The Fun of Fermentation

Hi Rick,

I'm trying non-grape wines for the first time this season - blueberry being one of them. Do you know what went wrong in your "too sweet" blueberry?

I was thinking of gradually feeding sugar throughout the fermentation to hopefully achieve a higher alcohol wine. Do you think blueberries are a good candidate for that?

I've heard that starting a fermentation can be hard with blueberries. Did you use a quick starter or did it work ok without?

One recipe I'm looking at calls for an initial SG of 1.105 (Stanley Anderson's) but another source sez ideal is 1.085 since the berries themselves will be a source of additional sugar. Any comments?

Thanks a lot. Maybe I'll be a good winemaker in 20 years. Sigh

Glad Heart,

I've read that blueberries contain a compound, not unlike Sorbic Acid, which seems to have a yeast-inhbhiting effect. I don't know if it's true, but it would explain a lot. Perhaps you could feed the _blueberries_ in stages to a strongly fermenting sugar/nutrient must?

HTH, Mike MTM

I never did have problems with my fermentation. It really has gone well at any time. I think my problem was that I added too much sugar, and didn't use the right kind of yeast. Sooooo, after the yeast reached its saturation point, there was still a few points of residual sugar left in it. I think it could be half as sweet as it is, so you taste more blueberry and less sugar.

I added all my sugar at the same time. And, I sprinkled my yeast at the top without creating a starter. It's in cases like my blueberry wine where I can see how important it is to keep goood, accurate records. So far, I've just been playing and keeping loose notes. This year, i have more of an interest to keep track, to compare this year's with last year's batches.

We'll see how this batch goes. best wishes! Rick