fermented blackberies

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fermented blackberies

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dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46211
Location: yes

Posted: Sun Aug 09, 20 1:37 pm Post subject: fermented blackberies
ummm rather nice last years experiments, all have had a promising result 15 litres of fino which needs a little longer with a bit of air and once mixed from 2 demijohn size batches 5 litres of a good palo imitation in the medium to dry range the method was brutal nowt like the traditional ones, including filling my slippers with "sherry" while bottling/barrelling

Mistress Rose

Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15967

Posted: Mon Aug 10, 20 7:01 am Post subject:

I make bramble wine, but that sounds as if it is a bit different. What did you do and what is the result?

As for transfer, the worst part I find is getting the fermenting juice off the fruit. I have tried a pipe under the fruit, but the bubbles block it, so now I use a soup ladle and put it through some muslin in a funnel. Still very messy. The pipe I have for racking off and bottling has a tap on one end, so apart from the odd miscalculation or accident, fairly clean, although I do do the job in the bath to make it easier to clean up. For historical reasons we have a window sill but no window in our bathroom, and it is rather convenient to put the demijohns up there and the bottles or clean demijohn in the bath.

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46211
Location: yes

Posted: Mon Aug 10, 20 11:16 am Post subject:

i fermented on the pulp, sieved, added inverted sugar for a good start , added sugar in a little water, added more sugar a bit at a time as crystal til fermented out using port yeast and natural yeasts cos i do not sterilize fruit any more(i guess it was around 18% when it stopped) ie a long slow ferment, let it sit over the lees with some tea tannin and let a bit of air through the airlocks when they dried out before refilling them to simulate a wood barrel as best as i could until it had dropped
those things took a year

tapped the barrel and syphoned the demijohns off the lees

a year on the 2/3 full demijohns were both good young "sherry" i have blended them together and it is a very nice medium "sherry" in taste. texture, leg and colour

decent drink if you like that sort of thing and super in cooking as i discovered in yesterday's gravy

the barrel which had a lower surface area to volume ratio needs a bit longer before bottling although it is now off the lees and did get well aerated as it was transferred to tub and back to barrel so hopefully by the time i need the barrel again it can be bottled.

i might need to do the egg white and brandy trick if i need to speed that up

it could have gone horribly wrong but it did not and of 3 different regimes, 2 are good and even better blended, the bigger one has promise although it is slower

ps
a pulp bag is one option the other is a sieve , 2 pots and extra mess

a strong pillow case will work but a nylon pulp bag is only a few quid and is far better

you put the fruit in the bag and put it in the bucket or tub

i still do that squeezing bit outside with a hose pipe handy

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46211
Location: yes

Posted: Mon Aug 10, 20 11:23 am Post subject:
ps it is a bit more complex than that basic process, for instance the barrel was multiple batches as and when fruit was pickable the fruit was grade 2 at best last year which is useful to know the wild yeast component will be different from place to place etc but it is worth a try

Mistress Rose

Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15967

Posted: Tue Aug 11, 20 7:20 am Post subject:

Thanks. I make bramble wine, usually without the tannin, as I am not so keen on the flavour it adds. I prefer a smooth wine. Sounds as if that method ties up equipment other than demi-johns for quite a time, so something to perhaps try after the quince wine has brewed. I have a couple of gallons of standard bramble wine on the go this year, and some of last years quince still to bottle. Can't get anything other than 'wine yeast' round here, and that is hard to get hold of, but could probably buy some mail order if I want to.

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46211
Location: yes

Posted: Tue Aug 11, 20 1:31 pm Post subject:
an oak firkin might be a useful bit of kit for taking it to the next stage ps re syphoning i forget that i have a filter cylinder formed over a rolling pin from stainless steel fly screen netting pop it in the ferment tub and syphon from inside it it works rather well

Mistress Rose

Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15967

Posted: Wed Aug 12, 20 7:15 am Post subject:
Sounds a good idea. I might try to make something like that.

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46211
Location: yes

Posted: Wed Aug 12, 20 10:25 am Post subject:

for yeasts mail order can provide a huge variety of known characteristics

for general wine using a high alcohol turbo yeast seems to work for most things
fast is good if you want to keep oxidation to a minimum and it gives good turnaround time on kit

something like a chablis yeast for elderflower or other delicate ones like grapes or strawberries:lol:

i ferment blackberries on the pulp with a turbo yeast and the naturals then i use a port yeast for super strong blackberry, added as a vigorous starter at the demijohn/barrel/dry sugar stage in decreasing batches until it stops

ps all that sterilizing nonsense might make things very predictable but having wild yeasts in the mix is better for flavour and equipment works fine after a quick hosing to get the lumps off

many brewers/vintners will be horrified by that but it works better for me than lab grade hygiene ever did.

cider i often do with nowt but wild yeasts, boosted from batch to batch in a starter bottle

ps is says use within 3 months of opening on my tub of turbo yeast but it has been fine in the fridge for 2 years

at the bottling stage i am very clean and seal well

iirc when i used to make beer the lager(almost special brew strength but nicer) had a Belgian yeast, German malt and Czech hops
the other one had a dark oxford malt and kent hops with a stout yeast (that one was above sb strength)

wine tends to be whatever fruit and the yeasts i mentioned

Mistress Rose

Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15967

Posted: Thu Aug 13, 20 8:48 am Post subject:
Don't do beer. None of us are beer drinkers. I prefer to just heat the blackberries as I don't know what, apart from yeast, is on them. I sterilise all equipment, but no added chemicals in the brew. I might just try a single gallon with just washed blackberries and see if it works.

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46211
Location: yes

Posted: Thu Aug 13, 20 11:28 am Post subject:
i do not wash them, straight in the tub from the picking bowl, bugs n all afaik there is a low pesticide load in my yard but there may be a mix of urban pollutants. i probably get more of them directly than i might get from fermented berries especially once the solids drop.

Mistress Rose

Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15967

Posted: Fri Aug 14, 20 7:52 am Post subject:
I always wash things I bring in from the garden or woods. Habit and brought up by a mother who lived in London before the clean air acts and in the days of too many horses.

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