Blackberry Wine
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the juice
Fill a large stone jar with ripe blackberries and cover with clear spring water.
Let the mixture stand for 24 hours to ferment.
Mash the berries and strain through a cloth to extract the juice.
Make the must
To every 3 quarts of juice, add 2 quarts of cold water and 5 pounds of brown sugar.
Pour the mixture into a demijohn, reserving some to top off as fermentation occurs.
After 6 to 8 days, add ½ box of gelatine for every 10 gallons.
Age and bottle
Cover the bung-hole with muslin after two weeks.
Cork tightly and leave undisturbed for six months.
After six months, bottle and seal the wine.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
What each ingredient does
- Blackberries (in the method)
- Provide the fruit flavour, colour and the juice that becomes the wine.
- Brown sugar
- Feeds the yeast during fermentation, producing alcohol and sweetness in the finished wine.
- Gelatine
- Helps fining, so suspended particles settle and the wine clears.
The step that matters
Topping off the demijohn. As fermentation releases carbon dioxide, the liquid level drops. Keeping the jar full with reserved mixture limits air contact, which can let spoilage organisms and oxidation spoil the wine.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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