Blackberry suggestions

[john mills]

I was able to pick about 26 lbs of blackberries today. 5 lbs have been spoken for other purposes. My head is spinning with possibilities. Any suggestions how to utilize this bounty for a tasty ferment? Possibly for a mead, wit, wheat, lambic, or ???
I'm open for suggestions.

[Chris Alvey]

We made a wit with them. I'm not sure what happened (infection, not enough blackberries, who knows) but it pretty much sucked. We split the batch and made an American Wheat with some raspberries and it was great.

If I were to try the blackberries again, I'd use more and use them in a neutral yeast beer.

[sirgiovanni]

Add with 16 lbs of good tasting honey and sweat mead yeast. Carbonate it. You'll like it.

[john mills]

My supply of blackberries was depleated a bit by making some cobbler, and being gobbled by the curtain climbers, but I think I'll make the sweet mead. Use half of the remaining berries and adding honey to a SG of 1.100-1.110, then add the other half in secondary.

[sirgiovanni]

You might consider picking up a bit more fruit. I like to go with 20 lbs. for 4 gallons (correction, 5 gallons). Gooooood

[john mills]

Wow, 5lbs/gallon of berries, and 4 lbs honey/gallon. Now you're talking.
I'll have to weigh what I got, and take a brix on the berries ( they are quite sweet alredy).

[sirgiovanni]

You won't be sorry. It's a full flavor that can't be beat.

But I like to go with 4 lbs fruit per gallon and about 3 to 3.5 lbs honey per gallon. I mistyped when I wrote 4 gallons. Sorry bout that. But I have put in 5 lbs fruit per gallon on a blueberry last summer. I don't know that it made that much of a difference. It was hard to tell because I upped the honey too and it was too heavy for me.