Last years blackberry wine

[kkovic]

Hello!
I attempted to make blackberry wine last year but as my first ever attempt was completely confused by why (I thought) it wasn't working. I could smell the fermentation in my bucket but then when I decanted into a demijohn no bubbles were coming out of the lock. I figured I had done something wrong and added more yeast ( now I know that more yeast without more sugar is pointless!). Nothing happened. I then pretty much forgot about my demijohn which has been getting dusty for a few months. I spoke to someone yesterday who informed me that the fermentation process may simply have been over by the time I put it in the demijohn. I have now (finally) after a good few months had a taste and it definately tastes alcoholic although not particularly tasty. I'm keen not to throw away something which can be saved and was hoping for suggestions on what to do next!
As this is my first attempt, I am not quite sure what it is supposed to taste like.
Thanks!!!! K

 

[Luc]

Could you give us the recipe please. Maybe you have used too little blackberries so the wine would be thin.

And did you take a hydrometer reding by chance ??

Luc

 

[kkovic]

Hi Luc, the recipe was from an old paper back book of my friends about home wine making from the 70's. I don't have it now unfortunately. It's a shame there is no such thing as taste forums as I'm sure a trained palate would be able to identify exactly what to do with it! My main question is whether I should just bottle it and hope that it improves with age as it has been sitting in my demi john for a long time now with no fermentation going on. The other option may be to add more sugar and yeast, but obviously then the alcohol content might be unbearable. Any advice would be appreciated!
K

 

[Wade E]

I would most likely say that it just needs more flavor as most old recipes call for high alc content and less fruits. Can you tell us how much you have right now and if you even taste the blackberries at all so that we can design a flavor pac for you which is taking some fresh or frozen berries and simmering them in a pot to extract the flavor and then add this to your wine. You will have to add both potassium metabisulfite and potassium sorbate to prevent any renewed fermentation and to protect your wine from bacteria growth and oxidation.

 

[ffemtreed]

do you have any sediment on the bottom? I am assuming your demijohn was under and airlock the whole time?