Blackberry Fruit Wine Base

Ingredients:

One 96 oz can of Blackberry Fruit Base

6 cans warm water (4.5 gallons)

14 lbs. corn sugar or 12 lbs. white table sugar

6 tsp. acid blend

4 tsp yeast nutrient

2.5 tsp pectic enzyme

5 tsp potassium bisulfite solution

1 pkg Red Star Premiere Cuvee wine yeast, or Cote des Blanc wine yeast for a sweeter wine

2.5 tsp potassium sorbate to stabilize

Instructions

1. Sanitize all equipment and utinsils with bisulfite solution (5 tsp potassium bisulfite in 1 cup water).

2. Put fruit into straining bag, tie bag and add to fermenter 

3. Add all ingredients EXCEPT for the last TWO.

Stir well to dissolve sugar. Starting Gravity should be about 1.085-1.090.

4. Cover and let sit overnight to allow SO2 to be released.

5. Sprinkle yeast on top of juice (must). Temperture should be 70-80 deg. F.

6. The next day, stir top half of must. Repeat daily until specific gravity lowers to 1.040 (4 or 5 days).

7. When gravity reads 1.040 remove bag of fruit. Press and strain juice from pulp and discard the pulp. Siphon must into secondary vessel, like a carboy. top up with water to minimize airspace and attach airlock.

8. Siphon wine again in 3-4 weeks when gravity reads 1.010 to 1.000. Add 1 tsp bisulfite solution per gallon of must.

9. After wine is clear (2-3 months) stabilize to prevent renewed fermentation and sweeten with wine conditioner to taste if too dry.

10. Wine can be consumed at this point, but will benefit with aging of 6 months to one year.

1/26/2008 -- I live about an hour (if traffic is good) from the address on your website. Do you have an actual store or is everything here based solely online?

12/15/2007 -- I grow blackberrys to make wine. This last spring we had a late freeze and as a result I had very few berries. I normally use two pounds per gallon but cut it down to one pound which yielded weak wine so I ordered two cans of your blackberry base. Now my wine smells and tastes like perfume. What went wrong?

3/28/2005 -- My first batch turned out great!! Now I would like to make a 5 gal batch with 2 cans of concentrate. Do I double all ingrediants or what? Thanks,

3/22/2005 -- I'm using Blackcurrants as a fruit base,and having just read the recipe in the Q&A's section and was curious to hear suggestions on the juice concentrations and nutrient type as I was intending to make a heavy one.

11/13/2004 -- to make 5 gallons of blackberry wine..is it better to add 1 can of base and 1 can of puree for a better aroma and taste??

10/10/2004 -- A friend of mine is into making wine at home in his spare time. I asked him what it would take to make me some fruity wines, perhaps a blueberry or blackberry wine. He said I would need a fruit puree enough to make 5 gallons. My main question is this, would I be better off to purchase the Oregan fruit puree or the wine fruit base of my choice? How long does it usually take ship and what forms of . . .

8/2/2004 -- i was looking for a plum fruit base & came across your complete package for wine making for fruit bases. does it come with instructions on how much of each ingredient is needed & would i then be able to buy that & then 3 cans of fruit base to make 15 gallons of wine? how much sugar is needed?

4/10/2004 -- approxamately , how many of pounds of fresh berries would one 96 ounce of fruit base be equal to?

10/31/2003 -- Instead of ordering your peach wine base, would a large can of peaches from the grocery store work just as well?

7/28/2003 -- Even though you say one unit of fruit base will make 5 Gal. if I use one and a half or two units will I get a richer flavor and a fuller body wine?

7/7/2003 -- Can the Blackberry fruit wine base be used in making mead? Could I use 12 lbs. of honey instead of sugar or corn sugar? Thanks, Jeff

6/23/2003 -- Is one unit of base enough to make 5 gallons of wine? What is the cost of shipping?