Either this summer was a banner year for wild raspberries or I am the only person picking—by the end of July we ended up with over 10kg of berries in our freezer.
Naturally, a few weeks ago I decided the time was ripe for our berries to begin their journey into becoming wine. Before this summer I had never made wine before which is a bit strange actually, since for the last two years I have literally attempted to ferment everything in sight.
Pictured above are two 10 liter buckets of raspberry must undergoing primary fermentation using these recipes as a guide. Soon after this picture was taken we purchased a 27 liter "alpha bucket" which is now our go-to primary fermentation and racking vessel. Because there were so many raspberries, we were able to make a second wine to which I added about 2 liters of the season's last rhubarb juice from our garden.
Because I didn't use a bag to contain the berries (probably will next time) this meant it was a little difficult to separate the must from the young wine. However, it was cool to see how all the berries floated on top in dense bricks almost like mothers. When moving the wine into the secondary fermentation vessel, I also had to siphon it twice to remove the berry sediment (those peachy blobs). But check out this color!
Today, after just about two weeks of fermenting in the glass carboy, I racked it to the alpha bucket and back into the (cleaned) carboy. The color of the wine is still vivid, but noticeably deeper:
This wine still has at least 2 rackings and 4 months left to go before bottling and I'm deep in the learning process. After it's all over I'll post an overview of wine-making terms and tips garnered through experience. For now, I've found the home wine making articles on E. C. Kraus to be really helpful. Their page on wine racking is especially good for beginners for whom the term is most surely confusing.
Naturally, a few weeks ago I decided the time was ripe for our berries to begin their journey into becoming wine. Before this summer I had never made wine before which is a bit strange actually, since for the last two years I have literally attempted to ferment everything in sight.
Pictured above are two 10 liter buckets of raspberry must undergoing primary fermentation using these recipes as a guide. Soon after this picture was taken we purchased a 27 liter "alpha bucket" which is now our go-to primary fermentation and racking vessel. Because there were so many raspberries, we were able to make a second wine to which I added about 2 liters of the season's last rhubarb juice from our garden.
Because I didn't use a bag to contain the berries (probably will next time) this meant it was a little difficult to separate the must from the young wine. However, it was cool to see how all the berries floated on top in dense bricks almost like mothers. When moving the wine into the secondary fermentation vessel, I also had to siphon it twice to remove the berry sediment (those peachy blobs). But check out this color!
Today, after just about two weeks of fermenting in the glass carboy, I racked it to the alpha bucket and back into the (cleaned) carboy. The color of the wine is still vivid, but noticeably deeper:
This wine still has at least 2 rackings and 4 months left to go before bottling and I'm deep in the learning process. After it's all over I'll post an overview of wine-making terms and tips garnered through experience. For now, I've found the home wine making articles on E. C. Kraus to be really helpful. Their page on wine racking is especially good for beginners for whom the term is most surely confusing.
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