How to Crush Blackberries for Wine

Blackberries are as tasty in wine as they are by themselves.

If you have overripe blackberries from your yearly harvest, turn them into wine instead of composting them or letting them go to seed. Blackberry wine features a very dark, rich purple color and tastes sweeter than traditional grape wines, especially if the berries are very ripe. Ripe, soft berries contain more sugar than early-harvest fruits, meaning the resulting wine will have a fuller flavor. Crushing your blackberries properly is just the first step to creating a delicious homemade wine.

Things You'll Need

• Water
• Large plastic bucket
• Clean, lint free towels
• Tea kettle
• 6 lbs. very ripe berries
• Short stool

Instructions

1. Rinse your bucket inside and out with cool water, ridding it of any visible dust or dirt. Do not use soap on the inside of the bucket; it will flavor your wine and give it a bitter, soapy flavor. Dry the bucket with clean, lint free towels.

2. Bring a full gallon of water to a rolling boil in a tea kettle. Pour the water into the bucket for your blackberries. Aim the spout at the sides of the bucket so the water runs from the rim to the bottom of the container, all the way around its circumference. The boiling water kills bacteria in your bucket.

3. Empty the bucket and dry it with a lint-free cloth.

4. Wash your berries under cool water. Place them in a strainer, a batch at a time, and gently toss them under the water to eliminate dirt and other contaminants.

5. Pour 6 lbs. of very ripe berries into your bucket. This should be enough to make juice for about a gallon of full-bodied wine. The berries should be ripe enough that their soft, but not so ripe that they burst at the lightest touch. Never use moldy or green berries in your wine.

6. Place a stool next to your bucket and reach down into the bucket with clean hands. Smash and squeeze the berries between your fingers until you have a very soupy, juicy blackberry pulp. Your hands will be stained purple; the juice should wash away in a day or two.

Tips & Warnings

• When adding sugar for your wine, reserve about 1/3 lb. to add in the last week or so of fermentation to create a sweeter wine. For a dry wine, add all of the sugar at once.

• Try mixing in a few grapes for a berry merlot. You can also add some strawberries, raspberries or cherries for a fruit medley wine. This works especially well if you grow your own fruit and have a surplus.

• Don't use sugar substitutes when fermenting wine. The substitute has nothing for the yeast to eat and your wine won't ferment.

References

• Family Herbal Remedies: Blackberry Wine Remedies
• Risch Power: Blackberry Wine Recipes
• Made Man: Blackberry Wine Recipes