What should I do?

[ucwayne]

I recently brewed a blueberry Wheat and a Prickley Pear Wheat (2.5 Gal of each). I used fresh blueberrys and Prickley Pears. I let it ferment for about 2 weeks and everything seemed fine. I bottled them about a month ago and again everything went well. I popped open a couple bottles the other day and they were well carbonated, and had a good fruity taste, but they were very bitter. (I think that I should have added more sugar when I cooked down the fruit). My question is, What can I do now that it it bottled to get rid of the bitterness? Can I open all the bottles and put them back into the carboy with some more sugar for a few days and rebottle? I'm open for suggestions and recommendations.

 

[freisste]

I don't think there is a good, easy solution. If you repeat this in the future (which I would recommend), add some non-fermentable sugar substitute like stevia.

If you WERE to add sugar, it would just ferment out an probably make your bitterness issue worse (beer would be even drier).

Opening, pouring somewhere, mixing something else, and rebottling would likely just add oxygen and you would have a beer that is worse than current with a different problem.

 

[DocScott]

I think you're stuck with what you have. Time may help the flavors mellow and blend though.

How old are the beers? Young beer can sometimes be described by some as bitter.

 

[microbusbrewery]

I agree with the other posts...pouring it back in the fermenter is going to result in oxidation issues at least. Can you provide more info? Bitterness as in similar to hop bitterness? Blueberries can be described as tart, but I've never had any that I'd consider bitter. Never had a prickly pear but I've heard they taste like raspberries (again, tart) or watermelon. So it doesn't seem like either fruit should have normally contributed bitterness. How did you prepare the fruit? Did you taste the fruit before adding it to your beer, and if so did it taste ok? Also, what was your recipe for your base beer? Especially from a hop schedule perspective.

 

[Cyclman]

Add sugar or honey to the glass when pouring. I do this with my dry apfelweins, for friends who prefer it sweet, works great.