Bitter taste

[gsf77]

A buddy of mine is trying his hand at making wine. I think in his process he probably busted quite a few seeds and they are now 2 weeks in the must. He is going to rack tonight and says it tastes pretty bitter. If the seeds, or anything else, is the cause is there a corrective action he can take?

Thanks

 

[Johnd]

A buddy of mine is trying his hand at making wine. I think in his process he probably busted quite a few seeds and they are now 2 weeks in the must. He is going to rack tonight and says it tastes pretty bitter. If the seeds, or anything else, is the cause is there a corrective action he can take?

Thanks

I don't know that there's much to do if he did indeed break a lot of seeds. New wines have lots of tastes, bitter, sour, yeasty, vegetal, are all descriptions that come to mind. Time cures and mellows many of these young, green wine taste perceptions. Number one thing to do is to get some age on the wine. I'm assuming it's a red since it was still with seeds / skins, a year or two should help out a lot.

 

[NorCal]

Is it bitter or astringent (taste, vs feeling)?

As @Johnd said, age cures some things, especially astringency. You can also cover/blend out some faults with the addition of oak.

 

[salcoco]

fist let wine clear and age about three months. then do a bench trial with clear gelatin, can be purchased at grocery store follow packet instructions for dosage. should work within few days. bitterness could be excessive tannin three month age could abate the taste.

 

[gsf77]

He and I were talking this morning. It had been in the primary fermentation bucket about 2 weeks. He has or is going to rack today. I suggested that since it's such a young wine that in itself could be where the taste is coming from.

I also warned him that wine "making" is more addicting than wine drinking. I have 5 five gal carboys, 3 three gal carboys, about 10-12 gallons fermenting, and probably 80 bottles of wine. I might drink 6 ounces a night.

Thank you for the responses.

 

[Intheswamp]

He and I were talking this morning. It had been in the primary fermentation bucket about 2 weeks. He has or is going to rack today. I suggested that since it's such a young wine that in itself could be where the taste is coming from.

I also warned him that wine "making" is more addicting than wine drinking. I have 5 five gal carboys, 3 three gal carboys, about 10-12 gallons fermenting, and probably 80 bottles of wine. I might drink 6 ounces a night.

Thank you for the responses.

<chuckle> I don't drink that much, myself. I'll usually drink a few beer throughout the week...or maybe not. Wine is something I've never drank a lot of but. When I started keeping honey bees I got interested in making mead. Then a couple(?) of months ago my buddy decided to cobble together a pear wine, shooting from the hip. It was really a haphazard attempt of which I think is going to fail. But, it got me back interested in fermenting. First thing was to bottle that 3-gal carboy of mead I had sitting here for 7 years. Got that done (and highly rewarded by it for doing so!!!) and now I'm working on making/clearing an area to do some fruit wine fermentation. I've got two 3-gal carboys, and probably a dozen 1-gal jugs. ...and I thought *I* was going overboard.<GRIN> I think it's the mad scientist in us....

 

[Jal5]

You may be hooked...

 

[Scooter68]

Depending on where you live - it's apple picking time somewhere and a lot of places send some of their apples out to be juiced. My local orchard has theirs juiced, not filtered and the freeze is also so that makes for an excellent starting point. Last year I did a 3 gallon batch and it went into the bottle about 2 months ago. A little early on the normal aging plan but it was certainly clear enough and ready. We've had one bottle and it is very nice, even at about 11 months age.

 

[crabjoe]

7 years... 11 months... How in the world do you folks wait so long?

 

[cmason1957]

7 years... 11 months... How in the world do you folks wait so long?

Make lots and lots so some of it can age. It is well worth the time.

 

[Jal5]

That’s the key to make enough so some can age. With the DB variety being an early drinker that has helped to allow our reds to age. Also bulk aging is the best for keeping my mits off of it!