:blackberry: Blackberry Wine: An Experiment

[BryWisteria]

Please be aware that this post explores herbal homebrewing and references alcohol.

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Merry meet!

Earlier this year at Beltane, I collected dandelions to make a homebrew batch of herbal dandelion. It turned out okay (you can read about the dandelion wine experiment here, if you’re interested!). Building off what I learned, I’m attempting another batch - but with a different base ingredient.

It was just Lughnasadh/Lammas here in the Northern Hemisphere and the harvest season is truly beginning. The yard is bringing out its best - cherry tomatoes, zucchini, summer squash, pears, and, of course, the blackberries

We’ve had a decent harvest for the last few summers, but something about this year is making the blackberries happy. It’s quite the crop out there! I’ve been picking for over a week now, and there are still plenty every day.

I assume most people are probably familiar with blackberries as a tasty fruit, but did you also know they have magickal properties? They are a symbol of the Lammas season, the first harvest, and correspond with aspects such as abundance, prosperity, and protection.

Blackberry: Magickal Uses & Spiritual Properties

When using blackberries, there are many ways to preserve and draw on their properties - from eating the fruits, to adding them to teas and infusions to making tinctures.

Blackberry wine is one way to enjoy the tasty and spiritual benefits of blackberries. The alcohol serves as a method of preservation, allowing us to enjoy the harvest long into the future.

I pretty much followed the same steps as with the dandelion wine. I used 5 cups loosely packed blackberries with sugar and a little honey. Boiling water was added, and after letting it cool to 90 degrees F, I put in the wine yeast. Thanks to some tips, I also threw in some raisins to serve as a flavor booster and yeast nutrient.

I read online that blackberries tend to ferment very aggressively at first and may explode through a water lock, so I’m covering the batch with a clean cloth for the first week. In about 7 days, I’ll strain away the pulpy stuff and rebottle the clean brew in the jug with the waterlock. It’ll sit for several months until I strain it again, rebottle it, and let it sit for a few more months.

It’s a very slow process, but hopefully it’ll turn out alright! If anyone has made blackberry wine before (or any fruit wine) and has tips, please feel free to share below

I hope you had/are having a lovely season! Blessed be

[Amethyst]

It looks so pretty and purple! I hope it doesn’t blow up on you!

[BryWisteria]

@Amethyst

I hope it doesn’t blow up on you!

Thank you - I hope so too!

[Limeberry]

What a fun experiment! I’m sure it’ll turn out wonderfully keep us posted on the progress!

@Amethyst

I hope it doesn’t blow up on you!

[Amethyst]

@BryWisteria

Thank you - I hope so too!

But hey, if it does, you can paint the rest of the room purple and it’ll match!

[Feathertip]

Oh, this looks so beautiful already! You’re so fortunate to have a great crop this year so you can have this fun! I love the color.

Back in the day when my husband and I made some wine, we brought home a little kit from a “wine art” type of store that helped home brewers of all kinds. It included a little pH tester, maybe a specific gravity tester…? And maybe a little tannin additive if your tests show it’s needed.

It’s been a minute since we made wine! We had two disasters: once with strawberry wine and once with muscadine wine (a tasty native Southern grape). We think both disasters were because we bought fruit from the farmer’s market as opposed to picking fresh. The fruit was good for eating, but there wasn’t enough natural tannin and acid for it to ferment correctly. Ah, how pretty it looked as we hosed it down after dumping the jugs in the driveway. We picked our own afterwards!

Since you’re picking fresh, your berries probably have nice acid and tannins to start the process. If you wanted to do anything extra, you could test it early just to make sure both acid and tannins stay in balance. Dark fruit will react so differently from your soft dandelion petals and, as you already read, the fermentation process can be dramatic!

Good luck and have fun!!

[BryWisteria]

@Limeberry

I’m sure it’ll turn out wonderfully

Thank you - I’m hopeful!

@Amethyst

you can paint the rest of the room purple and it’ll match!

That’s true! It’s not a bad shade at all. Might even be an improvement on the current color

@Feathertip

It included a little pH tester, maybe a specific gravity tester

That’s really neat! I only have the bare bones basics right now, so I don’t have any way to test for alcohol content or tannins. Assuming this batch turns out alright and motivation continues to flow, I’ll have to look into getting a kit for future batches!

@Feathertip

Ah, how pretty it looked as we hosed it down after dumping the jugs in the driveway.

Oh no! Such a tragedy. I’m sorry for the loss of your beautiful homebrew, but I do appreciate the wisdom! It’s interesting you mention that, since that not-so-great wine from the neighbor was made with purchased grapes (as opposed to ones from the garden). Seems like a lot is lost during processing. Homegrown or locally picked seem to be the way to go for homebrewing!

@Feathertip

Good luck and have fun!!

Thank you!

[Amethyst]

@BryWisteria

That’s true! It’s not a bad shade at all. Might even be an improvement on the current color

It depends on which is easier, cleaning or painting! LOL!

[BryWisteria]

@Amethyst

cleaning or painting!

A tough choice, but the creative in me says painting, at least, would be more fun!

Luckily, the homebrew hasn’t exploded in the first few days, so hopefully neither painting or cleaning will be needed! Should be smooth sailing from here (fingers crossed!)

[Amethyst]

@BryWisteria

Luckily, the homebrew hasn’t exploded in the first few days, so hopefully neither painting or cleaning will be needed! Should be smooth sailing from here (fingers crossed!)

Yay! I’m glad there was no blow ups! I bet it’ll taste yummy too!

[Feathertip]

Yayyy!! Sounds like you’re well on your way now. I’m crossing my fingers with you!

[BryWisteria]

@Amethyst

I bet it’ll taste yummy too!

Here’s to hoping! Haha thanks!

@Feathertip

I’m crossing my fingers with you!

Thank you so much - it’s appreciated!

[BryWisteria]

Update: Alas, I went to siphon the wine again and found an icky layer of something (mold, likely) growing in the air space between the blackberry wine and the air stopper. It didn’t seem worth the risk to try to drink it. It was devastating after all that work, but down the drain it went

I’ll try again next year with better sterilization tools and will try to minimize the air space in the fermentation vessel. Oh well, experiments are for learning!

[Amethyst]

Hey, like you said, experiments are for learning! It’ll be better next time. And the time after that. There’s nowhere to go but up!

[BryWisteria]

@Amethyst

There’s nowhere to go but up!

Thank you for the encouragement, Amethyst - it’s appreciated! You’re right. One learning experiment down, I’ve got my notes, and it’ll hopefully go better on the next run. So mote it be!

[Amethyst]

So mote it be!

[georgia]

@BryWisteria

will try to minimize the air space in the fermentation vessel.

I’m a bit confused. Doesn’t fermentation create air space? That’s the reason old wine bags would break with new wine in them, right? Just trying to wrap my mind around what may be misinformation.

Sorry this attempt didn’t work, but you’ll have other chances. Call it a learning curve. You are on your way to becoming a pro, but nobody reaches that without trial and error. It’s not the end of the world for any but that batch.

[Artemisia]

@BryWisteria

found an icky layer of something

Oh no!!! That’s disappointing, especially after waiting so long. My guess (and take it for what it is, as I’ve only brewed beer and hard cider from juice) is that it might have been wild bacteria or yeast still on the blackberries. I would imagine they are the hardest ingredient/part to clean or sterilize, with all the little parts and crevices. I did a bit of a cursory search (saltwater soak, vinegar rinse, campden tablets, freezing), for suggestions on things for next time.

In any case, I can sympathize with the disappointment with a fermentation issue,e especially given the effort and time you put into it!

[BryWisteria]

@georgia

Doesn’t fermentation create air space?

You’re absolutely right, the fermentation process does create gas - if I didn’t have an airlock on the bottle, it would probably explode! Luckily, the air lock allows the gas to escape while preventing new air from getting in.

The air lock isn’t visible in the pictures above, but here’s a peek at it (from the Dandelion Wine experiment)

My hypothesis was that I had too much air space left in the fermentation jug, but looking back at the dandelion wine, there was a good amount of empty space there too. So perhaps it was a sanitization issue after all

@georgia

but nobody reaches that without trial and error.

Wise words! Mistakes are part of the learning process and stepstones on the path to success.

Thank you, Georgia!

@Artemisia

it might have been wild bacteria or yeast still on the blackberries.

That’s a good idea - I think I remember reading something about that when I was studying homebrew with fruit. You’re right that the blackberries are a hard ingredient to clean. Freezing them first seems like it may be a good option to try for the next batch. Thank you, Artemisia!

[Feathertip]

Bah! I’m so sorry it went down the drain, Bry! I feel for you, as you recall I told you my sad tale of a whole vessel also getting dumped. It was a sad day!

I think @Artemisia is on to something about the fruit itself possibly introducing the bacteria. Blackberries are such bumpy little berries, probably the hardest of them all to clean thoroughly.

I fervently wish for better luck next time, with experimentation comes more insight on what to do - or not do.