blackberry wine

Aug 12, 2003 4 Replies

I started a batch of blackberry wine a few weeks ago. I crushed the berries, added the Potassium Metabisulfate, and sugar. Before adding the sugar, the berries were _really_ tart. I added enough sugar to get the starting SG to abotu 1.095.



At my first racking a few nights ago, I sampled the resulting brew (it had gone to almost dry - SG of about .995) and it had a REALLY strong acid taste.



Is this normal and will go away in a few months when I rack again?



The kit I did before this cleared and was drinkable after a few months, but this stuff is really cloudy, so I guess it will be a while on this one anyway.



Thanks!



Alex.


I would give it time. My first few batches did some weird things over the course of their life often making me think it was all lost, all of them are just fine. Acidity can also be "fixed" at a later date if it is still overpowering by either cold stabilization ( percitate tartic(sp) acid ) or by calcium carbonate in small doses.

Just let it be till it clears and check again.

If the must was really tart they might not have be quite ripe. That will definitely effect the final wine. It may or may not mellow out. If it does not mellow out, not to worry, blackberry is great for blending. Just add some to any red wine and it will add real life to it. But it may mellow out on it's own.

You cannot compare making wine from scratch to making wine from kits. All phases will take longer. Give it time, it will clear just fine and you are going to need longer than normal bulk aging anyway. Just protect it well from light. Blackberry is very sensitive.

Ray

In message , Alex Brewer writes

If you made this wine purely from blackberries and did not add any water, then it will need to mature for at least a couple of years before it is drinkable. But believe me, it will be ten times better than any kit wine you will have made!

I've made 3 batches of blackberry, and every one of them are very "acidy" at first. I took one half of a bottle from my last batch and filled it up with vodka. At first it was still a little bitter, but after 3 months, it mellowed right out to a nice brandy tasting drink. The rest is very good also.

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