I got ambitious this evening. Maybe it was the snow that fueled the domestic fires or perhaps it was just another way to avoid work. At any rate, I managed to bake a pumpkin for Thanksgiving pies, started soda culture and at long last I started a batch of wine.
My most recent attempt at beverage fermentation did not go well. The late September batch of soda didn’t ferment at all. Not sure what happened, it seemed like the culture was fizzy and there was sugar in the berries, but the bottled soda was tasty, but without fizz. My best guess at the most likely cause is inadequate cooling of the berry mix before adding the bacterial culture. In other words, I killed the bacteria with very hot juice. Guess I can’t carry on a conversation while brewing, so much for multi-tasking.
Back to the wine; I used 4 lbs of frozen red huckleberries (Vaccinium parvifolium) and blueberries (V. ovalifolium [honest, it was a single species]). I didn’t keep track of the ratio of berry types, but it was mostly red hucks. I loosely followed the amounts called for in a recipe that Michelle Putz and Perry Edwards gave us at the wine workshop. Loosely, in that I used the called for amount of sugar, berries, yeast and water, but left out the yeast nutrient, Campden tablet and acid blend included in the recipe. The recipe was for a completely different huckleberry (Gaylussacia baccata), but maybe it will work well enough. I’m using yeast that Perry gave me; I don’t remember what sort of yeast it is. I mostly followed his guidelines for the yeast “mix in a coffee cup full of water with about ¼ cup sugar, let stand for about 5 hours, and then add to the berry mix. I didn’t quite let it sit that long, more like 4 hours.
I had a plastic bucket with lid (washed and sterilized with boiling water). I added the berries, poured on the boiling water, then added the sugar. Apparently I was supposed to add the sugar later. Whoops. Not doing well following directions, these days. I suspect that adding boiling water to the berries is supposed to help kill the biota on the surface of the berries. I don’t think that the sugar is going to interfere with that process. I decided that the kitchen counter is the best place to leave the bucket, if there is any hope of stirring the juice every day. The counter is getting a bit crowded, in addition to the large vat of pre-wine, there is a jar of soda culture, another of sour dough and a batch of yogurt going. Long live yeast and bacteria!
On the 27th of November, the somewhat fermented juice should be transferred to a glass jug.
Part II
It took me until the 28th of November to assemble the gear I needed for step 2. I thought that buying a gallon glass jar would be easy; proceed to Lakeside or Seamart and buy a gallon of apple or cranberry juice and haul it home (this was supposed to be the hard part). Alas, plastic jugs seem to be the article of choice these days. There was a gallon jar of Gallo wine available at the liquor store, but I couldn’t bring myself to buy it. It seemed a bit weird to buy wine that I had no intention of drinking (okay I’m a snob) and worse to dump it out, so I went home empty handed and stewed for an evening. Fortunately the next day I found a 5 gallon glass demijohn at Rain Country and was able to lug that home. Straining the berries was a bit of slow chore. I sterilized the colander with boiling water, and then ladled the juice into the demijohn via an unsuitably small funnel. The juice was a rich purple red color and I was feeling rather pleased and cont
ented when I discovered the next minor issue. I had found my airlock, but forgot to check for a stopper. No such item lived in the house, but I did find a bit of kids modeling clay in the pantry. So I put the airlock in the demijohn and sealed the edge with clay. This looked pretty good, but I decided it might be better to order a stopper and a new airlock (mine was missing the inner cap). I wasn’t confident that that clay would prevent air from entering the demijohn. The stopper and new airlock arrived a couple of days later and I replaced the cobbled together unit.Fermentation seems to be proceeding what I hope is a reasonable rate. There are both small and very large bubbles covering most of the surface of the wine. Bubbles of gas (I presume CO2) are escaping the airlock.
The wine is supposed to stay in the demi-john for 3-6 months or the bubbles stop escaping the airlock. Good thing I have plenty of counter space.
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