Hello, this is my first post here, but I have been following these forums for a couple of months now.
I have recently made a 3 gal. batch of raspberry wine from frozen raspberries (I bought them fresh and froze myself). It has been 5 weeks since the end of the primary fermentation and I racked the wine twice already. The wine has fermented to dryness from OG=1.093 to FG=0.990 and doesn't seem to have gone through any MLF (I didn't add the culture, anyway). The appearance and color of the wine don't seem to indicate any problems with it, however, my issue is that it tastes too acidic (pH=approx. 3.2-3.3) and astringent to the point it is made just barely palatable. At the same time, I don't smell any vinegar or other bad odors.
As the wine is still in the carboy, degassed and treated with sparkolloid, I am thinking to stabilize and back sweeten at the end, but I am not sure whether sweetening alone would be enough to balance the astringency. Would the addition of glycerin help to soften the wine a bit?
I know I could also add K-bicarbonate and cold stabilize to reduce the acidity, but, unfortunately it is not an option for me at the time as I don't have a dedicated refrigerator.
I would appreciate any advice on how to "rescue" or improve the batch from its current state. Thanks a lot!
I have recently made a 3 gal. batch of raspberry wine from frozen raspberries (I bought them fresh and froze myself). It has been 5 weeks since the end of the primary fermentation and I racked the wine twice already. The wine has fermented to dryness from OG=1.093 to FG=0.990 and doesn't seem to have gone through any MLF (I didn't add the culture, anyway). The appearance and color of the wine don't seem to indicate any problems with it, however, my issue is that it tastes too acidic (pH=approx. 3.2-3.3) and astringent to the point it is made just barely palatable. At the same time, I don't smell any vinegar or other bad odors.
As the wine is still in the carboy, degassed and treated with sparkolloid, I am thinking to stabilize and back sweeten at the end, but I am not sure whether sweetening alone would be enough to balance the astringency. Would the addition of glycerin help to soften the wine a bit?
I know I could also add K-bicarbonate and cold stabilize to reduce the acidity, but, unfortunately it is not an option for me at the time as I don't have a dedicated refrigerator.
I would appreciate any advice on how to "rescue" or improve the batch from its current state. Thanks a lot!