Port Style Wine Recipe

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alanywiseman.

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I have promised my future father-in-law that I would brew a port for him. I had planned to amke a blackberry prot using the Jack Keller recipe but as it requires 4KG of blackberries and they are slightly thin on the ground I am have a change of plans. From searching the forum I came across GA port recipe and have based mine on that.

The plan is:

3lbs Elderberries
3lbs Blackberries
1/2lb rasins (chopped)
1lb sugar
nurtient
port yeast.

The idea was to ferment on the pulp for a week the strain and step feed to try and get to 18%ish then to fortify with some brandy to get to 22-20%.

Does this seem reasonable? Will the fruit give it enough body or should I use more fruit?
 
Thats about right. I often used damsons as well as or instead of the blackberries, and you could always use more fruit. :whistle:

:thumb: :thumb:
 
Sadly I can not find any damsons or plums near me at the moment or I would definetly add them.

On checking my supplies in the freezer I think I am going to go with 4lbs of blackberries and elderberries and I might chuck in a couple of lbs of apples as well. Step feed till the yeast can take no more, let it clear and then fortify with brandy and if it need more body I will use red grape concentrate to back-sweeten.

Does that sound ok?
 
alanywiseman said:
Sadly I can not find any damsons or plums near me at the moment or I would definitely add them.
You won't find any this year, stone fruits have failed completely, I think it was due to Spring frosts.

Some apple trees have fruited, others haven't, and pears seem to have gone the same way as the stone fruits.

Around our way, elderberries still need another week or two, but blackberries are the best I've seen in the last 4 years since I started collecting them again.
 
This is the first year I have been out looking for these fruits. The elderberries seem to me to be ripening quickly up here but the blackberries still have a way to go. Strange considering I am quite a bit north of you :hmm:
 
Strangely here in East Yorkshire there is a "hit and miss" to apples and pears, stone fruit has produced in some sheltered gardens, soft fruits are small and deformed. Elderberries are sparce in some places yet are possitively dripping off bushes fairly close by.

A wierd year, lets hope its a better one next year.
 
alanywiseman said:
The elderberries seem to me to be ripening quickly up here but the blackberries still have a way to go. Strange considering I am quite a bit north of you :hmm:
That is strange, elderberries should usually be ready when blackberries are just about finished.

I'm quite lucky, I live on the edge of one town and work on the edge of another. My 12 mile daily commute includes 11 miles of green space and my route has a few options. At the moment I'm stopping somewhere on my way home for probably only 10-15 minutes and picking 1-2 pounds of blackberries a day, so the freezer is filling up nicely.

I've got a few elderberries but the bunches are still about 60:40 black:red and the stalks are still mostly green.
 
Moley said:
I'm quite lucky, I live on the edge of one town and work on the edge of another. My 12 mile daily commute includes 11 miles of green space and my route has a few options. At the moment I'm stopping somewhere on my way home for probably only 10-15 minutes and picking 1-2 pounds of blackberries a day, so the freezer is filling up nicely.

I've got a few elderberries but the bunches are still about 60:40 black:red and the stalks are still mostly green.

You are lucky. I am in the west of Glasgow with little green around but there are a few elders near me. By the sounds of things I many be jumping the gun a wee bit on the elders as not all of the stalks are purple but the berries are generally very dark purple. I thought that was when they were ripe?
 
alanywiseman said:
I may be jumping the gun a wee bit on the elders as not all of the stalks are purple but the berries are generally very dark purple. I thought that was when they were ripe?
The berries should be almost black and all the stalks purple.

PB10091901.jpg


I've found an easier way to strip them though:

Take a small bunch and hold the stem in the crook of your thumb and index finger. Work over a sink full of cold water. Wet your hands and the berries. Cup your hands lightly around the bunch of berries and roll your hands over the berries in a circular motion. After a few seconds, separate your hands and a load of berries should fall into the water. Cup and rub again. With practice you should find the right level of pressure to exert, and after a little while the only berries left on the sprue should be the unripe ones which are going to float and get skimmed and discarded anyway.
 
Cheers for that Moley. I will try and be more selective in my selection of the bunches, mind you I have not had too many floaters.

I did try the fork thing but it did not work for me. I much prefer sitting in front of the TV and picking my way through them. It is rather therapeutic however I will give the rolling hand trick a go.

Cheers for the help and advice guys :thumb:
 
A good start to the day ... or keep 'em peeled and be prepared.

I believe that Apache helicopter pilots are trained to use their eyes independently, one for looking out of the window and the other for watching a display inside their visors. At this time of year I try to operate similarly when driving, one eye on the road and the other scouring the hedgerows.

My outbound and homeward journeys follow slightly different routes. Yesterday, on the way to work, I spotted an Elder I've never noticed before. Many elders flanking exposed lanes which are susceptible to frosts have failed this year but sheltered ones have fruited.

Also, at this time of year I always carry in my car an old FV, an assortment of fruit punnets, ice cream and margerine tubs, scissors, secateurs, thornproof gardening gloves for separating brambles and getting to the best berries which are often hidden from view and an extended litter-picker type of grabbing device.

Anyway, I set out 15 minutes earlier this morning and have harvested those elderberries :thumb:
 
What port yeast are you going to use? I've tried Richie's port yeast but my brews stopped about 15-16% and the guy at my LHBS where I bought it confirmed that 16% is about the max for this yeast.

I'm starting an elderberry port soon (using this recipe http://www.homewinemaking.co.uk/forum/Y ... 1285793633) and I'll be trying a dessert wine yeast this time to try to get the alcohol up a bit more.

Good luck
 
Moley said:
Many elders flanking exposed lanes which are susceptible to frosts have failed this year but sheltered ones have fruited.

INteresting, I have wondered why some are full of berries and others have none, I assumed it was due to the wet summer and when they flowered.

Moley said:
Also, at this time of year I always carry in my car an old FV, an assortment of fruit punnets, ice cream and margerine tubs, scissors, secateurs, thornproof gardening gloves for separating brambles and getting to the best berries which are often hidden from view and an extended litter-picker type of grabbing device.

I need to get some sort of grabbing device, my armes are just not long enough! :lol: cant let the birds have ALL the fruit at the top!

GREBO75 said:
What port yeast are you going to use? I've tried Richie's port yeast but my brews stopped about 15-16% and the guy at my LHBS where I bought it confirmed that 16% is about the max for this yeast.

I'm starting an elderberry port soon (using this recipe http://www.homewinemaking.co.uk/forum/Y ... 1285793633) and I'll be trying a dessert wine yeast this time to try to get the alcohol up a bit more.

Good luck

I was planning on useing Riches port yeast as it is what is in my LHBS but if it as you say then I might use Gervins dessert wine yeast I think. Thanks for the heads up :thumb:
 
Just a wee update. Racked the port off the lees this evening and have oaked it with heavy toasted French Oak, 10g boiled for 10 mins in a little water. Water and oak chips were added to the port. Going to give it a gentle stir about every 2 weeks to aid extraction. Will report back in a couple of month.
 
graysalchemy said:
alanywiseman said:
Will report back in a couple of month.

Couple of months, couple of years more like, and even then it will be a bit young :lol: :lol:

Months for how the oak is doing but yes years for the final product :roll: :D Managed to get a small sample to see how it is doing and it is shaping up into a lovely drink. Still slightly hot alcohol and high tannins but in another year or 2 it will be getting there.
 
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