Blackberry bitterness

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vin_man

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Hi all! I have a friend that made 6 gallons of blackberry wine. It is finished and swetened but it is still really bitter. Any ideas what he can do (blend, etc). I also picked 25# of blackberries this summer and froze them. maybe they were on old can because they were bitter too. I have read that the bitterness resides in the center pith. Would pressing them and fermenting just the juice so they aren't steeping possibly help? Thanks for the input!

Vin
 
can you post up what all he did? starting gravity, finishing gravity, what he backsweeten to, acid level, concentrated juice or fresh blackberries these all play a part in what your wines will taste like.
 
You are asking valid questions that I can't answer. What I am is trying to avoid getting the same results.

What was your experience with Blackberry? I have about 25# in the freezer waiting for me to do something with.

Thanks in Advance!!

Vin
 
well the bitterness could come from underripe berries or if you mean a bitey wine instead of bitterness it could be too high in acid and it could just be young as wines age they also smooth out.

If you have 25# of fruit, that is enough to make a 5g batch, when making the wine make sure you keep your sg around 1.080, take an acid reading and adjust if needed and what I do with my blackberry, is oak it. I use hungarian cubes for about 6 - 8 weeks. The hungarian oak gives it a creamy vanilla finish.
 
The fruit I picked looked incredible (it was wild). It did not taste the least bit sweet though and was bitter. Is this a wasted effort? Would pressing the fruit and using only the juice help? I had read that the pith (center) was where most of the bitterness came from
 
I have never heard of the pith and but that doesn't mean it is not true, could very well be. I use juice to make my blackberry. No it is not a wasted effort, juice the berries and use that. Make sure you keep a good record and please keep posting here your progress.
 
You will avoid the bitterness if you steam juice the berries. Use only the juice and discard the gunk left over. 2 3/4 gals. of this juice is required for a 5 gal. batch.
 
yeah the pith as you call it is where the bitter taste comes from when you break up a blackberry thats not mushy ripe you'll see what looks like a little white piece in the center bout like a grain of rice if you don't squeeze this into your juice you'll be fine if when you mash them don't mash like thru a sieve just mush up with your hands. that also has alot of your excess acid . Freeze them then mush with hands aint hard to do after they're froze
 
Sirs,
Mine are frozen now. Defrost? and then mash them one by one?
 
well not one by one but just don't force them like in a blender or you know where it will make the stem in the centers of the berries get mushed up
 
Also keep in mind - blackberries are very high in Malic Acid - Malic Acid is not really friendly on the pallet.

Might consider getting a Malic Acid test kit - if it is really high in Malic Acid - consider doing an MLF - if you haven't added any sorbate.

But it sounds like you already sweetened it - so my guess is you already added sorbate in.

Next time try using the Lalvin 71B-1122 Yeast - this yeast metabolizes 20-40% of the malic acid.
 
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