Anyone brew there own Wine?

[Mr Bump]

I seem to have forages about 20kgs of black berries this week so looking at making some wine, anyone?

 

[lindsay]

I look at our blackberries every evening waiting for them to get bigger and ripen, looks like it'll be a few weeks yet. Loads of Elderberries in the garden that need to ripen, but I'm not into wine making - may create some cordial from them though.

 

[Dave Canon]

Elderberries are good to make wine as they are fairly similar to grapes. I used to make my own wine about 30 years ago but gave up when I realised that even wine from the bottom shelf of Tesco's tasted better. I had a good grape Vine in my garden which was well suited to this area as the local Vineyard produced award wining wines from this grape. I found my effort not that good and, before removing the vine, I let another local amateur winemaker pick the grapes. Later he gave me a bottle but, although it was better than mine it was still not as good as the cheapest supermarket wine.

Dave

 

[Norkie]

I seem to have forages about 20kgs of black berries this week so looking at making some wine, anyone?

Makes lovely jam

 

[andya700]

I look at our blackberries every evening waiting for them to get bigger and ripen, looks like it'll be a few weeks yet. Loads of Elderberries in the garden that need to ripen, but I'm not into wine making - may create some cordial from them though.

Had a large crop of blackberries a couple of years ago, made blackberry sorbet and then steeped a load in a bottle of Aldi vodka and left it for a couple of months. It was lovely, if a bit too viscous.

 

[Dave Canon]

I look at our blackberries every evening waiting for them to get bigger and ripen, looks like it'll be a few weeks yet. Loads of Elderberries in the garden that need to ripen, but I'm not into wine making - may create some cordial from them though.

You can freeze Blackberries and use them for Blackberry pies over the winter. Also you can pickle elderberries which then go well with some meats like venison, but do not steal the King's deer unless you are Robin Hood. My wife buys Venison from a local farmer and serves it with a sauce made from pickled elderberries and red wine.

Dave

 

[Mr Bump]

Just picked up a ton of brew kit local of FB market place for £15
25Li fermenter bucket
2 x 10Li fermenter buckets
48 x 500ml PET Beer bottles & caps
2 x hydrometers
Bubble type airlockThermometer
Syphon
Immersion heater
Spoon
Filter bag
Steriliser

 

[Mr Bump]

Makes lovely jam

not a jam fan tho sadly
i am also going to make turbo cider

 

[ancient_mariner]

Wine needs a bit of care to taste good, more than just bunging fruit and yeast in a jar. I would look for a concentrated grape juice to use as a base, possibly also adding banana to round the flavour. Look for a yeast that will give body, because blackberries can be very tasty and the wine needs to support that.

I've made wine and ciders in the past, but it's a lot of work to do well.

 

[Graham W]

Wine needs a bit of care to taste good, more than just binging fruit and yeast in a jar. I would look for a concentrated grape juice to use as a base, possibly also adding banana to round the flavour. Look for a yeast that will give body, because blackberries can be very tasty and the wine needs to support that.

I've made wine and ciders in the past, but it's a lot of work to do well.

 

[lindsay]

Also you can pickle elderberries which then go well with some meats like venison, but do not steal the King's deer unless you are Robin Hood. My wife buys Venison from a local farmer and serves it with a sauce made from pickled elderberries and red wine.

Dave

Interesting idea - I love venison and one of our neighbours is a deer farm (the animals occasionally find their way into our garden to eat apples off the trees too), so venison is readily available locally. Lovely idea!

 

[Mr Bump]

Wine needs a bit of care to taste good, more than just binging fruit and yeast in a jar. I would look for a concentrated grape juice to use as a base, possibly also adding banana to round the flavour. Look for a yeast that will give body, because blackberries can be very tasty and the wine needs to support that.

I've made wine and ciders in the past, but it's a lot of work to do well.

I am still gathering all my kit and ideas
do you have a specific link to blackberry wine recipe
lots of infor out there.

 

[ancient_mariner]

I am still gathering all my kit and ideas
do you have a specific link to blackberry wine recipe
lots of infor out there.

It's been about 25 years since I last made a wine.

I'd look for a Bordeaux, port or Sauternes yeast, plus yeast nutrient.
Grape concentrate - I suggest a white because it should allow more blackberry flavours through - like this: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Youngs-White-Grape-Juice-Enricher/dp/B003E1EKIU?
Citric acid, 2.5g
Pectic enzyme and campden tablets
White sugar - 340g for a dry red, up to 1kg for a sweet desert wine - in between according to taste.
340g light brown sugar
3kg blackberries

Stalk, wash and crush the blackberries, pour 2L boiling water over them and leave to cool.
Mix in the pectic enzyme and a crushed campden tablet and leave 24 hours (this sanitises the fruit and breaks down the pectin).
Activate and add the yeast, nutrient and grape concentrate, and ferment 5 days, keeping pulp submerged.
Boil and dissolve the sugars and acid in a pint of water, allow to cool.
Strain out, press dry the fruit pulp, stir in half the sugar syrup and add the must to a demijon. Fit the airlock and leave to ferment in a warm place 1 week.
Add half the remaining sugar, refit airlock and leave another week.
Add the remaining sugar and top up if necessary with clean water that has been boiled and cooled, refit airlock, leave until fermentation stops.
When the wine begins to clear, rack it (remove clearing wine from above sediment) add a campden tablet, top up if needed and leave in a cool dark place to settle.
When fully clear, rack again and store in a cool, dark place to prevent fading for 2 years.
Bottle and keep a further 6 months to 1 year.

Before starting, make sure everything is scrupulously clean and sanitised.
When bottling, pay attention to preparing the bottles and corks, boiling natural corks with campden tablets to sterilise and swell them to reduce risk of the wine becoming corked.

IME Elderberry wine needs at least a year after final rack before it becomes pleasantly drinkable, but longer can be better. A plum wine I made needed about 15 years, after which about 1/3 of the bottles were corked.

Good luck.

 

[Mr Bump]

@ancient_mariner wow that is epic, i have printed that out and will analyse that this week and order a few more supplies in
all the fruit is now frozen so i have plenty of time to get it all together