I used Winemakers Magazine Blackberry Port recipe 3 years ago. It was a favorite of my friends and family. I started a 6 Gallon batch today.
- 36 pounds blackberries
- 3 cups light dried malt
- 10.5 pounds of sugar
- 3 tsp pectic enzyme
- 7.5 tsp acid blend
- 3 gallons (48 cups) of water
- 6 campden tablets
- 3 tsp yeast energizer
- 6 tsp yeast nutrient
- 2 packages Lalvin K1-V1116
With blackberries in season in the northwest, there are plenty of wild berries to be found. My sweetie picks several days for a couple of weeks. We keep them in the freezer until there is enough for me to start my batch of wine.
Day 1:
- Place sugar into primary fermenter
- To this add 9 cups boiled water
- Stir until the sugar is thoroughly dissolved and have clear simple sugar mix
- Next, place a fruit bag in the fermenter
- Begin adding blackberries…most of mine were frozen. So as I added berries, I also poured over more boiling water at the rate of 6 cups. I continued this process until all 36 pounds of berries and the 3 gallons of water were added to the bucket.
- Next I stirred well, covered lightly with a towel, then left to sit overnight to further defrost and allow berries to release their juice.
Day 2:
- Stirred berries and crushed, checked temperature which was around 64 degrees.
- I added the crushed campden, mixed with cool filtered water, and stirred thoroughly in fruit
- Next, I dissolved the energizer, nutrient, acid blend, with filtered water and added this to the fruit mixture.
- I made note of the time, 10:00 AM.
- At 10:00 PM, after the campden has had a chance to dissipate, I will add the pectic enzyme.
- I assembled my yeast starter, which I will pitch around 10:00 AM tomorrow.
Yeast Starter:
- To a 1/2 gallon jar, I added 1 tsp of sugar and 2 dashes of yeast nutrient
- Next I added 1 cup of boiled and cooled water with temp about 100 degrees.
- I mixed thoroughly the sprinkled the 2 yeast packets over the starter.
- I covered the jar with a paper towel and rubber band.
- I will continue to feed the yeast every two hours
SG 1.102, PA 14%, Brix 25