blackberry melomel question

So, I just racked my blackberry melomel to get it off the fruit. I tasted it (of course) but it had a bit of a bitter taste to it.

I had been adding some honey to it a couple of ounces at a time the last couple of weeks. It was a 1 gallon batch and quite a bit of blackberries.

Any thoughts on the bitterness? will it age out?

I had that with my raspberry, and while I've not tasted it yet I'm guessing the blackberry as well. I think it could come from boiling the skins maybe, I plan to just press the berries next time. Hopefully someone else will have a more concrete answer.

How long did you leave it on the blackberries? I think they have some natural tannins to them so if you age on the berries they leech out. If you want to avoid it you have to rack off the blackberries fairly rapidly. I don't know this from experience, just from what ive read.

So is it possible for me to clear the tannins by using additives? Should I "cover" the bitter with back sweetening? Or is it too early to tell?

regulatedhobbyist said:

So is it possible for me to clear the tannins by using additives? Should I "cover" the bitter with back sweetening? Or is it too early to tell?

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You can try, but if it's just finished, it's likely to be too early.

A lot of people start making meads and wonder why it tastes bloody horrible when it's finished.....

They just define finished at the wrong time. Newly made meads, irrespective of the ingredients, often don't taste good. They often need some back sweetening, or as a minimum, some ageing (at least 6 months).

It's entirely possible that some of the bitterness will fade, or be masked with sweetener of some sort.

As for the source of the bitterness ? more probable that it's been on the fruit too long, and has come from the pips/seed. That's why it's a fools errand to blitz the fruit. Just freeze it for a week then thaw it, as that will break down the cell walls quicker, allowing the yeast to get to the sugars in the juice more readily.

Put the berries in whole, or mash them? How long would you recommend leaving it on the fruit?

I did one recently... 9# blackberries, 6# wild blackberry honey, D254, then backsweetened to 1012 and carbed. I saw on the Jack Kellers website to process the berries (for wine) by pouring boil water over them and let them sit 48 hrs, then strain. The seeds are supposed to impart a lot of tannic bitterness. Mine does not have this bitterness that I hear about.