Our 1st batch of Blackberry Zen Wine is bottled up and will be ready for drinking by our family reunion in August. So make your plans to come by or stay at the farm for our 1st post reunion wine tasting party. Our 2nd 6 gallon batch of Blackberry wine has completed it's initial fermentation and now sits in a glass jug in the dark for 3 months. It get stirred daily with an electric drill attachment. After 3 months we'll separate out the sludge and let it sit for 2 more months, undisturbed, before bottling. Batch 2 gets bottled July 1st and will be drinkable by Christmas. We realized that at the rate of 1 batch per 5 months, 108 pounds of blackberries at 36 pounds per batch... we were still going to be be bottling our 1st year's harvest when it's time to start next year's berries, so we invested in another 6 gallon glass jug so we can do 2 batches at once. While fermenting, the wine is to be kept between 65 & 75 degrees which is optimal for the yeast to make alcohol. The 1st batch of wine lived in the basement where it is currently hovering in the 50 to 60 degree temperature range so we've moved wine production into the upstairs bathroom. As each batch is racked at the 3 month mark, it will be moved to the basement to complete the final 2 months before bottling. We also got a harness for carrying the 6 gallon glass jugs safely. We've found various uses for the sludge by-products of the wine making process. The 1st batch had its seed pulp spread over a patch of field, we'll see if there are blackberry plants there next year. The 2nd batch's seed pulp is going to be feeding the birds for awhile. The sludge that settles into the bottom of the glass jugs has been used as the secret ingredient in the Amazing Pasta Sauce that I made last fall from our homegrown Mortgage Lifter and Roma Tomatoes. More recently I invented a 5 star Mole style meat marinade using this by-product. Next season I intend to mass produce both the pasta sauce and marinade. They're that good. By taking a hydrometer reading prior to adding the yeast and throughout the initial fermentation process we are able to determine the probable alcohol content of our wine. The 1st batch came in at 17% alcohol and our 2nd batch should be 17.4%. Today begins the mashing of the berries for the 3rd, and final batch of our initial season. It should be ready to drink by New Years Eve. | |
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December 2015
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