12, September 2009Four days of picking blackberries around Mill Valley - September 9-12. At this late in the season, ripe blackberries were hard to find and had to be hunted cunningly. The best patch was shady, streamside. The Hooch Stick (tm) helped. We chose berries that were ripe to over-ripe. Beggars can't be choosers, so we weren't overly choosy.
The berries sat in plastic bags in the 'fridge while waiting to be juiced. We ended up with about a gallon (estimated, not measured). After confusing ourselves with various recipes on the internet, we forged ahead.
• Jeremy prepared the vessels by rinsing them with boiling water while I woke up from a nap.
• Jeremy rinsed off the berries in water.
• We crushed the berries with the bottom of a plastic cup in a 10 quart (?) soup pot. The mixture was very viscus.
• We strained the mixture through a fine mesh fabric obtained from the brewing store. We took one or two two mug-fuls at a time, placed them in the fabric bag, and squeezed the blackberry mush with our hands until most of the juice was collected in a bowl. The seedy remains we deposited in a separate pot. Because the mixture was slimy and viscous, it easily clogged the filter. This step took a long time. We found it helpful to rinse the filter bag between each batch.
• We ended up with a little less than 6 cups of (dark red, quite thick) juice. It had a well-rounded blackberry taste with a sour tinge, like pomegranate juice.
• We poured the blackberry juice into the 1 gallon fermentation jug using a make-shift funnel.
• Jeremy revived the yeast, using 1/2 packet (~2.5 grams) of Lalvin D47 wine yeast in 25ml warm water. He allowed the yeast to float on the top without stirring them in for 15min. Then he stirred them into the water. We gave the yeast an impromptu pep talk and added them to the straight-up blackberry juice, swirling the bottle a few times. The air-lock stopper was placed on top and the mixture photographed and put aside.
• About 3 pints of boiling water were added to the seedy remains. They will seep in the water overnight.
13, September 2009 - day 2
The yeast have noticeably affected the blackberry juice. The layer of froth is almost and inch deep. The mixture looks very viscous. The seed-water mixture looks and smells like blackberry jam.
• After cleaning a bowl with boiling water, we filtered the blackberry-seed solution. We weren't as careful to get every drop as last time. Being a lot less viscous, this straining step was much less of a strain.
• We warmed some of Becca & Jason's wildflower honey*, since it had crystallized in its jar, by placing it in lightly boiling water. We added the whole jar (~2 cups) to the freshly strained juice and added that honey-second-crush mixture to the foaming jug. "Happy yeast!" we said! It added a bit more than 6 cups to the jug, which doubled the volume.
• The air seal stopper was placed back on the jug and let to sit.
• The leftover "blackberry poop" was disposed of.
* The honey was made from flowers around Vermont and smelled and tasted wild-floral. So yummy! This is bound to be good wine! Thank you, B&J!
14, September 2009 - day 3
Jeremy says:
The fermentation seems to be proceeding OK. The foam is now only about 1/4 to 1/2 thick, and much bubblier (larger bubbles). You can see tiny bubbles inside rising to the top, and what appear to be seeds falling back to the bottom. I wonder if they are chunks of yeast, or honey ? Perhaps it needs to be stirred ?
The liquid appears to be still rather thick (viscous). I'm wondering if we need to add more water. I will keep an eye on the activity, so we know when to add more honey (I brought the other jar of Becca's honey home from lab).
The odor near the lock is less yeasty, and more fruity & alchohol-ey.
Ah - upon further examination, the things that appear to be seeds are tiny lumps of sediment that have been lifted by CO2 bubbles. There's quite a bit of action going on down near the bottom !
15, September 2009 - day 4
The reaction continues to bubble. Mixture is stirred with a spoon in the evening.
Notes from my Lab Partner:
the foam layer is now only approx. 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick, and much finer (i.e. no large bubbles). Still lots of activity visible, fine bubbles rising, turbulent particles, but definitely calmed down from yesterday. I will give it a swirl to mix things up.
16, September 2009 - day 5
Jeremy writes:
I noticed this morning that the fermentation seems to have greatly slowed, to the point where there is almost no foam or bubbles on the surface, and little to no activity in the body of the liquid. I did take the lock off last night to stir the stuff with a sterile spoon. I doubt letting air in would have done any damage. I'm thinking that the yeast is just out of sugar. Am preparing to add more, but I will do a taste test first.
And later:
I tasted the brew, and it seems quite nice, if a bit yeasty. I then added 1/2 cup of honey, and 2 cups of water. Let's hope I didn't screw it up !
... I could detect no sweetness when I tasted. It did taste like wine, but it was hard to gauge the alcohol content on such a small taste.
To summarize:
• mixture stirred
• 1/2 cup honey added
• 2 cups of water added
In the evening, these observations:
Fermentation continues, though with much less foam. Many tiny vigorous bubbles can be seen collecting at the surface. Pressing ear to jar, I can hear the bubbling - it reminds me of many parrot fish gnawing on some distant coral.
The little flecks of material that previously were tumbling about have mostly settled to the bottom.
Odor is of fruity beer.
It seems the honey added this morning did re-invigorate the fermentation. I wonder if we should add the last 1/2 cup of honey ? I further wonder if the water added this morning is responsible for the greatly lessened foam ?
18, September - day 7Dear Lab Partner says:
The bubbling has all but stopped (visual inspection). Large (>1 inch) layer of sediment on the bottom - lazy yeast ? Interesting little tracks through the sediment are visible, I presume from bubbles of CO2 pushing their way upward.
Small taste test reveals a very smooth, slightly dark taste, again almost no sweetness detectable. Can't readily discern the alcohol level. It does taste very much like wine, though !
Color is deep red, even in thin quantities, and the viscosity seems ever-so-slightly greater than water. I think we've got another winner on our hands !
I'm torn, though, about adding the last 1/2 cup of honey. The brew seems quite nice as is, but it might be nice to kick it just a wee bit, and of the yeast poops out, we'll have a little sweetness to enjoy.
Later that day:
• added about 1/2 cup honey
fermentation continues, but is definitely slowing down
20, September 2009 - day 9From Jeremy:
Yesterday morning, the fermentation was obvious, but slowing. Putting ear to glass, I could still easily hear CO2 production. Foaming is almost non-existent, though. Then in the evening, the sound was noticeably diminished. I suppose this means that last dose of honey is nearly consumed. I gave the bottle a good swirl after listening to it, then put it back in the special fermentation spot.
This morning, the bubbling sounds are much harder to hear - instead of the rushing, burbling, turbulent sound of earlier, it is more sporadic with gentle little popping noises. Still no appreciable foam - we are past the foaming stage ? Odor near the airlock is now *much* less beer-ey than before. It smells like wine !
21, September 2009 - day 10
At the suggestion of the brewing store man, we put the jug of wine in the refrigerator overnight to allow the sediment to sink to the bottom of the container. I wish I still had acess to a centrifuge!
22, September 2009 - day 11Bottling day! We used plastic tubing (boiled to sterilize) to decant the top liquid into bottles. We filled 3 small bottles and 1 large one. Corked, and stored upright on a shelf while we went to Yosemite, Virginia Lakes, and Mono lake.
24, September 2009 - day 13On the way back from our wonderful trip, we worried that the corks might have come out of the bottles. I was relieved to read this from Jeremy:
The wine seems to be OK. All the corks were pushed *almost* all the way out, I suspect just enough to let the pressure escape. I hope this means that air did not get in. I pulled the corks out and re-seated them, trying to get as much of the internal pressure out in the process as possible. I think we might want to put real corks in there. But my feeling is that we're in the clear so far...
Sooo... now we let them sit. *waiting is hard!*
