Blackberry wine

[koshergrl]

I've never had it, but I have decided I'm going to make it this year.

I live in the blackberry capital of the world, I think. I have more growing in my backyard than I can ever put to use...we can't eat that many blackberries in cobblers, pies, and jam in a lifetime, let alone a year.

What's funny is last year, I drove miles and miles looking for good blackberry picking spots...one evening we got home and pulled into the driveway, and though I knew we had a few in our yard, I'd never looked close...

THOUSANDS. I had enough to make as many batches of anything as I could ever want...and my girl was still able to eat her fill off the brambles every day for weeks.

What a bozo! I made blackberry jelly, which didn't quite set up (it was my first ever attempt...we ate it anyway and it was wonderful).

Anyway, I think it's pretty easy stuff, and I think it would be cool to have a little bit of blackberry wine stashed away...for medicinal purposes, of course.

 

[High_Gravity]

How do you make the wine?

 

[koshergrl]

It involves lots of blackberries, yeast, sugar, and a system of allowing the berries to ferment, then straining, then adding sugar, then allowing them to sit, then siphoning...then putting in a jug....then allowing it to sit a while...

something like that, lol.

 

[High_Gravity]

It involves lots of blackberries, yeast, sugar, and a system of allowing the berries to ferment, then straining, then adding sugar, then allowing them to sit, then siphoning...then putting in a jug....then allowing it to sit a while...

something like that, lol.

Oh ok, you have alot of success with it?

 

[koshergrl]

I've never done it, so I'm a little fuzzy on the details. But I'm going to!

I have no idea if it will be palatable or not. I hope so, for all the effort and time that has to go into it...

 

[High_Gravity]

Good luck!

 

[koshergrl]

Here's a recipe...but this is probably not the recipe I will use. The one I found and liked and saved (but can't find now) requires a couple of different filterings and weeks in between...

but the blackberry whisky sounds amazing!

"Put 2kg of blackberries in a clean fermenting bucket, pour over 4 litres of boiling water, mash the fruit then cover and leave to cool. Add a teaspoon of pectic enzyme to help it clear, and keep it covered. After one day dissolve in 1.4kg of sugar and add some wine yeast plus a teaspoon of yeast nutrient. Cover and leave for four or five days, stirring every day. Everything is strained, under as sterile conditions as you can manage, through a muslin cloth and put in a demi-john for about six weeks. Rack off into a fresh demi-john and bottle a few weeks after that or when you remember."

"Blackberry whisky is, so to speak, exactly the same as sloe gin but with completely different ingredients. Fill up a Kilner or jam jar with clean, dry blackberries, pour in granulated sugar to the two thirds mark then pour in (cheap!) whisky to the brim. Close the lid and shake. Shake again every day until all the sugar has dissolved. Leave as long as you can (a year is good), keeping the blackberries in the jar – they will make a fantastic dessert served with ice-cream when the time comes. "

How to make blackberry wine and whisky | Life and style | guardian.co.uk

 

[boedicca]

I want KG to adopt me.

Adding blackberry wine to the menu of all her delish dinners would be faboo!

 

[koshergrl]

Sadly, while the food at my home is divine, the ambiance is somewhat...I dunno, doggy? Shabby?

I'm poor with kids and dogs...I serve high tone food in really slapdash surroundings, lol, and I'm not super committed to presentation. Maybe by the time I'm 70 or so I'll have it all together.

 

[koshergrl]

And I look forward to it, because without kids and dogs, I WILL be able to put on a show!!!!

 

[boedicca]

Sadly, while the food at my home is divine, the ambiance is somewhat...I dunno, doggy? Shabby?

I'm poor with kids and dogs...I serve high tone food in really slapdash surroundings, lol, and I'm not super committed to presentation. Maybe by the time I'm 70 or so I'll have it all together.

The company around the table is more important the fancy digs, imo.

 

[koshergrl]

I need a bigger, different table...I'm ready for something a little different!

 

[koshergrl]

I'm watching the berries minute by minute practically, lol.

Two weekends from now, I'm going to do some elderberry hunting. I don't know if I'll find enough to make anything, but I need to scope them out.

 

[High_Gravity]

And I look forward to it, because without kids and dogs, I WILL be able to put on a show!!!!

I bet the food will be awesome!

 

[flacaltenn]

I'm watching the berries minute by minute practically, lol.

Two weekends from now, I'm going to do some elderberry hunting. I don't know if I'll find enough to make anything, but I need to scope them out.

Blackberry Wine is quite common at local wineries in Tenn. You could order a bottle to compare to.. This one from Belle Meade is pretty darn good sweet wine.. If you like MogenDavid -- you'd love this..

Mostly used for desert prep.. Much like a syrup with a kick...

Here's a couple recipes for BBerry wine Jam Cake and BBerry biscuit cobbler..

OF COURSE you need a bisquit recipe in TENN !!

The Winery at Belle Meade Plantation

The Winery at Belle Meade Plantation » Blackerry Lovers Biscuit Cobbler

The Winery at Belle Meade Plantation » Belle Meade Blackberry Wine Jam Cake

 

[koshergrl]

I've also been playing with the idea of dandelion wine..which is more of a tonic, I think, than a sipping wine. But it just sounds so cool!

 

[DennieCyper]

I haven't tasted Blackberry wine yet, would surely like to taste it once.

 

[koshergrl]

Me too. It isn't going to happen anytime soon...freaking blackberries this year haven't come on well...usually I can pick them right out my back door, more than I can use ever, but this year, every time we've gotten some on, it has gotten wet and they've molded. I picked a couple of batches of them..the first were so sour and small, they were inedible. I got one good cobbler out of the next batch, and I haven't been able to get any since.

 

[Mr. H.]

It probably tastes like Mogen David.

 

[squeeze berry]

I've never done it, so I'm a little fuzzy on the details. But I'm going to!

I have no idea if it will be palatable or not. I hope so, for all the effort and time that has to go into it...

I would suggest trying this to get an idea of how a fruit wine should taste.

Horton Vineyards Fruit Wines


fruit presses are the way to go, but are not cheap

Grape Crushers, Presses and Equipment for Fruit Winemaking

the good news is that once you have the press you are unlimited in the type of wine you can make

I have often considered planting apple and pear trees, but making wine is time consuming and often you make mistakes.

You could also try a wine kit. No press needed. I have made delicious wine from kits.Also there are fruit purees so the crushing step is done for you.

just google wine making supplies