Newby question. Should I try to sweeten it up?

Please don't toss it. If you don't like it that dry (which I don't either), you can sweeten by adding sugar, but you must also add a wine stabilizer like sorbate or sodium benzoate to make sure you don't end up with bottle bombs. Once you add the sugar it could start to ferment again, that's why you need the stabilizer. You might try some bench tests to see how much you need to sweeten so that you like it. For me, I usually add 1/4 - 1/3 cup of sugar per gallon. Darlene

i sweetened a gallon out of my blackberry , it made it taste better ,being so young, just add stabilizer first, then 1/4 to 1/2 pound of sugar per gallon. cook the sugar in a little water to aid in mixing with the wine. i think i went with 1/4 pound of sugar, it just knocked the edge off so we could drink it sooner... wine dont get good till 6-8 months after bottleing. lucas

In message , Ron Bohart writes

You've got good advice on sweetening from the other posters, and you'll find if you do sweeten the blackberry flavour really comes alive. But I'd be tempted to hang on for a while yet - like another 9 months, maybe more.

Rack it again, now, to get it off the last of the lees, make sure the containers are filled to leave as little airspace as possible, and refit the airlocks. Maybe sweeten the contents of one demi-john and bottle it (or how about bottling it dry, and only sweetening when you come to drink it - that way you can experiment with adding as much or as little sugar as you please - some of your friends might prefer it dry - and you don't have the risk of fermentation starting again).

If you can spare the other carboys, leave them another 6 or even 12 months - you'll probably be surprised to find that a lot of the harsh tannin flavour has mellowed, and much more of the original fruit flavour shows. You might find that if you do sweeten then, you need to add a lot less sugar to make it palatable than you would in sweetening now.

And don't forget to keep it in the dark, or that lovely ruby colour will fade!

cheers, robin

I agree with those above and with Robin on waiting. I have made blackberry and dewberry wine several times and it always makes VERY dry. Often below

0.990. I like it that way but can see that others may not. It certainly can be sweetened to taste but it is easier to sweeten to taste after the taste settles down. i.e. it has aged.

If you sweeten it, you might consider using a good honey rather than sugar. I can add a bit of complexity to the wine. Also, after you sweeten it, put it back in carboy for a couple of months and then try it again. If find that a few months after I sweeten a wine, it does not taste as sweet as I thought. The sweetness needs to blend with the rest of the wine to get the true result.

Ray

Thanks for the all the good advice, I'll try it and give you all an update later.