Author Topic: blackberry wine. time in demijohn?  (Read 21523 times)

RenishawPhil

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blackberry wine. time in demijohn?
« on: August 01, 2011, 19:30:22 »
Started some blackberry wine for the first time last week.  Have just strained it into the demijohn.  How long should I.normally expect to leave it in the demijohn?, .also with regards to fermentation lock how much water should go into it?

zigzig

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Re: blackberry wine. time in demijohn?
« Reply #1 on: August 02, 2011, 21:42:28 »
The old recipes said until it stops bubbling.

There is no proper rule about time. It depends on the temperature etc and we all know that today it could be 20degrees C.Then for the next few days less than 16degrees.

More or Less.

I know Great Aunt Ida and Grand Mother Smith always used fruits to make what they called 'Wine' .

True there is an alcoholic result BUT they only made it because they did not have refridgeration to keep the fruits overwinter.

Very few people these days offer a guest a glass of home grown fruit or vegetable/ brewed @WINE@

The results are pretty disgusting.

Today we are able to afford 3 bottle for £10of real wine so we know what proper (all be it cheap) wine should taste like.

BUT they do a good job at clearing the toilet.

Don't waste your money on the sugar and yeast.


lottie lou

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Re: blackberry wine. time in demijohn?
« Reply #2 on: August 02, 2011, 22:53:25 »
Mine never stays in the demi john long.  Unfortunately it doesn't get bottled either.  Made some damson wine years ago and forgot about it.  Five years later found the demi john - it was lovely

adrianhumph

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Re: blackberry wine. time in demijohn?
« Reply #3 on: August 31, 2011, 17:42:51 »
Hi,
    While i can see  where zig zags is coming from with his  opinions on home made wine, I do not think being quite so negative is very useful. I would suggest that fermentation will be over in approximately 1 Month. The use of a hydrometer will show a specific gravity of below 1.000. usually if the correct amount of sugar has been used it will taste very dry & the reading will be .990. The wine then needs siphoning off its sediment ASAP, & the new demijon needs to be topped up so no air space is left. With experience you will learn to make more than a gallon initially & use the excess to top up the demijon. The wine will now need at least 3 to 6 months to mature, I always rack the wine again after 3 months.
With regard to the water in the air lock, I top it up with as much water as I can get in.
                       
                                                                                                      Adrian.

Gordonmull

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Re: blackberry wine. time in demijohn?
« Reply #4 on: September 06, 2011, 21:45:15 »
Adrian has obviously been creating his own tipple for a while now To explain some what he meant and also to reassure you, I can safely say that home brewed wines are nothing like toilet cleaner unless you muck them up, usually by putting too much sugar in.

To confirm the finish of fermentation you need a hydrometer. You can buy one online, search "homebrew". I personally like to use "thethriftyshopper", simply because the few times they do muck up an order they make it right pronto with no arguments. You could also get one in a homebrew shop or Wilkos.

Read your hydrometer according to the instructions enclosed and check again after 4 or 5 days. If the reading is the same it is finished. Pay attention to the temperture instructions. With experience you will learn to recognise it but, as adrian say, it MUST be below 1.000 or you could be making hand grenades instead of slurp.

Racking is just syhponing off the sediment. Do get a racking stick, available from Wilkos, online or a local homebrew store. This makes it so much easier and has a little cup to prevent the old decomposing yeast from being carried over.

Now this will probably cause a bit of controversy amongst other home brewers, but I feel keeping the demijohn topped up is not absolutely essential as long as you don't degas the wine. This is something you also need to know about. The reason that it is reccommended you keep the dj topped up is that it reduces contact with oxygen, which can turn your brew to something along the lines of bramble vinegar. A similar wine or, as adrian says, a little extra of the same wine fermented on the side can be used. I never use water. I'll take the risk with the CO2 in this case.

However, during the fermentation process, as you probably noticed, there is a lot of CO2 produced. This dissolves in the wine and lurks in the headspace, and being heavier than oxygen, displaces it. If you have extra to top up with then use it just in case (i know i do!).

Degassing. Very important if you don't want your wine tasting and smelling like a sewer, with a slight acidic sparkle across the tongue. Here you are removing the CO2 that has dissolved during fermentation. It also helps the wine to clear fully, since the gas bhoys up small particles. Take out your airlock, leave the bung in and cover the hole in the bung with your finger. Get a finger and thumb through the dj handle in case of slippage. Now shake the living daylights out of it. Carefully and slowly let your thumb off the bung or your wife will ban you from ever brewing again. Repeat until you get no more than a whisper of gas coming out. Do this after racking!

Good tutorial on brewing from the pulp, too late now, but useful for the future:
http://www.winesathome.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=1631

Lots of good recipes here. Beware the american gallon though, you will need to convert, I've been caught out before by this!
http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/

As for 3 bottles for a tenner...to hell with that! I can get 30 bottles for less than a tenner. Just have a look at the first tutorial in the wines at home tutorial series above. I do seriously reccommend you work through those tutorials if you are in any way interested in winemaking. They really help you walk before you run and avoid the dissapointment that can come of chucking sugar, frut and yeast in a bucket and hoping for the best.

Anyway, hope it turns out well for you. If not, post it to me and I'll drink it for ya  ;)


Kleftiwallah

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Re: blackberry wine. time in demijohn?
« Reply #5 on: October 02, 2011, 20:40:34 »
Don't forget to use camden tablet dilution in the 'bubbler' and not straight water.     Cheers,     Tony.
" I may be growing old, but I refuse to grow up !"

GrannieAnnie

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Re: blackberry wine. time in demijohn?
« Reply #6 on: October 07, 2011, 23:40:58 »
Getting in on this late so I guess you're doing fine by now.
Don't let negative comments stop you from this fun pursuit. I've been experimenting for a couple years now, and have created some delightful wines in addition to some interesting mistakes which are all part of the learning process. One year I made terrific crabapple wine which folks loved; the next year it turned out poorly due to contaminants, not enough campden tablets I think.

Have a great time! Let us know how it tastes, too.
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ToniD

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Re: blackberry wine. time in demijohn?
« Reply #7 on: August 04, 2012, 22:53:04 »
Now this will probably cause a bit of controversy amongst other home brewers, but I feel keeping the demijohn topped up is not absolutely essential as long as you don't degas the wine. This is something you also need to know about. The reason that it is reccommended you keep the dj topped up is that it reduces contact with oxygen, which can turn your brew to something along the lines of bramble vinegar. A similar wine or, as adrian says, a little extra of the same wine fermented on the side can be used. I never use water..

It is essential, the point, is to use cooled, boiled water.

Gordonmull

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Re: blackberry wine. time in demijohn?
« Reply #8 on: August 05, 2012, 20:02:18 »
Water down booze?  :o   ;D

Never!  ;D

That got me thinking though, a 30% dilution of vodka/water would keep the strength up. Not that I'm all about the alcohol content. I've made that mistake before!

I have several wines that are nearly 2 years old, still in the demijohn with about 2-3" of headspace and all are still fine. The guy that told me about this had to really convince me to leave the "standard" approach behind but I caved and gave it a go. Two fluids with different densities (air and CO2) won't readily mix and CO2 is denser than oxygen, so will always remain on the bottom.

You can confirm this to yourself quite easily by taking a match or a burning piece of paper and putting it into the neck of your demijohn. It should instantly go out. I've actually just done this on my oldest wine and it's still got a nice CO2 layer in there. The flame never even got 1cm into the neck. Like I say though, if you degas the wine, then you lose this protection.

cestrian

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Re: blackberry wine. time in demijohn?
« Reply #9 on: August 05, 2012, 23:47:50 »
I made some blackberry wine a couple of years ago and it turned out beautiful. I left it for 1 month in the demijohn and then decanted into another demijohn to get it off the trub (dead yeast). Then I left it in the shed for 12 months to mature.

That's quite quick, Elderberry wine needs to mature in bulk for two years before bottling.

A good website for all things brewing is Jimsbeerkit.co.uk Its predominantly a beer brewing website but there's lots of good advice on wine and meads too.

Gordonmull

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Re: blackberry wine. time in demijohn?
« Reply #10 on: August 06, 2012, 19:17:49 »
Jim's is great. I love the "Other Brews" section. When I first started brewing I think I read every single post on there. It's the place where the limits of home brewing are pushed.

I do still rate the wines at home site's tutorials, though. A brilliant place to start for a novice wanting to make wine.

 

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