Mayhaw Melomel

So I found these forums when I was looking for a recipe for a Mayhaw Melomel because of an old disscussion topic from about 3 years ago.

If anyone knows of someone that has made one or is wanting to make one then I'd love to communicate with them if possible. I love the jelly that is made from the berry and there are usually people selling the jelly on the side of the road so I am pretty sure that I can get some berries from them unpreserved that will be good for it.

For those up north or who haven't heard of Mayhaw, they are small berries that grow well down in the south US, snakes like them and they are considered higher grade and quality and can be quite rare. They are tart but very rich in flavor. Wikipedia has a small article on them.

So for a one gallon batch I was thinking that maybe 4 or so pounds of honey to make it extra sweet w/o having to backsweeten because the berry is tart. Idk about a honey, something sweet obviously, maybe wildflower honey although my LHBS didnt have any last time I was there. I'm completely ignorant about the differences in yeasts, so I'm going to need a lot of help there. The question of using the berries does come to mind because they are mostly grown just naturally out in the wild around swampy areas they can be quite dirty and I would think that boiling them in water would ruin the flavor. Maybe finding an extract online would be best?

Thanks for any help, as soon as a good recipe comes from this I will brew it up to try it.

***Edit*** Our Mod Squad Rocks.

You will want to use Wild Flower honey in VERRRRRRY Small amounts. It is quite pungent when made into mead, and is not very reliable. There can be great swings in the quality of wild flower honey from batch to batch. I avoid it like the plague.

I would NOT boil anything that is going into my mead. You could wash with warm water, and then use some campden tabs to kill any yeast left in the fruit.

I always like to recommend D-47 for n00bs because it works pretty well. I've had a lot of trouble with it craping out at 12% on me, but that's a good thing for your purpose. Start with 3# per gallon, D-47, and Top with more honey if it's not sweet enough....you'll eventually hit the limit, and end up sweet.

this is a cool read.

MyFiles\Mayhaw page

These mayhaws sound very interesting, I'd never heard of them before. I doubt there are any within 500 miles of Montana, but if I find some jelly online I might just order some out of curiosity. Good luck on your mayhaw mission. Regards, GF.