Honeyberry wine

[aws1008 aws1008]

Has anyone made wine with honeyberries / haskap? I'm thinking about planting some and was wondering how they might work for wine.

 

[Rice_Guy]

Welcome to WMT

Honeyberry can make an excellent wine. The fruit is fairly acidic, ex Honey Bee pH 2.83 / Borealis pH 2.99 / Boreal Blizzard pH 3.3. TA as 3.69% /, 2.16 / 2.82%. This noted most folks would use someplace above 1:3 water ratio, or back sweeten. We had a blue ribbon Haskap at state fair made from 100% purée from Minnesota Haskap with a TA of 1.80%, ,,,

My experience growing is that it is a slow plant. Hasn’t produced runners. I will probably wait four years for three plants to produce enough for a gallon.

 

[BigDaveK]

Not yet!

I planted small bare root plants from Stark Bros last year and actually had a handful of fruit this year. Yeah, slow growing. I'm hoping they follow the plant adage - first year it sleeps, second year it creeps, third year it leaps. We'll see.

BTW, the berries were delicious! I discovered the birds think so, too, dammit.

 

[Raptor99]

BTW, the berries were delicious! I discovered the birds think so, too, dammit.

Those birds are just too smart!

 

[aws1008 aws1008]

Welcome to WMT

Honeyberry can make an excellent wine. The fruit is fairly acidic, ex Honey Bee pH 2.83 / Borealis pH 2.99 / Boreal Blizzard pH 3.3. TA as 3.69% /, 2.16 / 2.82%. This noted most folks would use someplace above 1:3 water ratio, or back sweeten. We had a blue ribbon Haskap at state fair made from 100% purée from Minnesota Haskap with a TA of 1.80%, ,,,

My experience growing is that it is a slow plant. Hasn’t produced runners. I will probably wait four years for three plants to produce enough for a gallon.

 

[aws1008 aws1008]

Not yet!

I planted small bare root plants from Stark Bros last year and actually had a handful of fruit this year. Yeah, slow growing. I'm hoping they follow the plant adage - first year it sleeps, second year it creeps, third year it leaps. We'll see.

BTW, the berries were delicious! I discovered the birds think so, too, dammit.

Thanks for the input! I was already to buy several of them from Stark Bros but now they are sold out in my area

 

[aws1008 aws1008]

Thanks for all the info! I very new to wine making (only on my second batch) and this forum seems like a great place to get answers

 

[Rice_Guy]

Thanks for all the info! I very new to wine making (only on my second batch) and this forum seems like a great place to get answers

Where are you located? I have occasionally visited Fermented Friends in LaCrosse. They are a good source for northern hybrid grape, apple cider, juice bucket buys, contest evaluations, , , , etck

 

[HillPeople]

We've made a lot of Honeyberry (Honey I'm Home) and Blueberry/Honeyberry blend (Blue Lagoon) and they turned out excellent. The problem with Honeyberries is that they ripen so early we get caught off guard. The birds and chipmunks are totally tuned in however.