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