Mulberry wine at home – 3 simple recipes

In Central Asia, jam is made from mulberries and nothing more. We eat most of the birds, and the rest of the kids. But often the berries just fall to the ground, where they immediately turn into an unsightly rotting mass. Just few people know that you can make delicious wine from mulberry berries. We know…

I will not rant about the benefits of mulberry berries, rich in plant antioxidants, read Wikipedia. We are much more important than its other virtues. Mulberry gives abundant harvests, berries contain a certain amount of sugar (especially black mulberry, which is most common in the south of Russia and Ukraine) and a pleasant taste and aroma. Of course, it is not ideal for winemaking, but if there are mighty branches of a mulberry tree in the yard, then why not use its gifts?

Mulberry is not ideal for two reasons: low acidity, which makes normal fermentation difficult and does not contribute to long aging, as well as wateriness, which makes pure mulberry wine not as bright as we would like. But in winemaking there are hardly a dozen self-sufficient fruits and berries. Perhaps this list will be limited to apple, grape and blackcurrant wines – the rest of the fruit and berry wines need additives.

The most fragrant and delicious wine is obtained from black mulberry, the less attractive – from red. White berries are not suitable for winemaking.

So, you can increase the acidity of the must and improve the taste of mulberry wine by adding shadberry, blackberry, elderberry, apple or grape juice. True, there is a risk of drowning out the taste and aroma of mulberries in the bud, so for your first attempts it is better to limit yourself to lemon juice or citric acid. Finally, if the final taste of the drink seems poor to you, you can always add homemade or store-bought grape wine to it. There is a flight for fantasy. For my part, I can only offer a few interesting recipes.

Classic mulberry wine

Often, not grape juice, but raisins are added to mulberry wine. This would be a great option if you couldn’t get hold of wine yeast, which is always preferable. Raisins are known to be a great option for yeast sourdough – many wines made with wild yeast have raisins added to them.

* wine yeast for Bordeaux is ideal, as well as the standard top dressing for yeast, which can be found in the store for winemakers, but this is already optional.

How to cook:

Bring the water to a boil and dissolve the sugar in it, stir until the syrup becomes clear. While the syrup is cooking, wash the mulberries, remove the stems, and transfer them to a wide-mouthed container, such as a plastic bucket. Add raisins and top with boiling syrup. Let the wort cool down to a temperature comfortable for the yeast + 24-26^оC. Next, you can add yeast, but if you still got to the wine store, then at this stage you need to add pectin enzyme, juice of 2 lemons (or tartaric acid, or citric acid), top dressing for yeast.

The pectin enzyme “dilutes the must”, increases the yield of juice from berries and fruits, and also contributes to a better clarification of the drink.

If you have added a pectin enzyme, then at least 12 hours must pass before adding the yeast – during this time the berry must give up all the juice. After adding the yeast, tie the throat of the container with gauze and leave the wort to ferment in a warm place for 3-4 days. Twice a day it needs to be stirred, knocking down the cap so that it does not turn sour. After the primary fermentation, the wort must be filtered through several layers of gauze or a sieve, squeeze the cake well and pour the resulting liquid into a glass container with a water seal. It is better to use a dark glass bottle or wrap a transparent fermenter with paper – the sun’s rays have a very bad effect on the color of the wine.

The must should spend about 1,5-2 months in the secondary fermentation, after which the already young wine will need to be removed from the sediment with a silicone hose, and then put back under the water seal. Repeat the procedure after 1,5-2 months. Then the finished wine can be bottled, which must be stored upright in a dark, cool place. It is recommended to uncork bottles no earlier than six months later, but full-bodied, most harmonious wine from mulberry is obtained after two years of aging.

Simple mulberry wine with mint and cinnamon

To prepare 4,2 liters of wine you will need:

How to cook:

Prepare the syrup, fill it with prepared mulberries. Remember slightly berries. Add lemon juice, cinnamon and mint. Let the wort cool down to +24-26^оC. Pour it into the fermenter, add the yeast and tie the neck of the fermenter with gauze or a clean towel. Put the wort in a warm place for 7-10 days, remembering to stir it 2 times a day. Strain through cheesecloth, squeeze out the cake, pour into a glass under a water seal. At the end of fermentation, drain the wine from the sediment and bottle it.

Mulberry wine “Autumn”

* this wine can be prepared in autumn if you prepare mulberry juice or freeze berries in summer (you can take juice from 3-3,5 kg of mulberry and 750 g of frozen berries);

** apple juice is an excellent base for making mulberry wine, but if it is not at hand, you can cook sugar syrup from 5,5 liters of water and 600 g of sugar.

Preparation:

Place all ingredients in a large saucepan and heat to 50-60^оWith for sterilization and dissolution of sugar-honey. Remove from heat and let stand covered until the contents of the pot have cooled to +24-26^оC. Pour into a wide-mouthed fermenter, pitch in the yeast, and cover the throat with gauze or a clean towel. Primary fermentation should last 3-4 days, after which the rapidly fermenting wort must be filtered through gauze or a sieve, and the cake should also be squeezed well.

Pour the filtered wort into a glass container and install an airlock. Wait for the wine to fully ferment – this should take about a month depending on many variables. Drain the young wine from the sediment, pour it into a clean glass vessel and reinstall the water seal. Wait another month, drain the sediment and bottle the clarified mulberry wine. At this stage, if necessary, the drink can be sweetened. Before tasting, the wine must be aged for at least 3-6 months.

Experiment, surprise and surprise yourself!