How to Ferment Blackberries

Blackberries can be fermented into a delicious fruit wine right in your own kitchen. The fruit can be obtained from a store or market, or it can be picked fresh. Home-based winemaking requires a few items of specialized equipment and some specialty ingredients, which can be obtained from any homebrewing supplier. Campden tablets are used to kill unwanted yeasts and bacteria that might impart strange flavors to the finished product. Any yeast will work, but special strains developed for winemaking offer the best results. Before fermenting, check to be sure home-based winemaking is legal in your state.

Things You'll Need

  • 4 lb. clean, fresh blackberries
  • 2 1/4 lb. sugar
  • 1 campden tablet
  • 1 tsp. yeast nutrient
  • 1/2 tsp. winemakers' acid blend
  • 7 pt. water
  • Yeast, such as a dry or liquid winemaking yeast
  • 1-gallon capacity food-grade bucket
  • Clean cloth large enough to cover the bucket
  • 2 1-gallon glass demijohns
  • Stopper and airlock to fit the demijohns
  • Wire mesh strainer
  • Nylon mesh straining bag
  • Racking (siphoning) hose
  • pH papers

Mix the Ingredients

  1. Crush the blackberries and strain the juice into the bucket (primary fermenter). Fill the nylon bag with the leftover pulp, and add it to the fermenter.

  2. Add the sugar, campden tablet, yeast nutrient, acid and water to the fermenter. Mix thoroughly.

  3. Test the pH with the pH paper according to the package instructions. If it is higher than about 3.0 to 3.4, add more acid, a little at a time, to lower it into this range.

  4. Cover the fermenter with the cloth and leave for 24 hours.

  5. Follow the package instructions to rehydrate the yeast, if necessary, and add it to the fermenter, then replace the cloth cover.

Ferment

  1. Stir or agitate the must (fermenting wine) and pulp bag daily for five days.

  2. Rack (siphon) the must into a demijohn (secondary fermenter), leaving the sediment and pulp bag behind. Top off the vessel with water up to the neck.

  3. Seal the secondary fermenter with the stopper and airlock. Add water to the airlock according to the manucturer's instructions. Allow to ferment for about 3 weeks.

  4. Rack the wine, leaving the sediment, into the other demijohn, top it off, and seal it again with the stopper and airlock. Allow to ferment and age for about 2 months.

  5. Rack and top off one more time. Allow to age at least 3 more months for a total of 6 months.

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