# (Hopefully) All juice Mulberry



## dorfie (Jul 11, 2015)

Hey all! As I am typing this 30 lbs of mulberries are juicing in my steam juicer! 
It has been a bumper year for mulberries! the rain that we have had is about perfect and we haven't had any major storms hit our particular corner of the would while they were ripening so is was able to get a lot more than i have in the past! 
hopefully i post these pictures right....





They aren't very good, took them in a hurry with my phone. 
I have been doing the shaking method with my trees to get a lot of berries faster. then sorting the unripe, the twigs, and leaves out. 




I have kept them frozen while i have picked them all 




Hope this turns out good! will try to keep updating!


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## Julie (Jul 12, 2015)

looks good! I have a mulberry but the birds are way faster than I am on getting any berries. Keep us posted on your progress.


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## dorfie (Jul 12, 2015)

I juiced 12 lbs last night and got about a Gallon and a half of juice. There must be some water weight since a Gallon is 8 lbs and 1.5 * 8 is 12 and I have pulp left over....oh well! I was thinking of simmering the extra to reduce it down to 3.5 gallons or so, what does everyone think?


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## BernardSmith (Jul 12, 2015)

I don't think that it is a good idea to heat fruit juice - that is likely to set the pectins and that will result in a cloudy wine that you will not easily (if at all) clear... Heat is great for jam but is - as the doctor might say - contra-indicated for wine. What you might do is freeze the juice and then allow it to thaw and as it thaws collect only the volume you are looking for. The resulting thawed juice will have more of the sugars concentrated and more of the fruit flavors concentrated too.


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## dorfie (Jul 12, 2015)

But don't we heat the juice to concentrate it for an f-pack? And when I steam the juice its heated, I won't boil the juice just simmer some of it so it gets more concentrated.


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## dorfie (Jul 12, 2015)

BernardSmith said:


> I don't think that it is a good idea to heat fruit juice - that is likely to set the pectins and that will result in a cloudy wine that you will not easily (if at all) clear... Heat is great for jam but is - as the doctor might say - contra-indicated for wine. What you might do is freeze the juice and then allow it to thaw and as it thaws collect only the volume you are looking for. The resulting thawed juice will have more of the sugars concentrated and more of the fruit flavors concentrated too.



But don't we heat the juice to concentrate it for an f-pack? And when I steam the juice its heated, I won't boil the juice just simmer some of it so it gets more concentrated.
Plus mulberry is so dark i am not sure that it will ever be "clear"!


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## Julie (Jul 12, 2015)

The steam is not creating the juice to boil and it is not being heated for a prolong period of time. Agree with BernardSmith, cooking the juice to reduce it will set the pectin in it and that is extremely difficult to clear.


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## dorfie (Jul 12, 2015)

Julie said:


> The steam is not creating the juice to boil and it is not being heated for a prolong period of time. Agree with BernardSmith, cooking the juice to reduce it will set the pectin in it and that is extremely difficult to clear.



Ok so 100% juice is all the higher i can go concentration wise?


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## BernardSmith (Jul 12, 2015)

Freezing, thawing and capturing the "first run" of the thawed juice will boost the "concentration" as you are removing some of the water by freezing rather than boiling... With apple cider , for example - and I assume it is the same with mulberries - you can double the amount of sugar through this method although when it doubles you lose about 2/3 of the volume (because you don't permit that volume of water in the juice to thaw - and so with no added sugar you can get a must with an SG of about 1.090 but if you start with 3 gallons of juice you will be fermenting about 1 gallon... but if you want a gravity of about 50 percent more than the straight juice will give you you can collect more of the thawing juice


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## dorfie (Jul 12, 2015)

Juicing the last 3 gallons now! 
Maybe if i have a LOT of extra juice i will try the freezing method to concentrate it to 3 gallons or so, otherwise i will just make some jelly with the extra fruit Nummy!


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## Julie (Jul 12, 2015)

I'm not sure if I would want to concentrate the juice. Mulberry is not a mild flavor to begin with and I would be concern with it becoming too strong in flavor.


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## dorfie (Jul 12, 2015)

Julie said:


> I'm not sure if I would want to concentrate the juice. Mulberry is not a mild flavor to begin with and I would be concern with it becoming too strong in flavor.



Julie, i am using the "White Mulberry" (Morus Alba) hybrid species of mulberry this is one that has a more mild flavor, sometimes described as watery. The Mulberry that you may be talking about could be Morus Nigra (Black Mulberry) or the native Morus Rubra (Red Mulberry) which both have a stronger flavor profile. Both of these are also not hardy in Minnesota, the best that we can get are crosses between Alba and Nigra or Rubra. 
That's why i wanted to try to do all juice because when i have watered it down in the past it hasn't been as full and flavorful as i would like. 
I'm running the pulp now! almost there!


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## dorfie (Jul 13, 2015)

I got around 4 gallons of steam juiced juice from my 30 lbs of mulberries! 


I think that i am going to take some to make jelly and then i will try your Freezing process BernardSmith, with around a gallon of juice. 
just put in an order for yeast and other supplies because i looked and OOPS! i was pretty much out of everything! so i will post an update once i get everything and test for acid. 
Anyone have an estimate how much tannin i should put in?


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## WVMountaineerJack (Jul 13, 2015)

Or, you can skip steam juicing them and use the whole fruit, after thawing crush them up in a bucket, put them in a fermentation bag and squeeze out the juice, put the back back in the fermentor and make your 100% that way. Metal pans and acidic fruit dont go well together as in your pics. Your pulp has all the stems in it, you can keep trying to extract more flavor but really what is left over after steaming or pressing mulberries is going to start extracting stuff from the stems, not good eats We have an Ilinois Everbearing and did the shake and sort, froze and sqeezed and made a morat with honey from them, right now it has sort of a concord grape concentrate taste, hoping that ages out a little. WVMJ


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## dorfie (Jul 13, 2015)

WVMountaineerJack said:


> Or, you can skip steam juicing them and use the whole fruit, after thawing crush them up in a bucket, put them in a fermentation bag and squeeze out the juice, put the back back in the fermentor and make your 100% that way. Metal pans and acidic fruit dont go well together as in your pics. Your pulp has all the stems in it, you can keep trying to extract more flavor but really what is left over after steaming or pressing mulberries is going to start extracting stuff from the stems, not good eats We have an Ilinois Everbearing and did the shake and sort, froze and sqeezed and made a morat with honey from them, right now it has sort of a concord grape concentrate taste, hoping that ages out a little. WVMJ



I have never had that flavor come through my mulberry wine...of course i have never made a morat. i considered it this year to add body, but i am going to do just juice this time. 
How old is your mulberry? mine seems to need a year before it really starts tasting ok, longer the more fruit i use,and meads take longer to age don't they?
On the crush front, i already juiced them all, but when i have done comparisons between steam juiced and whole fruit the juice has always been better to me. i don't really worry about the stems, mine don't seem to want to fall off no matter what, and they don't seem to detract from the wine...at least not that i have notice!


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## dorfie (Jul 15, 2015)

Ok, so I have the juice all ready now. So once my yeast arrives I'll test acid and pitch the yeast. I was wondering if you guys thought it would be a good idea to add a winexpert red grape concentrate to this? Or some banana water?


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## Julie (Jul 15, 2015)

I wouldn't add banana water but I would just slice up a banana and put that in


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## dorfie (Jul 15, 2015)

That doesn't add banana flavor? Whenever I have added it I was told that it needs to be boiled for 30 minutes to drive off the banana flavor. Guess I've never tried it that way!


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## fivebk (Jul 15, 2015)

Keep the extra juice to top up with. You will need something, it might as well be straight juice

BOB


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## Julie (Jul 15, 2015)

No it will not cause a banana flavor. Where did you get the information that you had to boil bananas for 30 minutes?


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## dorfie (Jul 15, 2015)

Julie said:


> No it will not cause a banana flavor. Where did you get the information that you had to boil bananas for 30 minutes?



I had read it here and some other forums. i mean i haven't had any banana flavor come through so i guess no harm no foul right!


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## dorfie (Jul 15, 2015)

Ok so i got my delivery of supplies! once my juice melts i will be starting this! I am thinking that i will add some bananas to the must, and i will test for the acid level and adjust accordingly, planning on using Rc-212 
I am wondering though, if i should add bentonite to the primary? i have read some conflicting opinions about using it during the primary and as a finning agent is secondary. I was thinking that since the juice is so dark, and the wine i have made before was really dark it was hard to tell when it was really clear. 
with bentonite i would just wait until it stops dropping sediment right?


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## Julie (Jul 15, 2015)

They must have been using a lot of bananas! One or two bananas are all you need. Also, have you thought of adding any tannins? either pre or post fermentation?


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## dorfie (Jul 15, 2015)

Julie said:


> They must have been using a lot of bananas! One or two bananas are all you need. Also, have you thought of adding any tannins? either pre or post fermentation?



oh yah!  forgot to say that! haven't decided how much, figured that i would go by taste. 
What do you think of the bentonite?


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## dorfie (Jul 16, 2015)

fivebk said:


> Keep the extra juice to top up with. You will need something, it might as well be straight juice
> 
> BOB



Bob, sorry for missing your post! i was hoping one of you guys that had made a mulberry wine before would comment. 
i am planning on making 3 1/2 gallons so then i will top up with the half gallon until it's gone...then i might use last years or something. 
i don't know if you would know, but do you know what kind of mulberry you used to make your wine? variety, or anything? i'm just curious


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## fivebk (Jul 16, 2015)

I don't know what variety they were. They were from trees that just grow wild in my area. Steam juicing is the way to go. For some reason it just makes better wine. I have to admit that my best mulberry wine was a blend. I read in a winemakers mag where a guy blended his mulberry with zucchini. So I made a zucchini wine and blended the two. It was a very good wine. I made it semi-sweet. I also bottled some of the zucchini wine. It turned out to be surprisingly good by itself

BOB


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## dorfie (Jul 16, 2015)

I put the wine together tonight, will pitch the yeast tomorrow. planning to use RC-212
Mulberry wine
3 gallons and 1 quart steam juiced mulberry juice 
1 3/4 tsp tannin 
Acid was .30 so i added 6 1/2 tsp acid blend to bring it to .6-.65
3 lbs sugar to 1.084
2 very ripe and mushy bananas


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## dorfie (Jul 16, 2015)

fivebk said:


> I don't know what variety they were. They were from trees that just grow wild in my area. Steam juicing is the way to go. For some reason it just makes better wine. I have to admit that my best mulberry wine was a blend. I read in a winemakers mag where a guy blended his mulberry with zucchini. So I made a zucchini wine and blended the two. It was a very good wine. I made it semi-sweet. I also bottled some of the zucchini wine. It turned out to be surprisingly good by itself
> 
> BOB



Ok, I believe you are in Zone 5 which means that they could have been Morus alba (white mulberry) or nigra (black mulberry)or a hybrid. 
Zucchini!? I have never hear of that, what does that taste like?


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## fivebk (Jul 17, 2015)

Zucchini wine is kind of neutral in flavor, but it has a ton of body

BOB


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## dorfie (Jul 18, 2015)

fivebk said:


> Zucchini wine is kind of neutral in flavor, but it has a ton of body
> 
> BOB


Would you be willing to post your recipe? maybe if i tire of bread i will try a small batch to blend!


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## dorfie (Jul 18, 2015)

Got my yeast pitched yesterday morning! looks pretty good, smells like bread! 
i took the picture yesterday afternoon, but we had a big storm roll through and then i was distracted by the bugs in my cherries  


Excited for this!


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## fivebk (Jul 18, 2015)

Yes I can, but it may be the first of the week before I get it posted

BOB


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## dorfie (Jul 19, 2015)

fivebk said:


> Yes I can, but it may be the first of the week before I get it posted
> 
> BOB



That is completely fine! the wine is happily bubbling away!


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## dorfie (Jul 20, 2015)

Transferred wine to carboys today! ended up with just under 3 1/2 gallons of wine, the little taste i had was pretty good! acid might be a little too high, but i think that will mellow some as it ages. excited for this one!


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## fivebk (Jul 21, 2015)

Here's my recipe: 

Zucchini Wine (5 gal )

25lbs Fresh frozen zucchini chunks
6.5lbs Sugar to SG 1.080
1.5tsp Wine tannin
2.5tsp Pectic enzyme
.5liter White grape concentrate (from LHBS)
1.5tsp Yeast energizer
3.0tsp Yeast nutrient
2gal Water
Acid blend ( did not test ) 
.5box Raisins
.5box Golden raisins
.25tsp K-Meta
1pkg EC 1118 Wine yeast

Add all ingredients except pectic enzyme and yeast. Wait 12hrs, add pectic enzyme and wait 12hrs. Make a yeast starter and pitch yeast.

Pitch yeast
Rack to secondary and finish fermentation
Rack, add K-Meta, Sorbate and De-gass 
Rack, add SuperKleer and top up with Welch's 100% white grape juice
Rack, Add acid blend (Wine needed it) and back-sweetened 
Filter & bottle

I blended 2.5gal with 6gal Mulberry 

BOB


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## dorfie (Jul 30, 2015)

fivebk said:


> Here's my recipe:
> 
> Zucchini Wine (5 gal )
> 
> ...


 
Awesome thanks! 
I think I will make a gallon or so and blend a bit of my mulberry with it to try it.
An update on the wine: I transfered to a carboy and a lot of sediment fell right away. I tried a small bit today. Pretty good flavor, acid may be a bit high but its young so I hope that mellows.


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## dorfie (Aug 12, 2015)

as an update. I racked the mulberry wine on monday, and something really cool happened! not sure if this has happened to me before or if i just never noticed it. when i racked the wine it was cloudy-opaque, then yesterday i pulled some out for a friend to sample and it was clear! it must have degassed some when it was racked and dropped much of the sediment. 
It has a different smell, which i think has been normal for my mulberry wines, but it tastes pretty good! i pulled the zucchini out today and will be probably starting a gallon of that soon.


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## wineforfun (Aug 12, 2015)

That mulberry looks really tasty.

I would get those carboys topped up though. I don't like leaving that much headspace in my carboys.


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## dorfie (Aug 12, 2015)

wineforfun said:


> That mulberry looks really tasty.
> 
> I would get those carboys topped up though. I don't like leaving that much headspace in my carboys.



I normally don't have that much either, but as it was still fermenting it was protected by the CO2. now that i have racked them i combined the 1/2 gal and the 3 gallon to get a full 3 gallon, so now there is much less headspace.


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## subseageorge (May 10, 2021)

Julie said:


> I wouldn't add banana water but I would just slice up a banana and put that in


Hi Guys, why do you add the banana ? IS there a specific reason ? Thanks


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## Rice_Guy (May 10, 2021)

subseageorge said:


> Hi Guys, why do you add the banana ? IS there a specific reason ? Thanks


Dorfie last posted in 2016,,, 
When I make mulberry I don’t add banana. I am adding lemon/ citric acid to bring out the fruit flavors.
Banana will provide body/ nutrition for the yeast.


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## Julie (May 10, 2021)

it will add body to a thin wine


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## BernardSmith (May 10, 2021)

HI subseageorge, Looks like you are trying to resurrect a post that has been in suspended animation for nearly six years, but we are soon in the NE about to enter mulberry season... 
I suspect that the idea of adding some banana to the must is to give the must some better mouthfeel and if that is the case then you could add some oak or tannin and that would have a similar effect. I should say that I have made mulberry wine only a couple of times (and never with added banana ) and have never had a problem with mouthfeel.


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## subseageorge (May 10, 2021)

Thanks for the information guys, 

This is the batch we did 6 months ago, 
*5 Gallons*,


9 kgs berries.
5.5 kgs sugar
5 tsp yeast nutrient
5 tsp acid blend
5 tsp pectic enzyme
5 Campden tablets
5-gallon filtered water


Now i have come home after working away and my wife has another 45 kgs in the freezer so i need to use it up. I have added some bananas this time that i also keep in the freezer,, 

Cheeers,

End of the season here for Mulberries or so im told..


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