(un)seasonal Blackberry Port

[Col]

   Yeah, I know the little black pearls are not ready yet, but I had 4 pounds in the freezer just begging to be used up (incidentally, I always freeze my fruit before using – I believe you get better juice extraction). I made this brew many years ago, when I was young and impatient (as opposed to now, when I'm middle-aged-ish and impatient). However, I bottled before all the sugar had been consumed, and went out to the shed one day to discover 4 popped corks. My cousin happened to be visiting at the time, so we decided to consume the remaining two bottles there and then – it was about 16% and fizzing...there's an evening I don't remember much about!
   
      Anyhows, here's the recipe-
   
   4 lb. blackberries

   1 lb. bananas

   1 lb. raisins

   3 lb. sugar

   Yeast

   Pectic enzyme

   I started this morning by just covering the berries with boiling water, crushing them lightly with a potato masher (avoiding crushing the pips), and then strained the juice into my FV. Then I repeated the procedure, this time squeezing the muslin gently. While this was going on, I'd been simmering the peeled bananas in 2 pints of water – after 20 minutes I strained this juice to the FV as well. I then covered the raisins with boiling water, strained, chopped them up, and then added to the FV. I then dissolved 2 lb. of the sugar in 1 pint of water, and guess what? Yep, into the FV. Now I'm (im)patiently waiting for the must to cool down, so that I can add a sachet of high-tolerance yeast – I found this in my winemaking box of tricks, and it's four months out of date, but it should be grand.
   In ten days time, I'll strain the must to a demi-john, add another half pound of dissolved sugar, and top up when it's calmed back down. If memory serves me correctly (didn't keep notes, way back then), a heavy sediment should form after about two weeks, when I'll rack it again, add the remaining sugar, and top up. Then I'll ferment to a finish, rack off and stabilise, and sweeten to about 1 if necessary. This brew can be improved with a tablespoon of glycerine, and a tablespoon of brandy per bottle if you want. And yes, I'll want!
   You can make most styles of red wine from blackberries, but this one is particularly nice (and potent). Incidentally, the same recipe can be used for elderberries, of which there could be a massive crop this year, judging by my ditch – just reduce the elderberries to 2 lb., and add 2 teaspoons of citric acid. Sorted!

[LordEoin]

Sweet! i have a few bags of blackberries in the freezer too and might try this recipe out to clear up for the incoming autumn bounty 

[Col]

Sorry, forgot to mention that the must should be stirred twice daily during its ten days in the fermentation bucket. This breaks up the fruit cap, and aids the yeast in doing its sexy thing.

[onesoma]

Does it matter if I use a large 33 litre fermenter for this, or should I get something smaller? Or just use a 5l water bottle?

[Col]

Well, I always use a 5 gallon bucket for primary fermentation - it's only drawback would be that it's bigger than is needed, but still needs to be sterilised. The drawback with using a 5L water bottle would be that it will be over 3/4 full, and there's a danger of it frothing out during the first vigorous fermentation. So yes, the 33L vessel would be better, if a bit big.

[Col]

Update on this one - I added the half pound of sugar when I strained it, and it's currently sitting at about .998. Rather than end up with something too sweet, I'm going to rack it this evening, and add just half of the remaining half pound (yes, that's a quarter of a pound) of sugar. This should bring the gravity back up to about 1.010, and if that ferments down to 1 again, I'll add the rest. As the actress said to the bishop, it's easy enough to put more in, but impossible to take some out...

[Will_D]

Typical commercial port is 1.020 or therabouts

That is what I aim for

[Will_D]

Am harvesting about half a kilo a day from my two blackberry bushes. Loads more to come 

I freeeze them after harvest (ants and all) and when all is over I will take it from there!

BTW: Its going to be a MEGA Elderberry harvest this year so stock up on turbo yeast when you can for the E'Berry Port

e.g. On Saturday I had a provisional basket with two packs of the Alcotec Turbo yeast - when I updated on Monday they had both gone!!

This HA fermetation is really taking off

[Col]

Typical commercial port is 1.020 or therabouts

That is what I aim for

Yes, but I'm trying to drip feed this one to see how far I can nurse the yeast.