1 Gallon Blueberry (January 18, 2013)

[jeskremer]

Day 1
7c (2#) frozen blueberries that were washed, boiled, and mashed
2 pts boiled, non-softened, city water
1 1/2 tsp acid blend
1/2 tsp pectic enzyme
1/16 tsp K-metabisulfite (potassium metabisulfite)

I also tried something else slightly differently based on what I did in day one for the recent batch of strawberry wines. viewtopic.php?f=16&t=56.

They recommend only adding a slight amount of water the first day and leaving out the sugar, nutrient, energizer, and yeast until 24 hours later. It is a type of fruit "liqueur". The higher volume of pectic enzyme to water will allow the pectin in the fruit to break down quicker.

Instead of a full campden tablet for sterilization, I also used the K-metabisulfite. Campden is often times made of sodium metabisulfite which will add sodium and can apparently impart a slight off flavor in the wine. I used a whole one in the 2010 batch, but 1/2 is all that would probably be needed anyway.

[jeskremer]

BAD NEWS!!! I learned today that hot water...and obviously boiling water, will kill pectic enzyme. Pectic enzyme is used to reduce the large pectin molecules in wine and help clear it. Hopefully this doesn't hurt it. See this from http://www.winepress.us/forums/index.ph ... -question/

Joel, somewhere I have the exact temperature at which enological pectic enzyme becomes 100% ineffective, but unless I were extremely lucky I could search through books all night before finding it and I'm not going to do that. All I recall is that it is slightly over 100 degrees F and believe it is about 80% effective at 80 degrees and completely effective below 65 degrees. The 80% at 80 degrees correlation just jumps to mind and I have always used it.

So, my guess is that the original enzyme was cooked.

The other issue you raised was adding pectic enzyme to a fermenting must. That is generally thought not to be a good practice. Once yeast are pitched, you shouldn't add anything except fermentables or possibly nutrients until fermentation is done or very close to being done (for example, an s.g. around 1.010) -- no pectic enzyme, no acids, no fining agents.

It is unlikely you'll have a problem, but if your yeast just quit prematurely it might be because they really don't like their environment chemically changed. But if fermenting vigorously, it is unlikely they will be affected. Still, in the future be patient and let your must cool to room temperature before adding enzymes of any kind (there are many enzymes identified for enological purposes).

I also learned that K metabisulfite decomposes at 190 degrees F. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potassium_metabisulfite

I did add another 1/2 tsp of pectic enzyme and 1/16 tsp of K metabisulfite to the mixture when it was cooled to room temperature. Hopefully nothing is damaged

[jeskremer]

I read today that some wines such as blueberry/elderberry may do well with oak chipping. I may try a bit of concentrate to sample before bottling.

I also learned that blueberry wines tend to not be very "full bodied" and it sometimes helps to add up to 1# bananas to the must of a 5 gallon batch to add more body to the wine. I am assuming that the addition of grape concentrate prior to bottling will also help this.

[jeskremer]

18 Hours After Adding 2nd Pectic Enzyme
Boiled hard, city tap water for 10 minutes to remove chlorine. Added six pints to the must (this is in addition to the first pint added yesterday).

Added 1 1/2 pounds sugar (3 cups) which is just under the 2 1/4 pounds asked for in the original recipe. Thoroughly mixed so the sugar dissolved.

[jeskremer]

24 Hours After the Addition of the 2nd Round of Pectic Enzymes
Must was cooled to 89 degrees. Tested SG 1.060. Added another 1/2 c (1/4 pound) sugar. This brought the SG to 1.070 which should yield around 9-10% alcohol. Total sugar used was now 3 1/2 cups (1 3/4 pound).

Tested acid content. Extremely low! It was still 0.3% even after the initial acid added when starting the must. Added 2 1/2 tsp to bring the acid to between .55-.6%.

Added 1/3 packet of Montrachet yeast. Typically one 5 gram packet of yeast will work for 5 gallons. I want to limit how much yeast is used so it is a bit more balanced. I don't know if this will make a difference in flavor, but some of my past wines have tasted a bit yeasty and needed much more regular racking. Just under 1/2 tsp = 1/3 packet of yeast.

NOTE: Next time I make wine, I will take one pint of must out prior to adding yeast. This will be frozen and used for sweetening prior to bottling. A more pure sugar/fruit mixture that should make the wine taste a bit fruitier and sweeter. Lower alcohol contents with starting SG of 1.070-1.080 should also help bring out more fruit flavor because alcohol tends to inhibit "fruitiness".

[jeskremer]

Four Days After Adding Yeast
Finally down to 1.025 SG. Doesn't smell pleasant, but tastes good. Somehow I screwed up the amount of water that should be added to the must. I was pretty sure I added 7 pints, however, was short by 1.25 pints. Luckily, there was two pints of strawberry left over from the batches I made a couple weeks ago that I had stopped up in a plastic bottle. Strawberry tasted very good, so I added this to the blueberry secondary. We shall see

[jeskremer]

Two Weeks After Air-Locking in Secondary
Racked off of lees. Added 2 cups cold, hard, tap water. Taste was fizzy from CO2 and a bit tart. Otherwise, good flavor.

[jeskremer]

6 1/2 Months Later
Racked off of small amount of lees again. Slightly fizzy from all CO2 not escaping the airlock. Good blueberry flavor. Added the 1/2 pt (1 c) red grape concentrate as recommended by the recipe. Fuller body, but "grapey" flavor. Topped off with 3/4 c. cold, city tap water. Added 30 mL (1 oz) potassium sorbate wine sweetener to stabilize the wine. Gradually added 4 tsp Blueberry extract in combination with 1 1/2 tsp Oak flavoring. Violently beat the wine with a drill/plastic hanger and used a degasser also to get rid of carbonation.

Excellent flavor. Will seal off for a month before bottling.

[jeskremer]

Two Days Later
Opened up the wine again to taste. Very full bodied, but high CO2 (fizzy). Beat rapidly several times. Good flavor...even better mixed with the raspberry similar to the Three Lakes brand of Blueberry/Raspberry.

Will cap off again in a couple of hours so that the majority of the CO2 can blow off.

[jeskremer]

November 2015
Opened a bottle. Slightly acidic and very high in CO2. Vigorously shaking and using a degasser to get rid of excess CO2. Will try with meal tonight. Good blueberry flavor though.