Blackberry wine

[ReeferMac]

Anyone ever try making some?

Any hobbiest winemakers here?

 

I got a chance for a 2nd trip up a mountain in Morgan County LOADED with blackberries/black raspberries. My 1st trip netted 4x 1-gallon freezer bags, I made a buttload of jam. Imagine 2nd trip will bring back similair amount. Thinking about trying to make some blackberry wine? I have a large glass car-boy I can use for a fermenting vessel (and some large steel pots to mix it all in/primary fermenter)... minimum investment in equipment I hope. There is a home-brew shop in area I can source remainder at (and get technical advice).

 

... my biggest fear is losing all those jars of jam and ending up with 4 gallons of vinegar (or some nasty tasting homemade hooch!)

 

Anyone ever try before? Suggestions/advice appreciated. Can I trade jars of jam for .357?

[QuackerSmacker]

This looks like a great source of info on this topic:  https://minnetonkaorchards.com/how-to-make-blackberry-wine/  

When all's done, let us know where the party will be!  

[dralarms]

51 minutes ago, ReeferMac said:

Anyone ever try making some?

Any hobbiest winemakers here?

 

I got a chance for a 2nd trip up a mountain in Morgan County LOADED with blackberries/black raspberries. My 1st trip netted 4x 1-gallon freezer bags, I made a buttload of jam. Imagine 2nd trip will bring back similair amount. Thinking about trying to make some blackberry wine? I have a large glass car-boy I can use for a fermenting vessel (and some large steel pots to mix it all in/primary fermenter)... minimum investment in equipment I hope. There is a home-brew shop in area I can source remainder at (and get technical advice).

 

... my biggest fear is losing all those jars of jam and ending up with 4 gallons of vinegar (or some nasty tasting homemade hooch!)

 

Anyone ever try before? Suggestions/advice appreciated. Can I trade jars of jam for .357?

I make all kinds of wine

[Defender]

7 minutes ago, dralarms said:

I make all kinds of wine

 Was a good friend of mine
I never understood a single word he said
But I helped him a-drink his wine
And he always had some mighty fine wine

[Alleycat72]

When I was 14ish I picked a bunch of blackberries and forgot them in the basement. A few weeks later and with a strong alcohol smell emanating from the basement, I had some explaining to do.

[dralarms]

9 minutes ago, Defender said:

 Was a good friend of mine
I never understood a single word he said
But I helped him a-drink his wine
And he always had some mighty fine wine

I don’t get the reference. 

[Omega]

[Defender]

1 hour ago, dralarms said:

I don’t get the reference. 

Sorry, showing my age.  Omega got it, above.  Words to a Three Dog Night song from the early 70's, Jeremiah Was A Bullfrog. 

[dralarms]

7 minutes ago, Defender said:

Sorry, showing my age.  Omega got it, above.  Words to a Three Dog Night song from the early 70's, Jeremiah Was A Bullfrog. 

I remember that song, but it’s been ages. grew up listening to that.

[Defender]

My dry humor is often not caught by others.   First, it’s pretty dry, and sometimes sarcastic, 2nd, some if it is because I’m old, lol.

[gregintenn]

I've never made any, but it is wonderful if done correctly.

[No_0ne]

4 hours ago, ReeferMac said:

Anyone ever try making some?

Any hobbiest winemakers here?

 

I got a chance for a 2nd trip up a mountain in Morgan County LOADED with blackberries/black raspberries. My 1st trip netted 4x 1-gallon freezer bags, I made a buttload of jam. Imagine 2nd trip will bring back similair amount. Thinking about trying to make some blackberry wine? I have a large glass car-boy I can use for a fermenting vessel (and some large steel pots to mix it all in/primary fermenter)... minimum investment in equipment I hope. There is a home-brew shop in area I can source remainder at (and get technical advice).

 

... my biggest fear is losing all those jars of jam and ending up with 4 gallons of vinegar (or some nasty tasting homemade hooch!)

 

Anyone ever try before? Suggestions/advice appreciated. Can I trade jars of jam for .357?

I had a grandfather that ran bootleg whiskey from up north, if that counts ...

[ReeferMac]

4 hours ago, dralarms said:

I make all kinds of wine

Oh, AND you're close by!

Any issue with juicing the berries pronto Sunday and freezing the juice?

[dralarms]

4 minutes ago, ReeferMac said:

Oh, AND you're close by!

Any issue with juicing the berries pronto Sunday and freezing the juice?

Nope, you could even freeze the berries and they’ll give you more juice. 
 

 

[Smokin45]

Made 30 gallons a year using Concord pressed juice from Fulkersons vinyard on Seneca lake. You need help let me know.  

[dralarms]

Same here. Be glad to offer any help I can

[ReeferMac]

1 hour ago, smokin45 said:

Made 30 gallons a year using Concord pressed juice from Fulkersons vinyard on Seneca lake. You need help let me know.  

Well dang, we used to go camping down thereabouts every summer. Keuka was our fav, better bass.

Appreciate the offers for help! I may have to try this (got enough jam).

[ReeferMac]

2 hours ago, dralarms said:

You could even freeze the berries and they’ll give you more juice. 
 

I've heard that... and the old-timers here said boil the berries, then mash them, extract/discard the mash, more juice...

The missus has 2 of those KitchenAid desktop cement mixers w/ PTO on the front? And we've got the juicer attachment... I've run blue and black berries through that thing... you get a pretty dry mash out the other end. Can't imagine extracting much more? I'll send the stuff through on a second pass if it looks a little wet! I like the idea of the neatness of 'just the juice', too. I can make more jam, or try some wine, or maybe both! I forget how many quarts of juice I got from the 4 gallons of berries, but it was quite a bit, prolly 1.5-2 gallons. Maybe 7-10 bottles of wine? Or 20 more jars of homemade jam... ?  Both make great Christmas presents!

[dralarms]

47 minutes ago, ReeferMac said:

Well dang, we used to go camping down thereabouts every summer. Keuka was our fav, better bass.

Appreciate the offers for help! I may have to try this (got enough jam).

I just noticed you’re in Kingston, I just installed an alarm system in your new auto zone. 

[dralarms]

Just now, ReeferMac said:

I've heard that... and the old-timers here said boil the berries, then mash them, extract/discard the mash, more juice...

The missus has 2 of those KitchenAid desktop cement mixers w/ PTO on the front? And we've got the juicer attachment... I've run blue and black berries through that thing... you get a pretty dry mash out the other end. Can't imagine extracting much more? I'll send the stuff through on a second pass if it looks a little wet! I like the idea of the neatness of 'just the juice', too. I can make more jam, or try some wine, or maybe both! I forget how many quarts of juice I got from the 4 gallons of berries, but it was quite a bit, prolly 1.5-2 gallons. Maybe 7-10 bottles of wine? Or 20 more jars of homemade jam... ?  Both make great Christmas presents!

No boil,  makes it hard to clear later. When you boil fruit it sets the pectin making it harder to clear. 

[ReeferMac]

Haha, thats wild... I just started working in the fire sprinkler biz!

[ReeferMac]

5 minutes ago, dralarms said:

No boil,  makes it hard to clear later. When you boil fruit it sets the pectin making it harder to clear. 

Gotcha. Now granted, we were discussing making jam, so that may have been a benefit in that situation!

Funny, last year I made a batch of jam, and apparently I didn't add enough pectin, as it turned out as syrup instead of jam! Was good for pancakes! Made sure to add enough this go 'round.

Edited July 17, 2021 by ReeferMac

[dralarms]

3 minutes ago, ReeferMac said:

Gotcha. Now granted, we were discussing making jam, so that may have been a benefit in that situation!

Funny, last year I made a batch of jam, and apparently I didn't add enough pectin, as it turned out as syrup instead of jam! Was good for pancakes! Made sure to add enough this go 'round.

I’ll bet that was good. If you get over this direction you could come by, pick up a few samples and see my operation. Maybe get some ideas. 

[brat]

I raise blackberries, muscadines, grapes, elderberries and use them all in wine, seedless jams, syrups for colds/virus/infections, etc...

These are from this mornings quick pick on my rows. All together about 3 1/2 gallons, a relative normal pick every two to three days. Had three nine to ten gallons days earlier in the season. Average between 36 and 43 gallons a season the last four years. This year will eclipse 50 I'm positive thanks to all the rain this season.

Except for what the family pilfers, I freeze all of mine in 2 quart vac bags with about 1/3 cup of sugar to juice them and help preserve. When time comes to process, just take out what I need and either steam juice and can for syrup, press for wine or run thru a Squeezo for seedless jam.

Takes a little investment for wine (good link above) but other than the consumable additives, will last if taken care of. Wine making is easy, most critical is having everything sterile. Plenty of recipes all over the web and most encourage trying different blends of juices. I have 5 gallons of blackberry/elderberry in carboy now along with another 5 gallon carboy of blackberry. Plenty of places to order supplies as well. I like a sweet after dinner wine so one thing to keep in mind is that the more alcohol you make, the less sweet the end product. I try to maintain a 10-12% that suits my palate, more importantly the wife's. There is some truth to the old saying... "Drunk wife, happy life".

I've had good luck with this company over the years.....  https://labelpeelers.com/

Steam juicers and a Squeeo can be found on the intraweb. My old aluminum 1930-40's era Squeeo came off of ebay. Better built, no plastic parts. Sqeezo makes making seedless jams a breeze. If you like jelly, the steam juicer is the bomb, in my opinion, especially for elderberry.

Good luck and don't be afraid to experiment. Everyone I know has had to throw out a batch or two over the years.

[ReeferMac]

Well I didn't get skunked, but either someone got in ahead of us or the storms knocked a lot off. Only got 1 gal. worth of berries today. Looks like peak is passed. Might try one more time, or look for another location. For now I washed and froze the berries.