Mulberry Questions

[mrchaos101]

Ok so my buddy has a LOT of Mulberry trees around his house. He said come an get all I want when they are ready. I figured I would go for enough to do 6gal of wine.

I have heard that there are worms in Mulberries.

BUT then I found this post.... and.... well it kind of makes sense to me.
SO what is your thoughts on this.... those of you that make Mulberry Wine?

Mulberries, like any other fruit, can have worms in them. However, the rumor that Mulberries have worms began as a way to get children to leave them alone so they could be harvested and used for food instead of the kids eating them all as soon as they ripen. The method used to demonstrate this to the children was usually to pick a handful of berries and place them in cold water. They were then stirred up and left standing for a couple of hours. At that time the children were called in to look at the "worms" that had crawled out of the berries. The "worms" are actually part of the blossoms that remain on the fruit during its growth. By stirring the berries they come loose from the fruit and float to the top. Since the children see a mass of little brown "worms" in the water they leave the berries alone until they can be harvested and "cleaned" before use.

 

[lukebuz]

I use 40+ lbs of berries for 5 gallons. Never once have a found a worm in my MB. Just rinse them and mash 'em!

 

[b-boy]

I used to eat them all the time as a kid. We had them all over our neighborhood. I think half our calories during the summer were from Mulberries we scavenged from the neighbors trees.

I never heard that before. I'm sure they can get worms like any other fruit, but I never heard they were predisposed to them.

The fruit is not a single berry, but a collection of smaller fruit, like a grape cluster.

 

[wildmazer]

probably depends on your location somewhat, but i've experienced worms in mulberries. collected a bunch one year and dehydrated them at low ('raw') temps. when done, sealed them in a jar. two days later, most of the dried berries were half frass. tiny fat little white worms. the kind that move.

all that said, they aren't actually a danger unless you're real sqeamish, and probably bring that much more in the way of nutrients for the yeast. never noticed them (though they were probably there!) eating/using the berries fresh.

 

[WVMJ]

Pick and freeze, pick and freeze, repeat often until you get enough to do a 100% juice, NO water added for the best mulberry wine. If you raise the SG up a little with honey its even better. If you drop just a few oak chips in there even better. Freezing kills the worms, the yeast can use the extra proteins. Spotted wing drosophila worms will be in everything from now on not sprayed! WVMJ

 

[Michigan_Wolfman]

I have a very tall mulberry tree at the end of my driveway. Every year I tell myself "I'm going to try and get enough berries to brew a batch of mulberry wine this year!" That hasn't happened yet, because the local raccoon and bird population always manages to beat me to the ripe berries.

 

[b-boy]

I just planted 2 small trees. They are only about 4 ft. tall now.

I was hoping I'd be able to compete with all the birds. Sounds like that might be a problem.