Blackberry Moonshine Recipe

Do you have wild blackberries growing on your property or in your garden? This homemade blackberry moonshine recipe requires only a few simple ingredients and a little patience to wait for fermentation. This blackberry brandy recipe can also be diluted to make homemade blackberry wine.

Health Benefits of Blackberries

Blackberries are widely known for their anticancer properties, due to their abundance of antioxidants. Studies have shown that regular consumption of blackberries is effective at reducing the risk of esophageal, cervical, and breast cancer. Blackberries are also known to relieve hemorrhoids and intestinal inflammation. Blackberry leaves can also ease mouth ulcers, and a blackberry compress was historically used on external wounds for its antimicrobial properties and to reduce bleeding.

Harvesting Blackberries

Harvesting fresh blackberries can be tricky when foraging through the timber. Blackberries have thorns, so wearing good shoes or boots along with durable jeans can help prevent injury. Most blackberries will produce a crop ready for harvest by July through August. If you need to store blackberries until enough are harvested, you can store blackberries in the freezer (blackberries have a very short shelf life).

Optional Blackberry Wine Ingredients

• Adding yeast to the recipe can jump-start the fermentation process, yielding homemade moonshine in fewer months. If you are using home-grown blackberries (not store-bought), adding yeast is not necessary because of the natural yeast found on the surface of the blackberry. Store-bought berries are loaded with preservatives and chemicals that prevent the fermentation process, giving the berries a longer shelf-life. Adding yeast will be necessary when using store-bought berries.
• Raisins will add body to the blackberry wine, meaning that they increase the viscosity of the blackberry brandy. This also allows the flavors to linger in the mouth longer, and also gives off a slight caramel taste. Adding raisins may also increase the sweetness of the drink (great for dessert alcohol).
• Pectin can also be added to thicken the blackberry schnapps, however wild blackberries contain a lot of pectin naturally and is not necessary to add additional.
• Tannin can be added to increase the bitterness and dryness taste of the moonshine or wine. A natural source of tannin includes green oak leaves and grape leaves.

Blackberry Mead Equipment

• 1 gallon carboy (Amazon Affiliate Link), or glass jar with fermenting airlock lid (Amazon Affiliate Link)
• Siphon (Amazon Affiliate Link)
• Funnel (Amazon Affiliate Link)
• Flip top bottles (Amazon Affiliate Link), not needed until after 5-6 weeks of fermenting

Blackberry Moonshine Ingredients:

• 1.5 pounds of blackberries (about 5 cups)
• 1.5 pounds of honey (about 2 cups)
• 0.5 pounds of raisins (about 1.5 cups)
• 1 gallon of water

How to Make Blackberry Moonshine

1. Sanitize everything that will be used in the brewing process.
2. Heat about 1/2 gallon of water in the pot on low heat. Once it’s starting to steam (not boiling), add the honey and stir it so it dissolves. Let the diluted honey cool to less than 90 degrees Fahrenheit (so that natural yeast is not killed by hot water).
3. Add blackberries and raisins into the one-gallon jug.
4. Use the funnel and carefully pour the cool diluted honey mixture into the jug.
5. Top off the jug with cold water, leaving at least 2 inches of head space on top. Put the lid on the jug and gently mix everything around a bit.
6. Add water to the airlock, and put it with the rubber stopper into the end of the carboy. Store in a cool dark place. It should start bubbling within 12-24 hours.
7. After about 4-6 weeks of fermenting, and once all bubbles have stopped rising in the jug and airlock, the mead can be bottled and aged. The blackberry moonshine is drinkable 2 months after bottling, and tastes best about 1 year later.