Homemade Blueberry Wine 
A recipe from Lee Etherington, Owner, Caza Berry Farm (Feb 1, 2001)
Homemade Blueberry Wine A recipe from Lee Etherington, Owner, Caza Berry Farm (Feb 1, 2001)
This wine was made in 1999. Blueberries 28 lbs. and Water 6 litres (1 litre/ 5 lbs) yielded ph 3.0; acid .45; Brix 8.0 (brix of pure juice is 11.0) The must is very heavy. Used a small filter bag with marbles lowered into the must so I could extract juice with a syphon for testing.
Added:acid blend - 6 tsp.; pectic enz.-1 tsp.; sulphur - 50 ppm. and the results were ph. 2.9 and acid .55. 24 hours later I added 6.9 lbs. of sugar - brix reading at this point was 23.5. Added yeast nutrient as per label and added packaged yeast "Cote des Blancs". Fermented it on the pulp for 3 days. Pressed 19 litres into a carboy at 9.5 brix. It was a very active fermentation. Punched the cap down frequently during the on-pulp fermentation period. I put the excess pressings into the freezer for later additions at rackings.
Racked it at 2 weeks (now 3.5 brix) then 4 weeks (1.5 brix). At 6 weeks the specific gravity was 0.995 ("minus brix"). It was a long fermentation, and it didn't want to quit. To finish the wine I added 25 ppm. sulphur, filtered, sweetened the wine with sugar syrup to 3 brix, used potassium sorbate as per instructions, and bottled 44 x 375ml bottles.
"Smooth" was the main comment from people about this wine. It might have been better with more acid, but it was really nice for summertime barbeques.
After pressing off the fruit (after 3 days) it seemed a shame to throw out what still seemed to have a lot of body, so I added 6 litres of water to pressings to attempt a blueberry cooler (mist). Didn't keep exact records on this but I used ReaLime to bringthe ph. to 3.3 and acid to .52. I sweetened it to 12 br. (6% potential alcohol). It was pressed again 3 days later.
I ended up with 6 litres that I didn't filter, just racked clean. I finished it with 100mls. of instant wine conditioner (just because I had it kicking around)and sweetened to 6 or 7 brix. I bottled it in the 350 ml. plastic beer bottles. Young people all liked it and so did I. Summertime drink instead of a bottle of beer? Next step would be to carbonate it? I still have one bottle to see if it referments in time...
NOTES:-(This page should print on one sheet)
- for sulphur info, visit the British Columbia Amateur Winemakers Association Homepage
- for information about fresh fruit (in season)CALL CAZA BERRY FARM AT 705-657-8888.
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