wine 101: black raspberry

Since moving in with Sam, my diet has been predominately organic/local/minimally processed food. My body has become used to the wholesome goodness it's been getting and now reacts with fervor when given anything subpar. Take, for example, last night. Because I am on medication for my sinus infection, I cannot drink alcohol. So at bowling night I ate Lemonheads and drank Snapple instead. The sugar rush was high, and the crash was debilitating. My stomach was upset the rest of the evening. It really is amazing how, when you pay attention, your body is pretty vocal about what you do to it.

Black Raspberry Wine
Date Started: July 6, 2008

Ingredients:
- black raspberries - approx. 1 quart
- sugar - 3 cups
- yeast - more than half a package (again, still experimenting)
- vessel - wide-mouth glass gallon

Date Bottled: August 1, 2008
- yeild - 1/2 gallon plus 400 mL

Notes:
Raspberries seemed to be ripe, so I added less sugar.
Probably added way to much yeast.
Stirred in the yeast immediately.

Tasting: September 10, 2008
Way too dry. Tastes like flavored vodka. Gross.

Re-fermentation:
September 22, 2008
- let 1 tsp sugar, 1/2 cup water, 1/4 tsp yeast sit for 15 minutes
- add above mixture to prior wine, 1/2 cups sugar, 1 pint water
September 24, 2008
- added one more cup of sugar

Re-racking: October 15, 2008
- yeild - 3 quarts

*Re-fermentation is something you can do if your wine is not sweet enough or if it has an "off" taste. I think I went overboard, and my black raspberry wine went from being too dry to very sweet. Some friends said it tastes kindof like wine cooler. It is as sweet as the mulberry, but not so smooth. Also, the second fermentation is obvious, because there are always little bubbles. Gives it a slightly carbonated feel.

*This is probably my worst wine so far.