We have great raspberry crop this year, so wine is on the menu again. I decided to try a batch with a bit more fruit (20 lb instead of the regular 15 lb) since we have so many berries and I won’t be able to freeze them all.
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Process:
Put semi-thawed fruit into primary bucket, rinsing out the freezer bags with a bit of water to get all of the juice. Added crushed Campden tablets and sealed bucket to let fruit finish thawing. The next day, I added sugar and water to reach about 5.5 gallons in the bucket. I stirred vigorously with a spoon to break up the berries. I added the pectic enzyme, yeast nutrient, and yeast. Stirred the must, then sealed with a blow-off tube.
7-13-23: Put into primary bucket. OG measured at 1.096 giving a potential strength of 12.6 %ABV. TA measured at 0.85% so no acid blend was added.
7-22-23: Racked wine to carboy, leaving behind about a gallon of fruit pulp and yeast in the primary bucket.
6-29-24: Bottled into 43 12-ounce bottles. FG measured at 0.994 giving a strength of 14.2 %ABV.