Mulberrys! First wine ever....

[MissMulberry]

From MissMulberry.....

So, as I write this thread, first ever on a winemakers forum, I sip a glass of my first ever homemade wine. Its a Mulberry wine I made from red berries I picked from a tree in my backyard.I used what seemed like a very basic recipe I got from an old hick for elderberry wine. I simply substituted mulberrys for elderberries and here we are. Did I make wine? I think. Its a beutiful, crystal clear cranberry color. Heavily sweet I gather from the taste and the very slow runs on the sides of the glass. Also knock you into the couch if your not careful on intake, but no ill effects in the morning.

So, obviously being new I have questions. First the "recipie".

3 qts mulberries
5 gal. water
8lb sugar
1 cube yeast
1 box raisins
3 oranges
3 lemons

We boiled the mash. (Sugar, water and berries) Let cool. Added to the fruit in a crock, and stirred in yeast. Let sit for 1 week with a towel over the crock.(started to stink actually) Strained mash into a glass carbouy and topped with an airlock. wrapped with a towel to protect from light. Waited 1 month, heavy sediment. Racked into new carbouy, re-airlocked and covered. Waited 1 month, no sediment or bubbles so I bottled.

At room temp, it had a hint of a rubbiing alcohol smell, relativley strong alcohol after taste but sweet and not bad. When drank cold, which is actually the way I prefer fruit wine, the smell is less, but alcohol after taste is about the same.

All and all I am pretty happy, but using the recipie and ingredients I did, and even though I have a really really good "looking" wine I know it could be better if i used a few professional techniques.

Any comments are welcome. Thank you for having me.

 

[jet]

My advice:

1. Read one or more books on winemaking (check your library)
2. Sanitize everything that touches your must/wine
3. Measure the specific gravity (sugar) and pH of the must before you start, and adjust accordingly
4. Use wine yeast

 

[Julie]

Congrats on your wine.

First off buy a hydrometer and take a reading before adding the sugar, then add enough sugar to bring your must to approx. 1.080. Then use your hydrometer to know when your wine has finished fermenting. Check out our beginniers wine making sections for a lot of info.

Mulberries are higher in sugar than elderberries, so 8#'s of sugar might have given you a higher alcohol content. I am assuming you used a bread yeast since you said "cube of yeast"? The yeast might have died off before the wine had gone dry, leaving you with a sweet wine.

Next time, use wine yeast, let the wine ferment to dry and then backsweeten to the level that you like.

But I would say you didn't do to bad since you are enjoying your wine.

 

[Minnesotamaker]

I make mullberry on occassion, but I like mine with more fruit in the batch. I'll use about 2 1/2 gallons of picked berries for a 5 gallon batch. I'm sure a lot of it depends on how flavorful your berries are and how much fruit flavor and body you want in your wine.