I’m doing another batch of raspberry wine now that the berries are coming in. I had some saved in the freezer (4 lbs. from 2013, 6 lbs. from 2016) but have been waiting for enough to do a 5 gallon batch. In the past week or so I have picked another several pounds, so I finally have enough.
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Process:
I put the frozen berries in my primary bucket to thaw out (still in five separate freezer bags). The next day, I emptied the bags of berries into the bucket. I then rinsed the bags with some water and added that to the primary bucket as well. I put in enough water to bring the volume to 5 gallons, and then I added the sugar, yeast nutrient, and pectic enzyme. After stirring to dissolve the additives, I tested the OG. I then added the yeast, and sealed the bucket with a blow-off tube.
7-16-17: Put frozen berries into primary bucket to thaw.
7-17-17: Combined wine ingredients in primary bucket. OG measured at 1.090 giving a potential alcohol of 11.8% ABV.
8-14-17: Racked wine into 5-gallon Carboy, leaving behind about a gallon of pulp/yeast in primary.
4-7-18: Bottled into 42 12-ounce bottles.