Blueberry Wine

My father in-law (to be) has been making wine for years. He has been trying to convince me to make blueberry wine since I moved down here. Finally, we managed to do it! The stores of blueberries that I had been hoarding in his freezer were getting out of hand and they needed to be used before they went bad. It was a much easier process than I ever guessed! Starting it only took about 30 minutes.

Ingredients:

1. 10 lbs blueberries
2. 4 gallons of distilled, spring, or good well water
3. 1 packet active dry wine yeast
4. 10 lbs of sugar
5. 4 tsp. yeast nutrients
6. 2 Tbs. Pectic Enzyme
7. 7 Tbs. Acid Blend
8. 2 Campden Tablets (crushed)

Steps:

1. First briefly rinse blueberries (blueberries are not cleaned before packaging or freezing) and try to remove any stems. Thaw if frozen.

2. Run the berries through a blender, just long enough to crush them up.Don't waste any juice, make sure it all ends up in the pot.

3. Pour berries into a very large (at least 5 gallon) pot or bucket. We used a large canning pot.

4. Crush campden tablets and sprinkle over blueberries.

5. Add acid blend, pectic enzyme, yeast nutrients, and sugar. Stir.

6. Add water and give it another good stir.

7. Put a lid on it and place it in a warm place over night.


8. After 24 hours, add yeast, replace lid, and let sit in warm place for about a week, until the fermentation starts to slow down. Just keep an eye on the bubbles, they will slow down. Stir everyday, preferably twice a day.

9. Strain blueberries from the liquid.

10. Allow the liquid to settle. Once settled, using a clear plastic tube, siphon the liquid out of the pot into a carboy leaving the sediment behind (he uses a 5 gallon water jug with a special attachment on the top. I didn't get any pictures of this part! Ugh! Next time!)

11. Repeat the last step at least 2 more times, spanning the time period of about 2 months. Some people say to do it at 2 weeks and again at 2 months.

12. Bottle the wine.

13. Enjoy! MmMmMm!