Making Blackberry Wine

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Blackberries grow like weeds in the Pacific Northwest. With stolen time, I managed to pick around 12 pounds this year to make jams and jelly. The majority went to blackberry wine. Blackberry wine is super versatile and can be made as sweet or dry as you, the winemaker, wants. The key is how much additional sugar you add on top of the fruit. The more sugar, the more alcohol your brew might have. If you stop fermentation early, you leave residual sugar, creating a sweeter wine.

Recipe for Blackberry Wine

Here’s the are the ingredients you’ll need:

• 4 lb blackberries
• 3lb sugar
• Water to cover
• 1 Campden tablet
• 1 package of Cuvee Yeast

Putting it together is easy:

1. Freeze the blackberries to help burst the cell walls.
2. Then, let them come up to room temperature.
3. Boil the water to sterilize it, then let the water cool back down.
4. Crush up the campden tablet using the back of a spoon. Sprinkle it over the blackberries.
5. Pour the water over the blackberries. Leave enough headspace so that you can later add the sugar.
6. Leave the blackberries with the Campden overnight to get rid of wild yeast and bacteria on the blackberries.
7. The next day, dissolve the sugar in the blackberry/water mixture.
8. Cut the yeast package open with sterile scissors and sprinkle the yeast over the top.
9. Cap the fermenter with a sterile cap. Pop the airlock in.

For more into on the process, check out my post here on how to brew your own cider, the basic process is still the same!

Equipment for Blackberry Wine

Here’s a list of equipment you’ll need:

• One Gallon Fermenter with three-piece airlock: https://amzn.to/3mQvpoa
• Siphon with tubing: https://amzn.to/3kTX2uU
• Cuvee Yeast: https://amzn.to/345sUpC
• Hydrometer: https://amzn.to/3kPmC4b
• Sanitizer: https://amzn.to/2FYwOIW
• Campden: https://amzn.to/30f5GMt

Check out more info here!

Brewing your own blackberry wine is super simple and quick. However, patience is key. Rack this wine into a second fermenter after a couple weeks to bulk age for a while. Try to wait four to six months before you break open a bottle.