Mulberry season is here!!! (My recipe included)

[Zamial]

Here in the mosquito infested north, one of the few joys I look forward to has finally arrived! Mulberry time! Last year I made a mulberry oatmeal stout, to date the wife's favorite homebrew, although not my favorite...lol! (I honestly do not know if I can recreate it...lol! and to me it tastes like merlot wine and stout mixed together. Goes great with steak!)

Well, last weekend I picked 7 lbs of these berries and prepped them for brewing by adding 3.5 lbs into gallon sized ziplocks, smashing them up with a crushed camden tab inside, squeezed out as much air as possible and froze them.

Today I brewed up what may be my greatest creation or my most disgusting beer to date...I am sharing the recipe below. Feel free to add any thoughts you may have!

Mulberry Peppercorn Wheat

Batch Size (Gal): 6
Anticipated OG: 1.066
Anticipated ABV: + 6.3%
Wort Boil Time: 90 Minutes
IBU: 18.5

Malt:
2 lbs. Crystal 10L
5 lbs. White Wheat
7 lbs 2 row pale
.25 lbs Red Mill Scottish oatmeal
0.50 Lbs Rice Hulls

Hops:
.50 oz Glacier @ 60/30/15
.50 oz Willamette @ 5

Extra:
20 grams of freshly crushed from fine to whole black peppercorns @ 15/5

Mash:
150 for 60/ 152 for 60/ 168 for 30

Ferment:
Primary for 3 weeks
Secondary to 7 LBS of Mulberries for 7-14 days or until secondary fermentation is complete.

Yeast:
Wyeast 3056 Bavarian Wheat

Berry prep:
Rinsed, add 1 crushed Camden tab, smashed and frozen solid. Add berries to secondary in fine large muslin bag with saniotized weight so the bag does not float.

Peppercorn prep:
The peppercorn was a Food Club brand 1.25oz grinder I ground until my wrist ached and then pried the top off and tossed the rest into a coffee grinder. The coffee grinder pulverized some and left some whole so I can not comment as to an "exact crush" beyond what I already have.

Notes:
I suspect this ale to be dark purple and have a purple to pink head. Mulberries have some sugar but are not a super sweet berry so I have no way to judge how much extra the ABV will increase from the secondary. My numbers reflect no sugars from the mulberries so it will be stronger than projected! I know I used a lot of crystal malt but that was intentional so that there will be some unfermentables to add to the mulberry flavors. This was created for my wife but I may enjoy one or two!

 

[iaefebs]

I hope you will follow through with your results. I get so many but I just watch the squirrels and birds eat them and make sure when I cut the grass that i don't wear my lawn mowing shoes in the house. It would be nice to make a beer with them if it turned out. I just don't think they have much flavor. The stems don't detach like a raspberry and are harder to eat.

 

[Zamial]

This is all true but they also make a FANTASTIC wine. IMO I like the mulberry better than any red wine I have ever had and it is much like a red wine...The next time I am at the farm I will have to get a copy of mom's recipe. I know it takes 7 lbs for a 5 gallon batch. Picking them is a PITA and we tie plastic grocery bags around our shoes. That purple is like stupid...Forever!

 

[BSD_Glass]

you can put a clean tarp on the ground and then shake the tree. Collect berries, rinse and repeat.

BSD

 

[Vance71975]

Here in the mosquito infested north, one of the few joys I look forward to has finally arrived! Mulberry time! Last year I made a mulberry oatmeal stout, to date the wife's favorite homebrew, although not my favorite...lol! (I honestly do not know if I can recreate it...lol! and to me it tastes like merlot wine and stout mixed together. Goes great with steak!)

Well, last weekend I picked 7 lbs of these berries and prepped them for brewing by adding 3.5 lbs into gallon sized ziplocks, smashing them up with a crushed camden tab inside, squeezed out as much air as possible and froze them.

Today I brewed up what may be my greatest creation or my most disgusting beer to date...I am sharing the recipe below. Feel free to add any thoughts you may have!

Mulberry Peppercorn Wheat

Batch Size (Gal): 6
Anticipated OG: 1.066
Anticipated ABV: + 6.3%
Wort Boil Time: 90 Minutes
IBU: 18.5

Malt:
2 lbs. Crystal 10L
5 lbs. White Wheat
7 lbs 2 row pale
.25 lbs Red Mill Scottish oatmeal
0.50 Lbs Rice Hulls

Hops:
.50 oz Glacier @ 60/30/15
.50 oz Willamette @ 5

Extra:
20 grams of freshly crushed from fine to whole black peppercorns @ 15/5

Mash:
150 for 60/ 152 for 60/ 168 for 30

Ferment:
Primary for 3 weeks
Secondary to 7 LBS of Mulberries for 7-14 days or until secondary fermentation is complete.

Yeast:
Wyeast 3056 Bavarian Wheat

Berry prep:
Rinsed, add 1 crushed Camden tab, smashed and frozen solid. Add berries to secondary in fine large muslin bag with saniotized weight so the bag does not float.

Peppercorn prep:
The peppercorn was a Food Club brand 1.25oz grinder I ground until my wrist ached and then pried the top off and tossed the rest into a coffee grinder. The coffee grinder pulverized some and left some whole so I can not comment as to an "exact crush" beyond what I already have.

Notes:
I suspect this ale to be dark purple and have a purple to pink head. Mulberries have some sugar but are not a super sweet berry so I have no way to judge how much extra the ABV will increase from the secondary. My numbers reflect no sugars from the mulberries so it will be stronger than projected! I know I used a lot of crystal malt but that was intentional so that there will be some unfermentables to add to the mulberry flavors. This was created for my wife but I may enjoy one or two!

Actually man it looks amazing!

 

[Zamial]

you can put a clean tarp on the ground and then shake the tree. Collect berries, rinse and repeat.

This would be true however...Our tree is old and huge I mean it is big. Dad tried this and failed, now someone else thinks it will work this way so I plan to get a few homebrews, a lawn chair and watch because I am sure it will be entertaining...

The other downside to this is you get all the funky berries, bugs, sticks and dead leaves that were in the tree as well as the ripe berries, so you still need to sort them.

Like I said these things are a PITA to gather, however my wife must have some sort of super gather instinct/skills. I got about 1.5 pounds, mom got 2 pounds and the wife got 3.5 pounds in about an hour. She told me,"It's ok you are a hunter and I am a gatherer." Needless to say I do not go mulberry picking without her! lol.

 

[FromZwolle]

7#! i've got a bunch of trees in my yard, but there's no way i have the patience to collect (and not immediatly eat) that much.

 

[Zamial]

Just racked this on over to the berries. The sample pre-berry was really good. I would probably make this without the berries if I wanted a peppery beer. The Bavarian yeast and the peppercorn seemed to blend really nicely with each other.

Post berry sample was good but it needs time before I make any decisions on it. The color is bright purple.

 

[bonzombiekitty]

Post berry sample was good but it needs time before I make any decisions on it. The color is bright purple.

I've got a couple cases of mulberry wheat ready to be opened once I get the opportunity to. I was stoked about it when I added mulberries. After bottling, not so much. The color is an odd murky purple, and there is a slight wine flavor to it. I did try a bit of the mulberry remnants that were in the carboy, and boy did it taste like wine.

 

[unionrdr]

We had one of those trees in our yard in Cinci. My wife mad jam with them the tasted like a dessert wine. Good stuff! Makes good pie too.

 

[dougdecinces]

Mulberry season has come and gone this year. Allow me to get wistful for a moment.

Done.

I ended up getting about 8-10 pounds this season from my tree, but I wish I'd have gone down the Monon trail with a tarp. They were growing everywhere! I did end up having enough to make two mulberry-rhubarb pies and a batch of jam, and I have 2.5 lbs in the freezer ready for a mulberry melomel next month.

I'll just have to redouble my efforts next year so I can have more mulberry-related fun.

 

[Zamial]

I have been punching down the giant sack of "prepped" berries every night into the wort and tasting the sample from the racking cane all at the same time. Still tastes GREAT! but not like wine, the berry, yeast and peppercorn flavors are oddly good together. I suspect a secondary fermentation coming unless I killed all the yeast dead buy racking onto the 1/2 frozen "prepped" berries? IDK...it is going to sit in secondary for another week and then to the keg if the hydro reads "done" for a few days.

I am not a wine connoisseur or huge fan of wine so take my description as such... but for the wine comment my mother does make a mulberry wine that tastes VERY reminiscent of a Merlot IMO but a bit wetter with a berry finish. (I need to get the recipe she uses...for it and post it here.)

Last year I made a mulberry stout. I added the berries to the end of the boil...HUGE error...It tastes like a stout and merlot mixed to me, however the wife says it tastes like mulberries and stout??? so I can see why it may taste like that if it fermented...

I will agree to the "odd murky purple color" is spot on..lol. I honestly hope it stays that way because it is gonna be 1 of the strangest colored ales I have ever seen!

 

[corkybstewart]

For some reason mulberry trees are popular down here in the desert, but the fruit is considered a nuisance, It stains the lawn furniture, the birds eat it and deposit the remains on our cars. Much like our prickly pear fruit which the birds are loving right now. But I will keep this thread in mind for next year, I just never even knew you could do anything with mulberry fruit.

 

[bonzombiekitty]

For some reason mulberry trees are popular down here in the desert, but the fruit is considered a nuisance

Yeah, it is a nuisance sometimes. There's a bar near me that has an outdoor area with a huge mulberry tree smack in the middle of it. If you sit underneath it at the right time of year, you'll get a mulberry dropping on you ever couple minutes plus there's the occasional berry that falls into your beer.

 

[corkybstewart]

Yeah, it is a nuisance sometimes. There's a bar near me that has an outdoor area with a huge mulberry tree smack in the middle of it. If you sit underneath it at the right time of year, you'll get a mulberry dropping on you ever couple minutes plus there's the occasional berry that falls into your beer.

Sounds like they need umbrellas.

 

[bonzombiekitty]

Sounds like they need umbrellas.

Umbrellas are a bit too advanced for this bar. It's quite the dive (in a lovable way). I'm sure its tables and chairs are just whatever they found on the street on trash day. There's only one beer on tap, but it's a local beer and only cost $3/pint. For an extra dollar you can keep the glass.