bramble and elderberry wine

[stoofer74]

hi i finally got round to making my batch of wine 3 weeks ago using fruit that i froze in the autumn.I made 5 gallons using 10 lbs of brambles 10 lbs of elderberry's and 15lbs of sugar, its been 3 weeks and its still bubbling away and its sitting at about 1027 0n the hydrometer is this normal?am i just being a bit impatient as i mostly make beer which has fermented out by now?

[goodolpete]

Hi Stoofer.
Your sugar alone will make a wine of over 15%.
What yeast are you using ( and what is its alcohol limit)?
Pete

[goodolpete]

I found my notes from last year's blackberry.
5kg blackberry
5 litre rgj
4kg sugar
1kg raisins
BC3252 yeast.
Started 5th Nov 1084
10th Nov 1004 Racked into secondary fv
13th 0997
17th 0994 lowest SG

[stoofer74]

hi sorry for not replying i have been at work.The yeast is a youngs all purpose red wine yeast there is no info about abv's.the wine is still bubbling away so will it be ok to just let it ferment away or is there a way to speed it up ?

[oldbloke]

You can't really speed it up. A bit of nutrient might help I suppose.
It's either going to give up soon and be sweet or keep going and be very strong.
Or both...
I might be tempted to dilute it to 6 gallons instead of 5

[stoofer74]

hi old bloke a few questions....how do i dilute it? how much nutrient and for future reference how much sugar,i followed a recipe on youtube he made it with 2 lbs brambles 2lbs of elderberries 3lbs of sugar for 1 gallon.as i wanted to make 5 gallons due to lots of berries i just timed the amounts by 5

[oldbloke]

hi old bloke a few questions....how do i dilute it? how much nutrient and for future reference how much sugar,i followed a recipe on youtube he made it with 2 lbs brambles 2lbs of elderberries 3lbs of sugar for 1 gallon.as i wanted to make 5 gallons due to lots of berries i just timed the amounts by 5

Oh just whack some water in, splitting the whole across extra vessels if necessary. I only suggest it because your sugar is a bit on the high side, so it'll either be strong or sweet; if you want sweet, let it run to about 1010..1015 then stabilise it.

All my wines get a teaspoon of nutrient per gallon.

Berries are quite low in sugar so I generally ignore their contribution.

Here's a (slightly conservative) rule of thumb, for when you ferment right out to a dry wine:
20gm sugar per litre = 1%
aka 100gm/l = 5%
aka 1lb / gallon=5%
So 3lb gives 15%, plus maybe as much as 1 more from the berries.
It's a fairly strong wine, but not outrageous. If you want it strong, just let it go until it stops by itself.

[stoofer74]

ok i will probably just let it ferment out as it is still bubbling away nicely. i just thought it had died on me until i noticed the rubber bung had come loose .I didn't think that 15% was that strong in wine making terms but as long as it doesn't taste like buckfast and it is drinkable enough to give away to friends i will be happy. thanks for your advice