How much Brandy to add .

[Crabby_patty]

Hi all , I have about 11 litres of a wine made from a mix of red grapes , elderberry ,BlackBerry and a litre of red concentrate. It is sitting at present at 14% . I intend to make 2 demi John's worth into a port type drink so how much spirit do i need to bring it up to 18 to 20% abv without losing to much colour ?
I added oak clippings whilst fermenting do i need to add more to the demi John's? The rest i will bottle. All advice thankfully received.

 

[Crabby_patty]

Not to worry had a mental block for some reason and have now calculated it . Doh. Still interested on oak chip additions . I'm also wondering if it's worth adding a bottle of port to help the flavours along and make 3 demi js to keep for a year or so.

 

[johncrobinson]

Hi Crabby,

I bet you got a shock when you calculated just HOW MUCH brandy you will need

True port was in olden times "adulterated" with elderberry and blackberry wine,It seems a lot of punters were unable to tell the difference.

I have made port clones myself,It works well but i did start off with a higher than 14%abv