Looking for Mulberry Port recipe.

The fortified type, not just lots of Mulberries.

I got 'em falling over my back yard. May as well use some of nature's bounty.

Do you mean that they are already ripe this early in the year?

Pogo

They look ripe to me. The really dark ones are falling off the tree. They taste pretty sweet. I'm no Mulberry expert, though. (Not being a smart-aleck. This is the first Mulberry tree I've ever had)

I made some mead from mulberries two summers ago. They're sweet to eat but they didn't impart much flavor to the mead. They'll need some acid additions for sure.

summersolstice said:

...They're sweet to eat but they didn't impart much flavor to the mead...

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Darn. That kinda sucks.

summersolstice said:

I made some mead from mulberries two summers ago. They're sweet to eat but they didn't impart much flavor to the mead. They'll need some acid additions for sure.

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I'm guessing you used white mulberries? They are pretty much just sugar and water. The red and black varieties have significant acid and lots of flavor.

Thanks to the opening post of this thread, I began asking around at the coffee shop this afternoon.

Eureka! An acquaintance has a large, 25 feet tall, mulberry tree in his back yard...the type with black berries. I have been told to help myself to all I want!

They're not ripe yet, only about the size of a pea, they said that they usually get as big as one's thumb.

Hmmm...I'm guessing that the best way to pick these things is going to be off of plastic tarps spred out under the tree. At least, this way, when they drop of their own accord, I'm sure that they will be fully vine ripenend.

Has anyone got any better advice to share, regarding harvesting such a crop?

BTW - I'm not sure what you mean by "fortified," unless you mean boosting the SG with sugar.

Pogo

I just planted an illinois everbearing mulberry tree this spring and already it has many small green mulberries growing. I'm excited to ferment some somehow. I've read one of the better ways to harvest them is like you said, to put a tarp under the tree, then give the tree a good shake, and all the ripe ones will fall down. Do be careful though, as the dark types will stain everything they touch.

Pogo said:

...Hmmm...I'm guessing that the best way to pick these things is going to be off of plastic tarps spred out under the tree. At least, this way, when they drop of their own accord, I'm sure that they will be fully vine ripenend.
?...

...BTW - I'm not sure what you mean by "fortified," unless you mean boosting the SG with sugar...

Pogo

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Hey, I like your idea of spreading out tarps! I'll try that over the next few days.

By fortified, I mean made like "real" Port wine; high OG fermented to 7% or so, then add Brandy to around 18% to stop fermentation, leaving a sweet dessert wine.

Looking around the internet, I'm thinking around 24 pounds of mulberries, 9lbs sugar (maybe honey), a 46oz can of Alexander's grape concentrate, pectic enzyme and acid blend. That's a 4gal recipe, based on a Jack Keller 1gal Mulberry recipe. I scaled up to 4 rather than 5 because of the size of Alexander concentrate. Jack says use an 11oz can of Welch's concentrate. I want to use a "real" wine grape.

Wine Maker magazine says to use Everclear to fortify. It will dilute the flavor less than a low-ABV (relatively speaking) Brandy.

BeerRunner said:

By fortified, I mean made like "real" Port wine; high OG fermented to 7% or so, then add Brandy to around 18% to stop fermentation, leaving a sweet dessert wine.

Looking around the internet, I'm thinking around 24 pounds of mulberries, 9lbs sugar (maybe honey), a 46oz can of Alexander's grape concentrate, pectic enzyme and acid blend. That's a 4gal recipe, based on a Jack Keller 1gal Mulberry recipe. I scaled up to 4 rather than 5 because of the size of Alexander concentrate. Jack says use an 11oz can of Welch's concentrate. I want to use a "real" wine grape.

Wine Maker magazine says to use Everclear to fortify. It will dilute the flavor less than a low-ABV (relatively speaking) Brandy.

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I'd use sugar for the recipe you plan. It's a lot cheaper than honey, easier to work with, and you won't be able to detect much, if any, honey with this recipe anyway.

Stopping an active fermentation is pretty tricky. You might just end up with a slowed fermentation that will end up fermenting for months and end up dry anyway.

Here's a recipe I posted for a blackberry port-style wine. It's somewhat complex but you can take what you like from it. I step-fed the must to boost the alcohol and then also fortified it with both Everclear and Brandy. It turned out very nice. I too used Alexander's - it'll taste much better than Welch's.

KingBrianI said:

I'm guessing you used white mulberries? They are pretty much just sugar and water. The red and black varieties have significant acid and lots of flavor.

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I'm pretty sure I used the black variety - at least the color of my hands for the next two days looked pretty black! I may have not used enough of the berries but whatever the reason, I was disappointed in the mead.

Hmm...I've quit boosting my Apfelwein with sugar, it tastes much better to me this way...and I'm intending to minimize boosting SG's in the future.

I've come to view any recipe, even Jack Keller's, that call for adding water and sugar, as merely glorified 'hooch'.

I intend to become a slave to my hydrometer. Only when a full primary of pure, fresh squeezed fruit juice, fails to measure at least 1.050, will I consider boosting with a sweetener. And then, use only frozen white grape concentrate.

At least that's my "A" Plan. If this disappoints me then I'll cross the bridge to a "B" Plan later.

Pogo

If you have any advice for my Mulberry Port idea, I'm all ears. I've got plenty of time before it gets started. I only have 14 ounces of Mulberries collected so far.

You're probably doing it anyway but you'll want to freeze the fruit first. It help break it down for fermentation.

summersolstice said:

You're probably doing it anyway but you'll want to freeze the fruit first. It help break it down for fermentation.

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Absolutely. At the going rate of 7 ounces per day, it would rot before I could get started.

Getting ready to do the same. I've found at least three people with trees that aren't interested in harvesting this year.

I hope my tree has a good crop this year. Probably won't be enough to make any wine but plenty to snack on anyway.

summersolstice said:

I'm pretty sure I used the black variety - at least the color of my hands for the next two days looked pretty black! I may have not used enough of the berries but whatever the reason, I was disappointed in the mead.

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There seem to be different varieties of the black ones. Quite a few trees are planted in my area, and one of them shines out from the rest, bearing really flavourful, tart-sweet fruits, wheras many of the other black mulberries can be fairly insipid.