Raspberry Wine Recipe
The elusive raspberry wine recipe – a secret elixir for gardeners who’ve mastered the art of taming those thorny little troublemakers who pretend to be a gift from your garden but secretly conspire to take over the world! If you’ve ever found yourself in a never-ending battle with these prolific berries, fret not, dear green-thumbed warriors, for I’ve got a solution that will not only conquer your raspberry jungle but also let you drown your gardening sorrows in a glass of delightful homemade raspberry wine. So, grab your gardening gloves and your harvest basket, because it’s time to turn those pesky brambles into your new favorite garden-to-goblet concoction, fruit wine!
Homemade Raspberry Wine (Using Fresh Raspberries)
Homemade raspberry wine is the perfect excuse to show off your exceptional foraging skills. Forget those supermarket grapes; we gardeners prefer our wine to be born in the wild, handpicked with the precision of a ninja, and probably including some blood, sweat, and tears from plucking those thorny bastards. It’s all worth the undeniable charm of sipping on a glass of your very own creation, the kind that tastes like a symphony of fruitiness and hints of “I did it myself!” Homebrewed raspberry wine gives the ability to brag about this sweet wine to anyone within earshot. Because, let’s face it, who doesn’t want to hear you endlessly extolling the virtues of your homegrown masterpiece at every social gathering?
Best Raspberry Wine Ingredients
- Raspberries: These little red wonders are the stars of the show, and are here to make your mead taste like heaven on a berry. We add them for that sweet, fruity, and slightly tangy flavor. It’s like throwing a berry party in your mouth! You can use red raspberry (cultivated) or black raspberry (wild), both are great!
- Honey: The nectar of the gods! You see, honey isn’t just for Winnie the Pooh. It’s the magical elixir that will give your mead that natural sweetness. Bees work hard to make it, while you get to drink the rewards.
- Water: It’s the canvas upon which all the magic happens, helping the yeast turn honey into alcohol. This wine is so awesome, you’d think it was made with unicorn tears or dragon sweat, but no, we use plain ol’ water. It’s important to note that most city water supplies are extremely chlorinated, which can kill any natural fermenting yeast and bacteria. Let your water sit open for a day to let the chlorine evaporate out.
- Wine yeast: This little critter is like the party starter. It eats the honey, turns it into alcohol, and then throws a boozy bash in your fermentation vessel. It’s the life of the party, converting sugar into alcohol, one bubble at a time!
- Yeast nutrient: Think of this as the DJ of the party. It keeps the yeast happy and dancing, ensuring they don’t get tired and pass out before the mead is ready. It’s like giving them a power-up, so they can do their job properly.
Equipment Needed for Winemaking Recipes
There is no need to purchase expensive wine making kits for making raspberry wine, when all you need is a few pieces of equipment: (This list includes Amazon affiliate links.)
- 1 gallon primary fermenter with an airlock lid or 5-gallon primary fermenter with an airlock lid
- 1 gallon carboy or 5 gallon carboy
- Siphon
- Flip top bottles (not needed until after 5-6 weeks of fermenting)
How to Make Raspberry Wine
This recipe defaults to make 1 gallon of raspberry wine. You can click the 5x for the 5 gallon raspberry wine recipe. Make sure to use fresh raspberry fruit from the garden! Store-bought fruit has preservatives, which will prevent the wines from fermenting.
Raspberry Wine Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- 8 cups Fresh raspberries ((for primary) about 2 pounds per 1x)
- 4 cups Honey (about 3 pounds per 1x)
- 1 Packet Wine yeast
- 1 tsp Yeast nutrient
- 4 cups Fresh raspberries ((for secondary) about 1 pound per 1x)
- 1/2 tsp Potassium Sorbate (optional (for backsweetening))
- 1 pound Honey (optional (for backsweetening))
Instructions
- Heat 1/2 gallon of water to almost boiling.
- Remove the water from the heat, stir in honey and let cool.4 cups Honey
- Using ripe raspberries, chop, crush, or food process raspberries.8 cups Fresh raspberries
- Add diluted honey, chopped raspberries, and the remaining 1/2 gallon of cool water to the primary fermenter bucket.
- Once the mixture is less than 90 degrees Fahrenheit, add yeast and nutrient. Add water to the airlock, and secure the lid to the bucket. Allow the mixture to ferment for 4-6 weeks, or until fermentation stops.1 tsp Yeast nutrient, 1 Packet Wine yeast
- After fermentation stops (in 4-6 weeks), rack the wine into a secondary carboy with pureed raspberies. Secure the airlock again, and allow it to sit for another 30 days.4 cups Fresh raspberries
- If wine is clear after 30 days, the wine can be bottled, backsweetened (optional), and aged. If the wine has particles or is cloudy, re-rack the wine into another carboy for another 30 days. Repeat this process until the wine clears.
- Once the wine remains clear 30 days after being racked, stabilize and backsweeten (optional), bottle, and age.
- If you wish to backsweeten, you must first rack the wine into a new carboy (this will prevent stirring up any possible sediment). Add the potassium sorbate, and let it sit for 24 hours. The next day, prepare honey by diluting it in a glass of your new wine. Siphon 1.25 ounces (37 mL) of wine into a tasting shotglass, and add a few drops of honey (keep track). Stir well and taste. Refill the empty glass and repeat this process until the desired taste. Count up the drops of honey mixture, and multiply by 5. This is how much of your diluted honey mix in mL to add to your gallon of wine. (Example: If your desired taste took 5 drops of the honey mix, you would add 25 mL of the honey mix per gallon of wine, or 50 mL for 2 gallons of wine.) Stir well, and do a final taste test, bottle, and age.1/2 tsp Potassium Sorbate, 1 pound Honey
- Wait at least 6 months to taste. Raspberry wine tastes best after aged 6 months to 1 year.
- Chill raspberry wine before serving.
Raspberry Wine Recipe Substitutes
- Sugar: Sugar can be used in place of honey, use 6 cups of sugar per gallon of homemade raspberry wine.
- Frozen raspberries: Fresh raspberries have a shelf life of about 2-3 days when stored in the refrigerator. In order to collect 3 pounds of raspberries to make 1 gallon of wine, you may need to freeze the raspberries until enough can be collected. Raspberries are typically ripe for harvest for about 1 month in July.
- Raspberry preserves: Preserves may be used in wine, just make sure there is no potassium sorbate added (this will prevent the yeast from fermenting).
- Chocolate raspberry wine: Mix 4 ounces of Cocoa Powder in 2 cups of warm water, and add it to the primary fermenter with the diluted honey. (You may need a blender for this step.) Cocoa is bitter, but the bitterness wears off with aging. After secondary fermentation, rack it into a carboy to let the chocolate raspberry wine bulk age for 12 months before bottling. This step will give time for the bitter oils of the cocoa powder to break down. After bottling, allow the chocolate raspberry wine to age an additional 9 to 12 months before tasting.
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