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[MtnBrewer]

First a little background for those of you who didn't grow up in Pearl River Swamp, i.e., everybody. A mayhaw is a tree that grows in the deep Gulf South. It produces red berries that are about an inch in diameter. The berries are very tart and not that good to eat but they make the Best Jelly in the World™. I've been thinking that they might make a pretty good melomel too. Last weekend when I was at our annual crawfish boil, my cousin told me about making mayhaw wine. I figure that if you can make wine with them, you can make mead. I found places that will ship juice but my question is how much juice would I need? The juice is about 5.5-6.0°Brix. Flavor-wise, nothing tastes like a mayhaw but the closest thing I can come up with is a cranberry because of the tartness. I think if I used 100% juice, it would be too tart. So if anybody has made a good cranberry mel using juice, my question to you is how much did you use? All others are welcomeencouraged to make wild ass guesses.

[MtnBrewer]

As I recall, they're more like cranberries. Not a whole lot of juice in each berry. Perhaps the best way to go is to make a semi-sweet base mead and then add juice to taste.