frozen berries but I decided to only use 25 lbs. of them since my biggest
> carboy is 6 gal.
>
> Details are as follows: 25 lbs. blackberries, thawed and mashed in an 8
> gal fermenter tub. Added 8 lbs. of sugar dissolved in boiling water.
> Added cool water to bring level up to 6 gal mark on side of fermenter.
>
> Tested SG at 1.065. Waited 20 minutes and tested SG at 1.074 (important
> lesson here that I learned the hard way last year! Wait for awhile and
> retest the SG.) Added another 1 lb sugar dissolved in hot water. Brought
> water up to 6.5 gal mark. Tested SG again at 1.08 something. Added 1/2 lb
> granulated sugar and brought water up to 7 gal mark on fermenter. Waited
> half hour and tested SG at 1.088. (I was shooting for 1.090 but this was
> close enough)Total sugar used was 9.5 lbs.
>
> Added 3 tsp acid blend, 3 tsp pectic enzyme, 3 tsp yeast nutrient, 6
> campden tablets. Stirred and covered overnight.
>
> Today I added 1 packet Lalvin K1-V1116 yeast. Temp of must is 69 deg. F.
> Covered fermenter with cloth.
>
> Last year's batch also started at 7 gal. on the fermenter scale and ended
> up with just a little over 6 gal. of wine, making 31 bottles. But last
> year I used about 12 lbs. of sugar. Keeping written records is a nice
> habit when making wine!
>

I picked my blackberries from my neighbor's plants, during a hot, dry
summer. The sugar content was still abysmal, as usual (juice SG =
1.020). I washed the berries and inserted them in a women's knee-high
nylon stocking, and proceeded to squeeze out the juice in that manner.
To the juice from 6.5 lbs of blackberries was added 1.5L of sugar and
3.3L of water. Also added the usual pectic enzyme, etc. About 1.4
gallons made it to secondary.

Two problems were experienced in turn: #1 was a hydrogen sulfide problem
from hell. As in, "Oh my God, I can't breathe down here it smells so
bad." I "fixed" it by using an aquarium pump and bubble stone, and
aerating the wine for an hour at a time (making the basement
uninhabitable). The idea is that the O2 reacts with the H2S to form SO2,
which is more apt to leave the solution. POOF! no H2S contamination anymore.

Problem #2: A final titratable acidity of 0.7%. I added KCO3 to take it
down to 0.35%, making it at least drinkable.

Final result: a thin, unremarkable berry wine with an uncomplicated nose
reminiscent of of Manischewitz. *sigh*

Your mileage may vary,
Marshall