I am growing Blackcurrants in my garden, but due to moose damage every winter they have not yet produced a large crop of berries. Last winter I put a fence around my plants to protect from moose and they are finally recovering and I did have a small crop this year.
Two years ago I purchased 15 lbs of Black Currents from a local Wasilla grower on Craigslist. I washed and de-stemmed the berries and packed them into vacuum bags and stored them in my deep freezer. I just thawed them out - crushed them and mixed the ingredients for 5 Gal. of Black Currant must on 7/14/2019. Black currents are usually very acidic and high in tannin so the recipe did not include additional tannin or acid adjustment...
12 lbs Sugar
1/4 + 1/8 tsp Potassium Metabisulfite
7/15 - Original S.G. 1.102
Pitched 2 pkgs of Lalvin 71B wine yeast
Stirred daily and punched down the "cap"
7/24 - S.G. 1.034
Removed the berries and pressed the pulp. Transferred to a 7 Gal. glass carboy to finish fermenting under an airlock.
8/23 - S.G. 0.995
Added 1/4 tsp Potassium Metabisulfite and racked to a 5 Gal. glass carboy to age under airlock.
Calculated 14% Alcohol by volume.
Saturday 12/19/2020 final S.G. 0.995 - 24 bottles.
Taste is light and fruity with just a hint of tannin. Very drinkable now. I might add some tannin to my next recipe and maybe a small dose of acid blend. The color and flavor profile is closer to Pinot Noir than to Cabernet. There seems to be a very slight sweetness even at 0.95 S.G. and may be due to light acid-tannin content. Not much aroma or bouquet is detectable, but currants can have a heavy odor that some people find unpleasant.
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