Blackberry Wine 2017

[Teacher]

I haven't made wine in a while but when I was doing it I tried everything. Blackberry by far was my best. Have any of you tried plums? It wasn't my favorite but it was the strongest alcohol content wine I made.

I made some white wine last year and just opened a bottle last week. I checked the alcohol content and it registered 22% ABV. It is a great tasting wine and the alcohol is really not noticeable. My question is-what makes the alcohol content so high on this 5 gallon batch. Is it the amount of sugar, or does the yeast I used cause such a high content. I used the Red Star Premium Blanc yeast. I also made 5 gallons of Blackberry wine that was 3% ABV and basically used th same recipe, but used the Red Star Montrachet yeast. What governs the alcohol content, the sugars or what. I am new to all of this and have a zillion questions you guys always answer for me. I love the wine that has a low ABV content. I usually drink about 1-2 ounces before bedtime. Dad did this for over 50 years and he lived to be 89.

Thanks
B

 

[BamaProud]

The amount of sugar in the fruit along with the sugar you add to your must determines the final alcohol content. ...but it isn't totally that simple.

Without some fancy equipment you really can't measure the ABV after a wine/beer/cider has been made. The process for determining ABV is taking a gravity reading using a hydrometer before fermentation (called Original Gravity) and another after the fermentation is complete(called Final Gravity) Subtract the Original Gravity from the Final Gravity. Multiply this number by 131.25. That is your ABV.

Fermentation will typically stop for one of 3 reasons:
1-Temperature, the temperature of the must gets too hot or cold.
2-The ABV gets too high for the yeast to survive.
3-all the sugar in your must has been converted to alcohol/Co2 (called fermenting dry).

Typically you want the 3rd option to happen, as options 1 and 2 can result in stressed yeast resulting in bad results.

Different Yeast strains have different alcohol tolerances. Once they reach a certain ABV during fermentation they will simply die off and fermentation will stop. Red Star Premium Blanc yeast is a Champagne yeast that has a alcohol tolerance of around 14%. I'm not sure how you measured the 22% but I guess either some sort of highly tolerant yeast got introduced to your must or you are mistaken. Red Star Montrachet yeast has an ABV tolerance of around 15%.

 

[Teacher]

I measured the alcohol content using a device I picked up at a wine making supply. It works by placing some wine in the top of the tube and allow 6 drops to come out. You then turn it upside down and read the scale like a thermometer. It is supposed to show the alcohol content. I guess it is not as accurate as the salesman described it.

Thanks so much for all the GREAT info you sent.

B

 

[dralarms]

That's a vino meter and it's junk, I've got 2 and I can take a reading for the same wine with both and get 2 wildly different readings. BamaProud is correct. You have to measure the starting sg and then then ending sg before backsweetening to determine alcohol level.

 

[DaveB]

There seems to be a lot of art in what I thought was the mostly scientific process of brewing. Plus, the lengths I used to go to fill my basket with blackberry's seems to have been totally wrong, I shoulda gone to BP's place.

Some of those BB and some cream churned at home, doggone I gotta go to the farmers market at the Ag center, that is where BP hangs out.

Hey BP, did the Wolf crest at a record? There at G-town and worlds best CFA?

 

[BamaProud]

I measured the alcohol content using a device I picked up at a wine making supply. It works by placing some wine in the top of the tube and allow 6 drops to come out. You then turn it upside down and read the scale like a thermometer. It is supposed to show the alcohol content. I guess it is not as accurate as the salesman described it.

Thanks so much for all the GREAT info you sent.

B

That's a refractomer. I've got one and use it occasionally, but like DaveB said it isn't very reliable. When I do use it, I always end up questioning the results and checking it with my hydrometer. I'm sure your wine-making store has hydrometers...they are only a few bucks. But 2 because you will break one (thin glass) pretty soon. I've probably broken a dozen of them.

 

[BamaProud]

There seems to be a lot of art in what I thought was the mostly scientific process of brewing. Plus, the lengths I used to go to fill my basket with blackberry's seems to have been totally wrong, I shoulda gone to BP's place.

Some of those BB and some cream churned at home, doggone I gotta go to the farmers market at the Ag center, that is where BP hangs out.

Hey BP, did the Wolf crest at a record? There at G-town and worlds best CFA?

Its much like baking, there is some art to it (mostly in flavoring) but like baking its mostly about ratios. It doesn't matter how great your cake recipe is, if it doesn't have the proper ratio of flour/baking powder/salt/sugar, it isn't going to be a good cake. I'm just up the road in Bartlett if you want to come up someday and do a small batch.

 

[Teacher]

In regard to the ABV of the wine, I was wrong about the type of yeast we used. Wife and I read your reply and she remembered using a yeast Called Fleischmann's Active Dry. Can this yeast create such a high alcohol content from the wine we made, or is the measuring device we are using not accurate as suggested.

Thanks
B

 

[BamaProud]

Is this the instrument you are using?

There is no way a refractometer can directly measure the ABV of wine. Technically what a (Brix/Specific Gravity) refractometer is measuring is the sweetness of liquid. After fermentation, the presence of alcohol distorts the readings making it inaccurate.

Fleischmann's Active Dry is a standard baking yeast. It isn't great for wine, but is commonly used in mead. It has an alcohol tolerance of only around 11%, so it wouldn't have survived to boost any wort/must to 20+% Even distillers yeast, with the inclusion of nutrients and dies off at around 22% ABV.

 

[Teacher]

Not the same instrument. Mine looks like a dropper with a small bulb on the top. Pour wine in, about two tablespoons, and let 6 drops come out the bottom. When 6 drops leak out turn it upside down and read the small scale like a thermometer. I am convinced after reading the replies that the alcohol content is not 22% like the scale showed. The content is high for sure, but no where near the 22. You can really taste the alcohol in it though.

I am getting better at making wine. I gave a lady a bottle tonight for helping my wife make a birthday cake and she loved it. She also drinks wine on a regular basis and wanted to come help us with our wine making. Made me feel good, but I also knew the wine was good because the wife will sip on it. She also prefers the white wine over the red in taste. Looks like next week will see us picking grapes and starting the fermenting process again.

Thanks for all the help and there will be more questions to come.
B