Blueberries are a tasty fruit that are well known for their antioxidant properties. But did you know that blueberries can also be used to make a tasty wine?
In fact, blueberry wine is one of the simplest recipes to make. This makes it the perfect choice for beginners who want to get into winemaking! Blueberries will create a deliciously dark wine that will appear similar to a Bordeaux or Syrah.
As with many fruit wines, you will need to add a few ingredients to your blueberries before you can turn them into wine.
Acid blend, tannin, pectic enzyme, and yeast nutrients will be needed to bring out the very best from your added fruit. You can choose between fresh and frozen blueberries, too.
Want to know how to make your very own blueberry wine? Take a look at our easy peasy recipe below!
How do you make blueberry wine from scratch?
Before you can start to make your blueberry wine, you will need to make sure you’ve got the right equipment to hand. You will need:
- Bottles, corks, and corker
- Bung and airlock
- Fermenting bucket
- 1 gallon demijohn
- Hydrometer
- Nylon straining bag
- Potato masher
- Siphon
Ingredients
- 3 pounds blueberries, cleaned and prepared (fresh or frozen)
- 2.2 pounds sugar
- 4.2 liters water
- 2 tsp citric acid
- 1 tsp yeast nutrient
- ½ tsp pectic enzyme
- ⅛ tannin
- 1 sachet wine yeast
- 1 Campden tablet
Method
1. First, you will need to dissolve the sugar with half the water in a pan. Bring this to the boil. Make sure that the sugar has fully dissolved before you turn off the heat.
2. While you’re waiting for the sugar and water to heat, you can place the blueberries in the straining bag. Place this in the bottom of your fermenting bucket.
Now you can get to work with your potato masher to break up the blueberries. The blueberries will need to be squashed enough so that the juices are released from the fruit, but they don’t need to be pureed.
3.Next, pour the boiled sugar and water mixture over the crushed blueberries. Make sure to mix this well with your fruit. Add the second half of the water to help the mixture cool down.
4.Now it’s time to add the additives. Mix the citric acid, wine yeast, and tannin with the blueberry mixture. Ensure that you mix it all together thoroughly.
Leave the mixture to rest for a few hours as it cools down. Add a crushed Campden tablet and allow the mixture to settle for at least 12 hours.
5.Once 12 hours have passed, you can then add the pectic enzyme. You must now leave your blueberry wine mixture for at least 24 hours. When this time has passed you can use your hydrometer to test the wine gravity.
6. After this 24 hour period you can now add the yeast to your blueberry wine mixture. This will start the fermentation process. You should allow your wine to ferment for at least a week.
Make sure to stir the blueberry mixture every day or two. This will help to extract flavor from the berries, as these will have a tendency to float otherwise.
7. Now that a week has passed, you can lift the straining bag that contains the blueberry pulp from the bucket. Make sure to allow the bag to drain as much as possible, but try to avoid squeezing the bag.
8. Next, you will need to use your hydrometer again to check the specific gravity of your blueberry wine. If the wine has reached below 1.010, it’s time to rack the wine into your sterilized demijohn.
If the gravity hasn’t dropped below 1.010, you can leave it to ferment for a couple more days before checking the specific gravity again. When you’ve racked your wine, you can attach the bung and airlock and leave your wine be.
9. You will need to wait for at least 2 months, sometimes even longer, before you can rack the wine off the sediment. You can even wait for the blueberry wine to clear completely before you rack it into a new bottle.
You should then allow your wine to age for a further couple of months. Blueberry wine should be left to age for at least 6 months before you drink it.
This blueberry wine should keep for between 2 to 3 years. The alcohol content will be around 12%.
It will taste even better if it’s left to age for a while before you drink it. We’d recommend chilling your blueberry wine before you enjoy it.
How much fruit do I need for 1 gallon of wine?
You will need between 3 to 6 pounds of fruit to make 1 gallon of wine.
The recipe we’ve listed above should easily make you 1 gallon of blueberry wine, which should be more than enough to enjoy a couple of cool, chilled glasses with family and friends.
Typically, the amount of fruit required to create 1 gallon of wine will entirely depend on the fruit you use. We would recommend using at least 3 pounds of blueberries for your wine to get the best out of your fruit.
Is blueberry wine any good?
Blueberry wine is on the sweeter side, so is best served chilled. Because blueberries have such great antioxidant properties, the wine also comes with a range of great health benefits.
It has more antioxidants than other grape-based wines, and is packed full of helpful vitamins and minerals.
This particular wine pairs well with cheese as well as fruits with cinnamon. Blueberry wine will be a welcome addition to any barbecues you host.
Imagine bragging to your family and friends about this fantastic wine you’ve created yourself!
In summary
So there you have it! Blueberry wine is pretty simple to make at home providing you’ve got all the necessary ingredients and equipment.
This deliciously sweet wine will taste even better when you know that you’ve made it yourself! For the best results, serve your blueberry wine chilled.
