Zone 5 midwest gardeners with blackberries or raspberries??? A question for you. [View all]

I have a stand of blackberries that used to produce heavily. Last year the drought was rough on them. The canes started out with lots of blossoms and the berries set on them but as the heat became relentless and the rains did not come, they started to not do so well. The berries turned black much to soon before the sugars could set in them and they were bitter to the taste. This winter was brutal as well with the ground freezing well below where it would normally. I have lots of dead canes this year but some new plants are showing up and appear to be healthy. I don't think I will get any fruit this year at all. I might but I'm not so confident. We just cut out tons of dead canes and pulled up plants that appeared to be dead at root level. I'm hoping that making room like this will encourage the new plants to take root.

Have any of you had the same experience this year with berries? Just trying to figure out if the berries were hit hard or is it just mine?