Bitter blackberry wine help

[godux]

Hello,
Three months to the day I started a 5 gallon batch of blackberry wine and when I did my second racking today it looks clear, smells great but has a very bitter taste. Is this normal and should I just wait it out? Also there still is tiny bubbles rising to the top of the wine in the carboy, is that normal? Sorry for all the questions, my first try at fruit wine. Thanks for any help!
Pablo

 

[hbtasdfg]

i think some berries can just be extremely tart once all the sugar ferments out. You may have to add a little sugar, take a couple 4 oz samples and add 1/8 tsp of sugar then taste, then add another then taste until it's good and you know how much you need per 4 oz. You will have to add sorbate and sulphite when bottling to prevent renewed fermentation.

 

[hbtasdfg]

those bubbles probably are just residual CO2 if you check the gravity you can tell if fermentation is over.

 

[jdrum]

if you are still getting bubbles when you agatate the wine you still have co2 locked up in the wine, try degassing, the bitterness could be from the co2 bite . my bb smoothed out considerably after getting all the co2 out and back sweetening a bit. getting the gass out will help the wine clear as well.
how old is this batch of wine, it will get better when it's 3 or 4 mos. old then the longer it sits the better it gets. mine is 6mos now and is realy getting good.

jim

 

[godux]

Thank you so much for the responses!

 

[godux]

Should I just degas in the carboy or should I rack and then degas? Also what should I add when degassing?
Thanks

 

[Yooper]

Should I just degas in the carboy or should I rack and then degas? Also what should I add when degassing?
Thanks

If you have sediment at the bottom, rack first. Use 1 crushed campden tablet per gallon, dissolved in 1/2 cup boiling water, and add that to the wine. Then degas as needed.

Colder wines "hold" onto c02 much more readily than warmer wines, so try to have it in the warmest place in the house when you go to degas. That will help.

Another thing that works is simply patience- just let it sit for three months. It will degas quite well on its own by then.

 

[godux]

Thank you for the reply. I think I'll let it sit upstairs where it is warm for awhile.

 

[yeastluvr]

I made a blackberry about 2 years ago that was bitter. Tasted fine, just had a very bitter aftertaste. I backsweetened but it only made it sweeter, bitter wine. After two years in the bottle, it has greatly improved. I was told the bitterness in my wine was caused by wringing out the fruit bag during initial fermentation that was full of blackberry seeds, as the seeds can cause bitternes. Sometimes a little time will help things out.