# Mayhaw Fruit Juice



## vinophyte (Apr 23, 2006)

I am making wine from Mayhaw Juice and it dosen't seem to be clearing very well.

Recipe for 1 gallon

2 qts Mom's Mayhaw Juice. (unknown fruit content, used for making great jelly. Estimate 5 qts fruit , not strained, cooked down to 2 qts juice)
2.5 lbs sugar
6.5 pts water (tap @ 104.5 F)
1 tsp Pectic Enzime
.25 tsp Grape Tannin
1.5 tsp Yeast Nutrient
1 pkt Lalvin K1-V1116 Wine Yeast

Started 3/6 SG= 1.092 @ 77.6 F
Yeast re-hydrated @ 104.7 F for 15 min
Used a Plastic Water Bottle with a ballon as an air lock as both primary and secondary
3/12 SG=1.008 - rack into secondary, plastic
3/21 SG=0.996
3/25 SG=0.990
4/15 not clearing very well,
.5 tsp Potassium Sorbate
.25 tsp Bentonite
Stirred well
Rack into glass with airlock

Today, slowly clearing




(lees on bottom) color is medium pink.

Any thoughts about clearing? Or how long to wait prior to bottleing and aging?


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## Bert (Apr 23, 2006)

Did you give it a good stirring to release the CO2???? CO2 can help hold the fines in suspension..


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## Bert (Apr 23, 2006)

Fruit wines can take a while to clear....I have had some take as long as 6 months.....just give you wine some time



...it will reward you..


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## MedPretzel (Apr 23, 2006)

rack it when you see a fair amount of sediment on the bottom. If you rack every 3 weeks, you will notice that the clarity improves.


Sounds like a great wine!


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## vinophyte (Apr 27, 2006)

Thnk you Bert and MedPretzel,

I did give it a good stir to release all CO2. I racked it again and it is now becomming quite clear. Still have time to go.

Thanks for the input, thought I had messed up somehow.

Reagrds


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## MedPretzel (Apr 27, 2006)

vinophyte said:


> thought I had messed up somehow.







Never!


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## vinophyte (Apr 28, 2006)

WOW! Thanks to everyone for the assistance.

Really starting to look godd, hard to wait. Oh Well!!

Pictures of the Mayhaw wine in process


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## PolishWineP (Apr 28, 2006)

Nice appliances! Pretty! Pretty wine, too. I love the color that comes through on the first pictures. It must be the shine from the fridge!






(Yes, I have appliance envy. Bert may look at tools at Sears, but I'm 100% in the appliance section!)


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## vinophyte (Apr 28, 2006)

Thanks, actually I had a bare bulb lamp behind the wine attempting to judge clarity.

Then though about posting pictures.

Yea the appliances are nice, Gail's work. I am tools guy as well.


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## pkcook (Apr 28, 2006)

Vino,


You peeked my interest! I have never heard of Mayhaw, so I googled it. 


For others that have never heard of this fruit, I found this:
What is a Mayhaw ? 
The Mayhaw resembles a small crabapple. The tree is in the Rosacea family and the genus Crataegus. The Mayhaw is a Hawthorne tree and it bears it's fruit in May, hence the name Mayhaw. The Mayhaw fruit ranges in colors from pink to dark red, and one or two selections are yellow. Some trees such as the Super Spur have fruit that are red and pink. The size of the fruit averages from one half to about one inch in diameter. 
How are Mayhaw fruit utilized ? 
There are many ways that the fruit can be used, the most common is in the making of jelly. The jelly that is produced is believed by many to be the best jelly that can be made. I know of one person who sells her homemade jelly at $14.00 per quart. Tourists in the New Orleans area purchase the jelly at even higher prices. . There are mail order sources in several states. 
There are several wineries in North Louisiana that are making Mayhaw wine. 
Here at home we make our own wine and mayhaw is our favorite. Other uses of the mayhaw are in syrup, butters, and pies.


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## PolishWineP (Apr 28, 2006)

Dang! Sitting in a gold mine there!


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## vinophyte (Apr 29, 2006)

I do know this for sure, the jelly is outstanding. I have never had wine made from Mayhaw; but, I will.

I have 2 more quarts of juice from last year and my Mom just cooked down 8 to 9 gallaons of berries. Takes about 1.5 to 2 gallons of berries per quart of juice.

Mom has 6 trees that were well loaded. She had a real bad storm the other night which caused all of the berries to drop. Many were premature (green, light pink) so the juice this year will not be the appropriate color and have a slight bitterness. Overall the crop was not as large this year as years in the past.

She used to get all she wanted and sell the rest between 10 and 15 dollars a gallon. Yea she got rich, some goldmine





She already made 16 pints of the jelly and says it is very good, just not up to standard.

Can't wait to taste the wine and make some more. I can't wait to get some figs from her 65 trees to make fig wine. Anyone ever make fig wine from fresh fruit?


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## Bill B (Apr 29, 2006)

Hi Vino, Nice looking wine. We have Mayhaws here in GA. also I was going to make some wine last year but never got around to it. Ive read that it takes about 2 years to mature I don't know for sure only what I read. Good job and congrats.


Bill


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## Bert (Apr 29, 2006)

The more I find out about this wine, the more interesting it becomes....It does sound like you have a very good friut wine there.....Please keep us informed how it is coming along....good luck and have fun..


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## OldWino1 (May 7, 2006)

We got a jar of Mayhaw jelly it was wonderful. Jelly in the morning and wine in the afternoon what a fruit.


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## vinophyte (Nov 29, 2006)

Well I opened my first bottle of the Mayhaw wine on Thanksgiving day. It was a bit tart for my taste so I added 1.5 tsp sugar to the bottle and it is fantastic. The fruit flavor is slight but there. The color (light pink i.e.: rose) and bouquet are very nice.






The wine went well with the Turkey and homemade Cranberry sauce. I am currently sipping a glass, tastes even better today.


I have a secong batch in the secondary that I adjusted the acid level on and it cleared witnin the first 45 days. That is a big change for the first batch that took over 4 months.


Next year I will attempt a batch using only juice. My mom takes 6 quarts of berries and cooks the juice down to 4 quarts. The last 2 batches I have used 2 quarts and top off the gallon with water.


Has anyone else had the opportunity to try this fruit?



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## Wade E (Nov 29, 2006)

No idea what it even is. Please fill us in .


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## smurfe (Nov 30, 2006)

I have never tried it either and it sounds like I live in the area they thrive. I live close to New Orleans but I am a transplant and have only lived here about 7 years. I will look around and see if I can find some to see what they taste like. 


Smurfe


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## bmorosco (Nov 30, 2006)

An Article I Found!




Six extraction methods were evaluated: steam extraction using whole fruits, steam extraction using whole fruits with added pulp juice, cold-press extraction using whole fruit, cold-press extraction using finely ground fruit pulp, hot press extraction using finely ground fruit pulp and hot press extraction using finely ground fruit pulp incorporating a commercial pectolytic enzyme as a pretreatment aid before pressing. Quantitative results on mayhaw fruit juice composition after the initial expression when using either fresh or frozen fruit were significantly different among each extraction method used. 


Some aspects of mayhaw fruit juice, such as color, are entirely a consequence of processing methodology. Study results show that comminution or milling, fruit pulp holding temperature, type of extraction method and condition of fruit (fresh or frozen) singularly and collectively had a significant influence in determining the final composition and color of fresh mayhaw juice. Pectolytic enzymes, when used properly, will significantly increase juice extraction yields of both fresh and frozen mayhaw fruit.


For this study, mayhaw fruit juice was extracted with the use of a rack and frame hydraulic press, which works well with small quantities of fruit. However, a disadvantage of this system is the inability to mix the fruit (whole or ground) during cold-press extraction of either fresh or frozen fruit. Study findings showed significant inconsistency in juice efficacy. This is primarily due to pockets of unpressed fruit that became trapped and unavailable for juice expression in the rack and frame hydraulic press system. 


To optimize mayhaw juice processing, specific variables must interact effectively. For each of the six extraction methods, these variables were: mayhaw fruit quality, fruit pretreatment (freezing as a press aid), type of fruit preparation (whole or ground), the quality and type of juice desired (sugar to acid ratio), condition of mayhaw fruit at the time of comminution (texture), enzyme usage and temperature of the fruit pulp at the time of expression. 
Handpicked mayhaw fruit is generally of good quality, but natural variations in the composition of mayhaw fruit, such as stage of maturity and cultural practices, will all produce significant variations or inconsistencies in the composition of expressed juice.


With the growth of mechanical harvesting of mayhaw fruit, quality standards must be developed to limit the introduction of the following: contamination by debris (leaves, insects, dirt and twigs), damage of fruit, and inconsistencies in fruit maturity, all of which have to be sorted and removed before processing. From a producer’s perspective, minimum quality standards or grading guidelines must be established for large-scale mayhaw fruit purchase. On the processing end, impurities need to be identified and removed before milling and pressing, particularly sun-scaled mayhaw fruit, rotten fruit and insect-damaged fruit. The quality of the fruit determines the problems that may occur during juice processing. 


Research indicates that frozen storage of mayhaw fruit can be used effectively without lowering juice yield or quality. Processing of fresh mayhaw fruit in the future with the advent of mechanical harvesting may present scheduling problems because most mayhaw selections tend not to mature at the same time. Frozen storage would allow for an accumulation of inventory, thereby creating a consistent supply of fruit, since crop yields may vary considerably from year to year because of extremes in weather conditions. 
<DIV align=center>




<DIV align=center>The mayhaw, the fruit of the thorny, hawthorne tree, is about a 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch in diameter and resembles a crabapple. Mayhaws are grown in about 20 Louisiana parishes, with most grown in Grant Parish.


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## kutya (Nov 30, 2006)

Wino, your sipping wine at 2:47on a Wed afternoon.... you have my kind of job.....


I have never even heard of mayhaw, I'd like to know more also....jh


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## paubin (Dec 2, 2006)

I researched a bit on mayhawsa little while back when Martina was trying to find hawthorne berries. mayhaws are the native american variaty of hawthornes witch are native to europe, especially England. Hawthornes have a long association with witchs and witchcraft. Mayhaws live in swampy areas of the south and have resently picked up in popularity for their jelly making abilities. The jelly is suposed to be the best. This leads me to believe that the wine would be awesome as well. There is plenty of info on mayhaws on the net, but unfortunitly not much for mail order on the berries.


Hope the helps with info on mayhaws,
Pete


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## pkcook (Dec 2, 2006)

Hey everyone, 


Check out the first page of this thread and there is a picture I found along with a short article. They look like a crabapple to me, but I'm sure they are a total different flavor.


Vinophyte,


Glad to here the wine was a success! Do you have any more recent photos?*Edited by: pkcook *


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## hitchiker (Aug 8, 2019)

you have to get in the swamps to find mayhaws worlds best jelly cant wait for my mayhaws to start bearing


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