This weekend fun will be the 2nd blackberry batch from this falls pickings. 1st batch (5 gallon) is bulk aging, nothin' but blackberries with Pastuer Red yeast in that one.
Objective, full flavored dry table wine. So being a rank noobie (I'm looking for thumbs up or thumbs down people - help) , the recipe will be as follows, unless someone stops me :-)
30lbs Blackberry
5lbs banana
2lbs dark raisins Sucrose to 1.095 Acid blend to .65%
3.5 tsp pectic enzyme
6.5 tsp yeast nutrient Water to 6.5gal Cote Des Blanc yeast
Any fixes or advice is appreicated. TIA Steve - Noobie Oregon
Sounds good but I would have lost the raisins. At 5 or 6 lbs in a gal, Blackberries will stand on their own legs and do not need the vinuosity form the grapes. But I do not think the grapes will hurt anything.
I'd agree with you thus far, Ray; certainly 5 lbs of blackberries to the gallon should give a good full body. 6lb would be better, but maybe the banana will add a little more.
But I'd be slightly concerned that the raisins might mask the very sharp and lively flavour of the blackberry - which might already have been reduced a little if the fruit has been in the freezer. I'd be tempted to leave out the raisins, and reduce the quantity of water just a little (and obviously adjust the acid and sugar accordingly)
Thank you folks for the response, unfortunately it's to late for this season. The must is quietly working in the kitchen.
Banana's: sliced and simmered then the 'juice' and fruit were added to the primary along with the other ingredients. The taste in my opinion was too heavy to bananas. Or maybe I should say more than I wished it were. I pulled the bananas from the must and the dominance has yielded to the blackberry. Seems it's due to blackberry extraction increasing and filling in around the existing banana flavor and aroma. Much nicer, much more blackberryey?
The must is thick, kind of, almost, syrupy which is a bit different than my first batch. The first was thick, but more like I was used to seeing with the peach, pear, grape etc. Maybe this is due to better extraction /because/ of the freezer time or the added raisins and banana, or both. To many variables to discern the reason in any case.
The actual quantity of dark raisins used is 1.67lbs, which, at least at this point is barely detectable. I don't /know/ being a noobie, but it doesn't detract from the blackberry right now. I guess we will see as it progresses though.
Since I have a both a blackberry only batch and this recipe going I will report back a side by side comparison next year. Right after the peach tastings are posted. Dar V's wine tastings has prompted me to follow her lead for feedback on my first attempts. Luckily I'm a pretty thick skinned fellow!
I like the way the Core des Blanc is progressing, it must like blackberrys.
Removed blackberries today from the fermenting must. ~ 5 days after it began.
The fruit was left in the must longer with this batch compared to the last (~3 days). The slightest /perception/ of bitterness from the seeds is what triggered removal in each case.
Last batch used Pasteur Red and this one, Cote des Blanc. Which is nicely bubbling away but at a less vigorous clip than with Pasteur Red. Alcohol sensation came on slower with Cote des Blanc. I'm think this batch is making a case for this yeast. It allowed longer fruit contact beacuse of less aggressive fermentation in this instance. Something that might be useful in the future.
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