I have alot of questions so please bare with me. I have recently began
"trying" to make Blueberry wine. This is what I did at first. I
pressed all the juice from 24 pounds of blueberrries. I poured that
juice into a water (the kind that you see at work) jug. I then dumped
the remains of the pressed berries into the same jug. I boiled 3/4
gallon of water and disolved 10 lbs of sugar into it. I then dumped
that into the same jug. Then I took a piece of clear tubing inserted
into the top of the jug and sealed it off..the other piece of tubing is
set in a mason jar with water. I have it sitting in my garage in South
Carolina

Has anybody done it this way? I have read where people add some sort
of yeast and tablets of some sort. Shouldnt it produce its own yeast?
Will the above recipe have enough alcohol in it? Should I keep it in a
cooler spot?

Any help or recipes would be appreciated

I have not heard of doing it that way, but I would suggest you go to Jack's
site - there's tons of info on how to make homemade wine and I'm sure there
is a recipe for blueberry. http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/index.asp
Good-luck,
Darlene


"kellsta" > wrote in message
oups.com...
>I have alot of questions so please bare with me. I have recently began
> "trying" to make Blueberry wine. This is what I did at first. I
> pressed all the juice from 24 pounds of blueberrries. I poured that
> juice into a water (the kind that you see at work) jug. I then dumped
> the remains of the pressed berries into the same jug. I boiled 3/4
> gallon of water and disolved 10 lbs of sugar into it. I then dumped
> that into the same jug. Then I took a piece of clear tubing inserted
> into the top of the jug and sealed it off..the other piece of tubing is
> set in a mason jar with water. I have it sitting in my garage in South
> Carolina
>
> Has anybody done it this way? I have read where people add some sort
> of yeast and tablets of some sort. Shouldnt it produce its own yeast?
> Will the above recipe have enough alcohol in it? Should I keep it in a
> cooler spot?
>
> Any help or recipes would be appreciated
>

> Shouldnt it produce its own yeast?

Matter of luck. If the berries were sprayed late with some kind of
mold or mildew spray then any yeast on the skins may be dead.

You'll get all kinds of good advice here, so I just thought I'd make
that one point. I am going to try an "all natural" hard cider this
year using the runt apples I can pick from the hundreds of wild apple
trees in the area, and maybe some honey or sugar to boost the gravity.
(These apples I know haven't been sprayed with anything, moldy spots
and one worm per apple pretty much proves it ;-) I'll post the
results (around December probably).

--arne (Yeah, I'm going to add in the worms too. I just plan to core
the apples and run them through a juicer-grinder. Like I said, "all
natural"...)

sHi: you should add wine yeast - such as a packet of Montrachat ;;that is
available at any wine making store.

Joe
"kellsta" > wrote in message
oups.com...
>I have alot of questions so please bare with me. I have recently began
> "trying" to make Blueberry wine. This is what I did at first. I
> pressed all the juice from 24 pounds of blueberrries. I poured that
> juice into a water (the kind that you see at work) jug. I then dumped
> the remains of the pressed berries into the same jug. I boiled 3/4
> gallon of water and disolved 10 lbs of sugar into it. I then dumped
> that into the same jug. Then I took a piece of clear tubing inserted
> into the top of the jug and sealed it off..the other piece of tubing is
> set in a mason jar with water. I have it sitting in my garage in South
> Carolina
>
> Has anybody done it this way? I have read where people add some sort
> of yeast and tablets of some sort. Shouldnt it produce its own yeast?
> Will the above recipe have enough alcohol in it? Should I keep it in a
> cooler spot?
>
> Any help or recipes would be appreciated
>

> Has anybody done it this way? I have read where people add some sort
> of yeast and tablets of some sort. Shouldnt it produce its own yeast?
> Will the above recipe have enough alcohol in it? Should I keep it in a
> cooler spot?


I would have added a packet of wine yeast (or simply added yeast leftover
from a previous batch) or part of a packet. There is natural yeast in the
air that will make alcohol, but in my opinion you have ****ed up.

--
billb http://www.themeatrix.com/
Every man has his price except the honest man. You get him for
nothing.IITYWYBAD

"kellsta" > wrote in message
oups.com...

natural yeast WILL work. I bought a gallon container or Wal-Mart lemonade
(I wanted the container) and opened it, drank a little and forgot it for
some time and lo and behold, the next time I tasted it, it was decidedly
alcoholic. And quite good tasting I might add!!!



--
billb http://www.themeatrix.com/
Every man has his price except the honest man. You get him for
nothing.IITYWYBAD

"arne thormodsen" > wrote in message
...
> > Shouldnt it produce its own yeast?
>
> Matter of luck. If the berries were sprayed late with some kind of
> mold or mildew spray then any yeast on the skins may be dead.
>
> You'll get all kinds of good advice here, so I just thought I'd make
> that one point. I am going to try an "all natural" hard cider this
> year using the runt apples I can pick from the hundreds of wild apple
> trees in the area, and maybe some honey or sugar to boost the gravity.
> (These apples I know haven't been sprayed with anything, moldy spots
> and one worm per apple pretty much proves it ;-) I'll post the
> results (around December probably).
>
> --arne (Yeah, I'm going to add in the worms too. I just plan to core
> the apples and run them through a juicer-grinder. Like I said, "all
> natural"...)
>
>

You should add wine yeast. The generic proportions of fruit to water
and sugar are about 3 pound fruit to make one gallon, more fruit
probably equals more fruitiness in the wine. Most fruits are low in
sugar so 2 pounds per gallon is the generic value for that. I have a
book from Penn State on winemaking so will get you better values for
blueberries soon.

The mason jar thing will work as long as the tube is under water,
airlocks and rubber stoppers are a better way to go. The water bottle
is called a carboy, glass ones are better than plastic but it will work
if it's plastic.

Joe

3 pounds of blueberries, 2.5 pounds of sugar per gallon, top to 1
gallon with water. You probably want to add water given what you have
said so far, somewhere between 4 and 7 gallons depending on what you
want this to taste like.

Joe

Joe Sallustio wrote:
> You should add wine yeast. The generic proportions of fruit to water
> and sugar are about 3 pound fruit to make one gallon, more fruit
> probably equals more fruitiness in the wine. Most fruits are low in
> sugar so 2 pounds per gallon is the generic value for that. I have a
> book from Penn State on winemaking so will get you better values for
> blueberries soon.
>
> The mason jar thing will work as long as the tube is under water,
> airlocks and rubber stoppers are a better way to go. The water bottle
> is called a carboy, glass ones are better than plastic but it will work
> if it's plastic.
>
> Joe

Agree with most everything said above.

1) You basically built you own airlock. That is fine but commercial
airlocks are very cheap and much easier. Less than a dollar each. You
should get some.

2) Also, real wine yeast will give more consistent results and wine yeast
is very cheap. Less than a dollar per 5 gal batch of wine.

3) What you did with the berries was fine but was overkill. You could have
just crushed the berries instead of pressing them and then adding back the
pulp. Just would have been a little easier.

4) Normally you start the batch in a plastic bucket, let it get fermenting
real good and when the fruit stops rising to the top and drops to the
bottom, strain it into your jug and put the airlock on. You do not need to
seal it in the bucket. Just cover it with cloth to keep bugs out.

5) Fruit is toward the lower end of what I would have used but will be
fine. Sugar is probably sufficient with the fruit used. Suggest you get a
hydrometer to be sure in the future. The hydrometer is the most useful of
all winemaking tools. It is very easy to use and is relatively cheap.
Probably around $7.

Ray


"kellsta" > wrote in message
oups.com...
>I have alot of questions so please bare with me. I have recently began
> "trying" to make Blueberry wine. This is what I did at first. I
> pressed all the juice from 24 pounds of blueberrries. I poured that
> juice into a water (the kind that you see at work) jug. I then dumped
> the remains of the pressed berries into the same jug. I boiled 3/4
> gallon of water and disolved 10 lbs of sugar into it. I then dumped
> that into the same jug. Then I took a piece of clear tubing inserted
> into the top of the jug and sealed it off..the other piece of tubing is
> set in a mason jar with water. I have it sitting in my garage in South
> Carolina
>
> Has anybody done it this way? I have read where people add some sort
> of yeast and tablets of some sort. Shouldnt it produce its own yeast?
> Will the above recipe have enough alcohol in it? Should I keep it in a
> cooler spot?
>
> Any help or recipes would be appreciated
>
>

All,

I just found out that I can get blueberry juice in my local area
(Western Michigan). Does anyone know what the mix ratio (juice, sugar &
water) should be for a 1 gallon batch of wine?

On the other hand, could I use 2.5 pounds of sugar and top up the
container with blueberry juice to make 1 gallon?

Thanks

Todd Talsma


"Joe Sallustio" > wrote in
oups.com:

> 3 pounds of blueberries, 2.5 pounds of sugar per gallon, top to 1
> gallon with water. You probably want to add water given what you have
> said so far, somewhere between 4 and 7 gallons depending on what you
> want this to taste like.
>
> Joe
>
> Joe Sallustio wrote:
>> You should add wine yeast. The generic proportions of fruit to water
>> and sugar are about 3 pound fruit to make one gallon, more fruit
>> probably equals more fruitiness in the wine. Most fruits are low in
>> sugar so 2 pounds per gallon is the generic value for that. I have a
>> book from Penn State on winemaking so will get you better values for
>> blueberries soon.
>>
>> The mason jar thing will work as long as the tube is under water,
>> airlocks and rubber stoppers are a better way to go. The water
>> bottle is called a carboy, glass ones are better than plastic but it
>> will work if it's plastic.
>>
>> Joe
>