National Homebrew Club Ireland

Brewing Discussions => Cider, Perry, Wine & Mead => Topic started by: Eoin on November 12, 2013, 12:52:33 PM

Title: Blackberry, raspberry, and elder wine.
Post by: Eoin on November 12, 2013, 12:52:33 PM
So I put 5 gallons of wine on.

2kg mixed blackberries and raspberries, mostly blackberries.
2.6 kg elderberries
1 can Youngs red wine gallon lot.
6kg sugar.
3.5tsp wine tannin.
Pectolase
Nutrient.

Made up to 5 gallons. I'm not sure it's vinous enough so I'm thinking of topping up with a blackberry wine tin.
Pitched with red star montrachet yeast.

Any thoughts on the fruit content, does it need a top up? I'll rack from the bucket to glass demijohn next week and remove the straining bag of fruits. I brought the lot up to 65c in a pot with bag and squeezed it well.

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Title: Re: Blackberry, raspberry, and elder wine.
Post by: Eoin on November 12, 2013, 01:08:38 PM
I should mention, it's 20l at 1.094, I'll measure again after any top ups as I will be making it up to the full 5 gallons.

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Title: Re: Blackberry, raspberry, and elder wine.
Post by: Will_D on November 13, 2013, 12:24:12 AM
Not sure if you needed any extra tannin!

Let it ferment a while and then taste, wait, taste, wait, and taste some more.
Title: Re: Blackberry, raspberry, and elder wine.
Post by: Eoin on November 13, 2013, 08:06:08 AM
I hope the tannin is not too much, it was on the low end of dosing

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Title: Re: Blackberry, raspberry, and elder wine.
Post by: Eoin on November 15, 2013, 01:05:53 PM
I squeezed the bag out and removed it, nice extraction, very little material left in the bag. I'm really looking forward to this. The smell and taste is amazing already, that said it's still a sticky sweet syrup. I. Removal of the bag I ended up with 21l of must, so I'll take a trip to Lidl and decide which juice I'll top up with. I might just use their red grape.

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Title: Re: Blackberry, raspberry, and elder wine.
Post by: Eoin on November 15, 2013, 03:32:37 PM
I've topped this up to 23l now using a bottle of raspberry syrup with no preservatives from Poland shop and a litre and a bit of Lidl black grape juice.

Can someone help me to work out the gravity now?

The gravity of what I just added was 2l @ 1.165 added to 21l that was originally at 1.094....heading for 15% at least.

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Title: Re: Blackberry, raspberry, and elder wine.
Post by: Eoin on January 29, 2014, 07:35:40 AM
I racked this from the 5 gallon bucket to a glass carboy last night. It's dried out a good bit which is good because I thought I'd added too much sugar at one point.

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Title: Re: Blackberry, raspberry, and elder wine.
Post by: Will_D on January 29, 2014, 10:33:36 AM
Quote from: Eoin on November 15, 2013, 03:32:37 PM
Can someone help me to work out the gravity now?

The gravity of what I just added was 2l @ 1.165 added to 21l that was originally at 1.094....heading for 15% at least.
Beersmith says: 23L @ 1.100

1.100 fermenting to 1.000 = 13.6% ABV
Title: Re: Blackberry, raspberry, and elder wine.
Post by: LordEoin on January 29, 2014, 10:47:52 AM
oh that'll make for a merry old time  ;D
Title: Re: Blackberry, raspberry, and elder wine.
Post by: Eoin on January 29, 2014, 11:04:33 AM
Quote from: Will_D on January 29, 2014, 10:33:36 AM
Quote from: Eoin on November 15, 2013, 03:32:37 PM
Can someone help me to work out the gravity now?

The gravity of what I just added was 2l @ 1.165 added to 21l that was originally at 1.094....heading for 15% at least.
Beersmith says: 23L @ 1.100

1.100 fermenting to 1.000 = 13.6% ABV

Thanks Will, I must work out how to do those calcs.
Title: Re: Blackberry, raspberry, and elder wine.
Post by: Col on February 01, 2014, 02:57:35 AM
Should be a cracker. However, I'd be careful with the squeezing - it can lead to problems clearing your wine. I never squeeze my straining bags any more; if you are short on volume, run some lukewarm water through the bag instead. That's just my opinion from experience, you understand, and not the gospel according to me or anybody.
Title: Re: Blackberry, raspberry, and elder wine.
Post by: Eoin on February 01, 2014, 09:27:13 AM
Quote from: Col on February 01, 2014, 02:57:35 AM
Should be a cracker. However, I'd be careful with the squeezing - it can lead to problems clearing your wine. I never squeeze my straining bags any more; if you are short on volume, run some lukewarm water through the bag instead. That's just my opinion from experience, you understand, and not the gospel according to me or anybody.


I did add pectolase as part of the original recipe so clearing is not an issue.

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