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There’s an old saying that the best time to plant a blueberry bush is 5 years ago. They take a while to come into production, but once they start, crops can be huge.
Once the freezers full and you’ve made your fill of blueberry jam and muffins, there’s often still enough to fill a carboy with homemade blueberry wine.
This recipe is adapted from The Home Winemakers Companion. The author describes it as, “One of the most interesting fruit wines…The basic recipe produces a fruity, easy-drinking, nicely balanced wine. Slightly sweet, it is a match for fruit pies, chocolate cake, ice cream, and soft, creamy cheeses.”
While the recipe has you simply place the blueberries and sugar in the primary fermenter and then top with boiling water, I find it helps to use a wooden spoon or potato masher to muddle the blueberries into the sugar.
I then give them about 6-12 hours to soak in the sugar, which helps to extract their blueberry juice. At the end of this time, you should have a good amount of blueberry syrup already, before adding any boiling water on top.
That’s completely optional of course, and as the recipe is written, the blueberries, sugar and boiling water go right into the fermenter with no delay.
Another option for pulling more flavor out of the blueberries is freezing. Freezing the berries for a day or two before making blueberry wine helps to break open their cells and release their juices.
Homemade Blueberry Wine
Equipment
Ingredients
- 3 lbs blueberries
- 2 1/4 lbs sugar, about 4 1/2 cups
- 1/4 tsp yeast nutrient
- 1 tsp acid blend
- 1/2 tsp Pectic Enzyme
- 1/4 tsp tannin powder
- 1 packet Cote des Blancs Wine Yeast, or other wine yeast
- water to fill
- 2 tbsp oak chips, optional
- 1 Campden tablet, optional
Instructions
- Sanitize all equipment.
- Add the berries and sugar to a primary fermentation container. Bring one quart of water to a boil and pour it over the fruit/sugar. Stir to dissolve.
- Let cool to about 70 degrees F.
- Once cooled, add the remaining ingredients (except oak chips & Camden tablet, if using) and add enough water to fill the one-gallon fermentation vessel.
- Stir daily for 5 to 7 days. Once the fermentation calms down a bit, rack into a sanitized glass brewing carboy, add oak chips if using and seal with a rubber bung and water lock.
- Ferment in secondary for 4 to 6 weeks.
- At this point, either rack the wine again to ferment for another 6 to 8 months....or add 1 crushed Campden tablet and rack into a clean fermenter for a few weeks until the wine clears.
- Bottle the wine and allow it to age for 6 months before drinking.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Thank you. If I wanted the wine to be sweeter, when would you suggest adding more sugar? I’ve read where people add more sugar after the first 7 days of primary fermentation and let it sit another 7 before racking into carboy with airlock.
Yes, you could back sweeten your wine. Here’s a great post on how to do that:
When you say 1/4 package of wine yeast are you talking about 1/4 of the little Red Star packet?
Yes, you only need a quarter of a package.
Thank you. If I wanted the wine to be sweeter, when would you suggest adding more sugar? I’ve read where people add more sugar after the first 7 days of primary fermentation and let it sit another 7 before racking into carboy with airlock.
You can find more information on back sweetening and adjusting flavors at bottling time in this article on homemade apple wine https://practicalselfreliance.com/apple-wine/
Hey, trying this at home today.
Just a note. Your recipe says to add ALL the ingredients but later states to use the campaden tablet at the end. I just think this should be clarified, as a first time wine maker, because I combined all the dry ingredients but removed the tablet once I saw that final step. Partially my own fault for not reading to the end before beginning, but if it says “all the ingredients” I assumed all of them.
Thanks,
Chef Maddie
Thanks for catching that. I’ll make an update to the recipe!
Ashley I am in the middle of my first fermentation. I have the wine in a plastic bucket with a tight lid and an air lock. Then I will transfer to a glass jug within an air lock. I am not seeing much activity in the air lock during this first fermentation. Is there something I should do different, or should I be ok.
Thank you for your help
After 48 to 72 hours it should be vigorously bubbling. Check the seal, the air can force out through even the smallest opening, and in the past when I’ve had water locks without activity it was because there was a crack in the lid. If it is good and sealed, and you’re seeing low (but not no) activity, then I’d say maybe your yeast is weak or old. Maybe try adding in another packet if it’s still not really going after 3-4 days.
I was thinking about introducing lemon, lavender, and maybe some vanilla to my wine. Based on your recipe above, aside from personal preferences, do you see any issues with combining these flavors and if so, at what point in the process should these ingredients be added?
I would probably make the blueberry wine as it is first and then infuse the other flavors in after aging, that way you can experiment with different ratios.
Hi Ashley, your website really inspires me! I am making this recipe tomorrow! I have read to use a full yeast packet even if only for one gallon, do you always use just some of the yeast packet when making smaller batches? Ever use whole thing? Thanks much!
I think she sometimes uses the whole thing if she isn’t going to be making wine for a while.
Is grape tannin the same a wine tannin? Having difficulty finding grape tannin.
Yes, same thing.
I am unable to find the Grape tannin, can I use the regular tannin, or do I need to use grape?
Just tannin powder for winemaking is what you’re looking for, not a particular grape tannin. They have it at winemaking and brewing stores, or online.
Thankyou
Last summer I had already gotten my blueberry wine started when I realized I forgot the yeast. Living about 45 minutes from the closest store I used yeast rolls in a pinch and added extra sugar (about 2 cups for a 5 gallon bucket’s worth). I didn’t have a lid so I just lowered the bucket down into an extra strength clear(ish) garbage bag, put it in the closet for 2 weeks then strained it & started burping it every other day. The whole process was 6 weeks. I could’ve let it go another week or two but I couldn’t resist anymore. It was amazing! So amazing that I did the same thing with blackberries and had even better results! I DO NOT recommend doing this recipe with peaches – it was a horrible, stinky, sticky mess. Have you ever used any unusual or uncommon ingredients in a pinch & have awesome, unexpected results? Please share!
Can frozen blueberries be used?
Yes, they can!
If using frozen, any idea of amounts or weights? I just found your recipe and it’s November. I have tons of frozen blueberries.
The fruit doesn’t change weight when frozen so you can just use the same weight.