Mulberry honey mead

A mulberry honey mead is really known as a melomel; it's a wine with a difference.

We have a glut of mulberries this year and are looking for ways to preserve the important phytonutrients in the fruit.

Mead-making is really for beekeepers who also have access to large amounts of fruit. If you are going to brew a 23 litre carboy you will need nearly 20 pounds of natural honey; in South Africa that will cost you around R1500 or more.

We get most of the honey from the gleanings after decapping; the wax is removed from the surface of the comb to allow extraction.

Sweetness

The sweetness of your mulberry mead will be determined by the amount of honey added and to a lesser extent by the sugars in the fruit; most are fermented to alcohol and carbon-dioxide.

Ingredients

Also needed are two large muslin bags that are frequently used in making a fruit-jelly and about 50 glass marbles to weight them down. I am now using smooth pebbles from a mountain stream. Carbon dioxide inside the bag lifts it to the surface and out of the liquid.

This is still not a settled issue. In time I will report on the weight of the pebbles and marbles; on this occasion it was not sufficient allowing the bags to float partially out of the liquid.

Wax in the cappings

The preferred method more recently is to place the cappings in a large bucket, add 10 litres of warm, unchlorinated water and then use a potato masher. Strain the dissolved honey into the carboy.

The wax itself plays no part in the fermentation and takes up too much space to my mind; we now strain it off from the honey in the cappings.

We routinely like to add a few small chunks of honeycomb or even old wax from the brood chamber^[3]; the all-hive method. No other yeast nutrients are then needed. The cells must be pricked to give access for fermentation.

Go for it

I made this batch of mulberry honey mead, or melomel to be more precise on 8th October, 2022.

This is what happens if the carboy is over-filled. Making sure the bags of fruit are submerged is part of the secret and not using much comb; extract all the honey from the cappings and discard the latter for melting down.

Vigorous stirring of the liquid periodically with a long-handled plastic spoon will help with degassing. I now use only 1tsp of yeast in the 23L carboy.

There is merit in using a plastic bucket with a wide throat to prevent this provided you siphon off the liquid into glass at the 6 weeks stage.

6 weeks stage

1. After 6 weeks test the pH again.
2. If a plastic fermenter is being used rack now into glass demijohns, still under airlock.
   
3. Fill the gap above the liquid with a syrup made from a ratio of 1 litre of water to 130g fructose is the official recommendation; I'll use a little mature mead instead.
   
4. Leave for 12 weeks. This secondary fermentation is when the mead will mature.
   

On 19.11.2022 I wracked the mulberry honey mead into three 5L demijohns with air-locks; fermentation has ceased but may start again. The pH was 3 and the SG 0,095.

1.25ml of bicarb was slowly added to each demijohn to raise the pH by 0,5.

The taste was indifferent but not unpleasant.

12 weeks stage

1. After 12 weeks or when fermentation has stopped, do SG and pH tests again. 
2. If the specific gravity is too high, simply add boiled water.
   
3. Then siphon the liquid from the fermenter into demijohns trying to avoid the sediment.
4. If it is clear and tastes good, bottle; it will likely need to be racked again.
   

On the 16th December, 2022 I did the second rack; fermentation had stopped completely. pH was 3.0 so I carefully added 1tsp of bicarb to each demijohn, making sure that excessive foaming did not cause a disaster as has happened in the past. The flavour is good and it's not too sweet.

I used a bottle of mature all-hive mead to top up the third demijohn; it will of necessity be a blend.

Acidity

The pH range you want is 3,5 to 4,5. Add 1.25ml of bicarb or tartaric acid per 0,5 adjustment on 5 litres in small tranches; it may bubble over. You could use lemon juice if it is too high.

After mixing the powder in, recheck the pH. I usually do my adjustments before fermentation but have needed to do it again at racking sometimes.

Saligna honey tends towards being alkaline. So I usually add 5ml of Tartaric acid or lemon juice.

If your pH is 3 add 3.75ml Bicarb. If it is 5 then add 3.75 ml Tartaric acid, both in powder form. Allow as little air as possible into the mixture.

Air will start an oxidisation process which might end up as a vinegar. It will then be nice on salads but not for consuming as your evening tipple.

Temperature

Temperature is critical particularly in winter. If the ambient temperature goes well below 18^oC the ferment may stick.

A cardboard box lined with polystyrene would help keep the must from getting too warm or cold; or bubble-wrap.

Racking

Racking of the mulberry honey mead is done to separate the liquid from the dead yeast cells that have settled at the bottom.

The first racking is usually done after some 2 to 3 months; once the main fermentation has ceased. It will usually be quite murky with small particles in suspension. Check and adjust the pH.

The second rack is done after it clears, usually 6 to 12 months later. One could then bottle after a few weeks. Time has to pass; patience is a virtue.

A third racking may be necessary a few months later if it hasn't cleared.

Ask anyone who bakes or brews; yeast has a mind of its own. Sometimes it starts bubbling again months after it has cleared and you would have thought that all fermentation had ceased.

There is no reason not to start drinking your mulberry honey mead whilst it is still murky. It is an excellent probiotic; those yeast cells simply contribute to a diverse normal-flora in the gut.

Update on racking

This mulberry honey mead is so dark that you simply cannot see if it has cleared. I bottled the first demijohn on the 25th January, 2023; l needed some for a demonstration. It's good but clearly needs to mature for longer than four months.

Sweetness

Adjust the amount of natural honey according to your own preference for a sweet or dry mead.

Nearly a half of the population of industrialised countries have a serious problem with insulin resistance from eating too many refined carbs. I recommend making your mulberry honey mead on the dry side.

Mulberry honey mead

Mulberry honey mead can only realistically be made if you have easy access to raw honey and the fruit; a wonderful aperitif. It is an excellent way to help re-establish the intestinal microbes after taking antibiotics.

Should you feel tempted to brew your own this is the basic mead equipment you will need. Expect to pay a lot of money if you want to purchase mulberry honey wine; make it yourself and have a lot of fun.

This spicy peppadew mead is another great favourite.

Depression and anxiety

A small pilot study, the first in a Western population demonstrated that a multistrain probiotic gave very promising outcomes as compared to a placebo group^[7].

Enjoying a wide range of probiotic foods and beverages has profoundly different positive influences on the body; in this instance a "reduction of 1 severity grade" on depression and anxiety. This was considered very significant by the researchers; mediated by what is known as the gut-brain axis.

The vagus nerve carries visceral information from the bowels to the large "nucleus tractus solitarius" in the brain.

The alcohol cancer link

There is strong, incontrovertible evidence that even small amounts of alcohol significantly increase the risk of cancer.

Almost 50 people die every day of the year in the UK alone from a malignant tumour directly caused by their drinking. That's not small beer!

Yet in the Blue Zones where they drink natural, unpasteurised wines and beers with no preservatives longevity is the norm.

• How much alcohol causes cancer?
• Blue Zone longevity
  

Stop and ponder this question before you get into brewing.

Pectin

Pectin is the soluble fibre found in many fruits including mulberries. According to Yang et al publishing in the journal Anaerobe it is the most potent starch for stimulating the friendly flora in the colon.

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