Why homemade wine is bitter: how to fix and preventive measures

Cooking homemade wine is a laborious and lengthy process. After six months of aging, it’s a shame to find a taste of bitterness in the finished drink. But no need to rush to pour it out or look for a recipe for moonshine. In winemaking, methods are known for purifying a drink at different stages of aging. To preserve the product, you need to understand the reasons why homemade wine is bitter, and how you can fix the taste of the drink.

Causes of bitterness

The bitter taste is due to the high content of astringent substances - tannins - in the wine. In normal concentration, they contribute to the clarification of the drink and give astringency. But too much tannin spoils the taste.

Sources of tannins are grape skins and fruit seeds. Rancid flavors are most often felt in wines made from dark grapes.

The taste deteriorates for several reasons: due to errors in cooking technology, spoiled raw materials and diseases.

Violation of juice production technology

Tannins from crushed pits get into the juice at the stage of preparation of must from grapes. In order not to violate the integrity of the seeds, you can not crush the grapes in a food processor, in a meat grinder, blender or mix in a vat with a drill with a special nozzle.

Spoiled raw materials and overexposure of the must in the pulp

Before processing grapes, apples, any fruits and berries should not be washed. Cold water washes away wild yeast from the surface of the fruit and lowers the temperature of the berries. As a result, fermentation will be sluggish and long.

Raw materials for wine must be carefully sorted out and spoiled berries and fruits removed. The pulp rots even from slightly darkened grapes suitable for eating.

The concentration of tannins increases with prolonged fermentation of the wine billet with the skin. Juice should not be overexposed in the pulp, as grape skins also contain a lot of tannins.

Overexposure on the lees

During aging, a sediment consisting of decaying yeast waste appears.

If the drink is not removed from the sediment for a long time, it absorbs the waste products of microorganisms, and bitter wine is obtained.

Diseases of wine

Vinegar fermentation is a disease caused by micro-organisms, treated in the early stages of cooking. If the wine turned out with bitterness, then the beginning of their development was missed.

Young and aged varieties are equally prone to acidification. This is a disease in which a pleasant taste quickly changes to sour, and the drink turns into vinegar. Damaged wine containers cannot be reused to store homemade drinks.

The presence of a share of acetic acid is the norm established for different types of wine. Its excess is signaled by a pungent odor and a burning sensation in the mouth after a sip. A sign of acidification is a gray film on the surface of the drink, which thickens over time. At the last stage, the wine is covered with a pink rind. It stratifies and falls in parts to the bottom of the dish.

Oak barrel aging

Red and white wine is aged in oak barrels. Wood also contains tannins - there are less of them in the old, more in the young. Aging in a young barrel helps bring out the vanilla or caramel notes. In oak containers, the drink acquires a rich color.

But if the wine is over-aged in a young barrel, it will be saturated with tannins and bitterness in excess. It is possible to get rid of an unpleasant aftertaste if spoilage is detected immediately.

How to eliminate bitterness in wine

Grape and fruit wine are refined in different ways, depending on the degree of bitterness. The barely perceptible aftertaste of Isabella wine is removed by adding sugar and pasteurization, which prevents fermentation. If the drink is frankly bitter, it must be cleaned of tannins or toxins by one of the following methods.

Egg white binding

Bitterness affects not only the traditional drink made from grapes, but also apple wine. The tannins in them are bound by the protein of fresh eggs.

One liter of drink requires 100 milligrams of whipped egg whites. They are stirred in wine and left to infuse for 2-3 weeks. The drink will become cloudy, but by the end of the term it will be cleared. The protein will precipitate along with the tannins. The only thing left to do is drain the wine carefully through a straw.

It is important to accurately measure the amount of protein in milligrams. A large amount of protein will spoil the drink. Fresh eggs can be replaced with egg powder.

Fish glue

Often after insisting on the pulp, raspberry wine is bitter. Small seeds can not be removed from the berries, and they give bitterness. To neutralize it, "fish glue" is also used. The powder contains collagen. It is diluted and added to bottles. 10 liters require 500 milligrams of cleaner.

Bentonite

To get rid of bitterness after removing the pulp, the wine is clarified with bentonite clay. The natural filter is used in the food industry. Clay purifies water of toxins, so it is safe to use to remove tannins from wine.

A liter of drink requires 3 grams of powder. Bentonite must be poured with water in a ratio of 1:10, leave for 24 hours. Add water to the resulting lime so that the mass becomes liquid, and pour into the wine in a thin stream. After a week, the drink must be removed from the sediment.

Bentonite and egg whites refine young plum wine overaged on the lees.

Gelatin

1 gram of powder is used for 10 liters. How to make a cleansing mixture:

• soak gelatin for 3 hours in cold water at the rate of 1 gram per 10 milliliters;
• drain and pour the same amount of hot water at a temperature of 90-95 degrees, stir;
• strain through cheesecloth;
• let cool to 40 degrees;
• stir the wine with a stick and form a funnel;
• pour the gelatin solution into the center of the funnel in a thin stream;
• stir, cover the bowl and put in a cool place.

After 15-20 days, strain the drink from gelatin flakes. Gelatin is suitable for clarification of wine made from apples, pears and white grapes.

Pasteurization

The method is used to restore diseased wine:

• line the bottom of a large pot with a cloth;
• place corked glass bottles of wine inside;
• pour water into the pan to the level of the necks;
• heat up to 60 degrees;
• maintain temperature for 20 minutes.

After heating, the wine should stand for 5-7 days, then the drink must be removed from the sediment. Pasteurized wines are recommended for use in blends.

Other ways

It is possible to restore a drink with vinegar bitterness at an early stage of the disease. It must be poured into a clean dish so that the vinegar film does not get there. Then filter, add a tablespoon of activated charcoal for each liter and mix. When the coal settles to the bottom, re-clean the drink through a paper filter.

The second way to remove the vinegar taste and mold is to fumigate with sulfur. The method is suitable for sterilizing dishes. The substance is melted, cotton wicks are dipped, set on fire and lowered into an empty bottle. To fumigate vats, lit strips of cloth or cardboard are hung over open containers so that the smoke descends into them.

Also use sulfur in tablets of 2 and 10 grams. Must and wine absorb half of the released substance. The disadvantage of this method is the smell of hydrogen sulfide coming from the drink. Do not direct smoke at wine. First, the container is filled with smoke, and then the drink is poured.

Ways to eliminate bitterness in wines stored in wooden casks:

• at the initial stage of chagrin - cleansing with bentonite lime;
• with strong rancidity - by adding sugar and alcohol.

Alcohol should be 10-15% by volume.

Prevention measures

How to prevent bitterness:

• observe the rules of grape harvest - in dry weather at +20 degrees;
• so that tannins do not get into apple, grape or plum juice, you need to get rid of the seeds;
• grapes are better to crush with your hands;
• observe the terms of aging on pulp and lees;
• carefully wash, dry and sterilize the dishes for fermentation and storage of wine;
• mix grape and apple pulp so that it does not receive oxygen and does not turn sour;
• tightly close the bottle with a water seal. The device must release carbon dioxide and keep oxygen out;
• every week to check the taste of the drink stored in oak barrels;
• properly prepare wood for wine storage;
• if the young wine is hopelessly spoiled, you should not pour out the drink. Secondary distillation can be used to make chacha or cognac;
• follow the rules of storage - hermetically cork bottles, place them at an angle so that the cork does not dry out;
• fill the bottles to the top so that the air gap between the drink and the cork remains minimal.

A popular way to create suitable storage conditions for wine is to bury the bottles horizontally in the cellar.

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