Gently rinse the blossoms in cold water. Place in primary fermentor. Add 1 gallon of water and all other ingredients except yeast. Stir to dissolve sugar. Specific Gravity should be between 1.090 and 1.100. Let sit overnight.

The next day, add yeast. Stir daily until frothing stops -- about 3 to 5 days. Strain out blossoms and siphon into secondary fermentor. Attach air lock.

For a dry wine, rack in six weeks, then every three months for one year. Bottle.

For a sweet wine, rack at six weeks. Add 1/2 cup sugar dissolved in 1 cup wine. Stir gently, and place back into secondary fermentor. Repeat process every six weeks until fermentation does not restart with the addition of sugar. Rack every three months until one year old. Bottle.

Bottle the wine when it is 6 to 12 months old. I like to continue racking for a whole year to ensure the wine is as clear as possible. Wine is ready to drink one year after the date the batch was started.

Dandelion Wine

Recipe file created November 14, 1999.
When we moved into our new house, I was amazed at the number of dandelions growing in the front lawn. So, I harvested them. The neighbours were wondering about me....

Ingredients

1 gallon dandelion flowers, fresh 5 1/2 cups granulated sugar 1 teaspoon yeast nutrient 2 oranges, juice and rind 2 lemons, juice and rind 2 campden tablets 1 package wine yeast 1 gallon water, boiling

4 cups dandelion flowers, fresh 1 pound raisins 1 - 4 inch cinnamon stick 5 1/2 cups granulated sugar 1 teaspoon yeast nutrient 2 oranges, juice and rind 2 lemons, juice and rind 2 campden tablets 1 package wine yeast 1 gallon water, boiling

This wine is best if you can refrain from drinking it for two full years from the date it was started. It will definitely improve with age.

NOTE:

The calyces, along with the white sap, will make the wine bitter and require many years to age. Be sure not to get any in the wine. The best source of dandelions is your own or a friends yard. That way, you can be sure when the lawn was last treated -- with either fertilizer or herbicide. Dandelions bloom in early spring, so it should be no problem to harvest them before trying to eliminate them.

Mead

Recipe file created November 14, 1999.
This recipe is for "long" mead. The name refers to the fact that it is aged, and not drunk while still fermenting.

Ingredients

3 pounds honey 2 tablespoon acid blend 1 teaspoon nutrients 2 campden tablets 1/2 teaspoon tannin 1 package champagne yeast water

Dissolve honey in 1/2 gallon of warm water with nutrients, acid and tannin. Add cold water to make up to 1 gallon. Add crushed campden tablets. Let sit overnight.

Specific Gravity should be 1.100. Add yeast and place in secondary fermentor. Rack when Specific Gravity reaches 1.020. Rack again when Specific Gravity reaches 1.010. Continue to rack every 3 months for 1 year.

This method will yield a dry mead. For a sweeter mead, add 1/2 cup honey dissolved in 1 cup mead. Rack every 6 weeks, adding more honey, until fermentation has ceased. Then rack every 3 months for 1 year with no further honey additions.

Bottle the wine when you are sure it is stable.

NOTE:

The nature of honey makes this wine require frequent racking. A very fine sediment will accumulate in the bottle if it sits for more than a few months before drinking. This may be minimized if the following steps are taken:

Boil the honey in some water in a large pot -- it will boil up quite high. Allow it to simmer while skimming the foam off the top. Continue until it no longer forms any foam.

If adding honey for a sweet wine, boil 1/2 cup honey with 1 cup water instead of in some of the mead. Skim as above. Allow to cool completely before putting it into the mead.

Watermelon Wine

Recipe file created February 10, 2000.
One large watermelon should be enough for a gallon of this wine. After all, they are composed of mostly water.
When you are done juicing, make some Watermelon Rind Pickles.

Ingredients

8 cups watermelon juice 1/8 teaspoon tannin 3 1/2 cups granulated sugar 2 campden tablets 1 teaspoon nutrients 2 1/2 teaspoons acid blend 1 package wine yeast 8 cups water

Remove rind and cube the watermelon flesh. Use an electric juicer or place cubes in a nylon straining bag and crush, squeezing out the juice. Pour into the primary fermentor. Add all other ingredients except the yeast. Stir well to dissolve sugar. Let sit over night.

The next day, check the specific gravity. It should be between 1.090 and 1.100. Add yeast and mix in well. Cover primary fermentor. Stir daily for five days or until frothing stops. Put into secondary fermentor and place airlock on the bottle.

For a dry wine, Rack in three weeks and return to secondary fermentor. Rack again in three months, and every three months until 1 year old. Bottle.

For a sweet wine, rack at three weeks. Add 1/2 cup sugar dissolved in 1 cup wine. Stir gently, and place back into secondary fermentor. Repeat process every six weeks until fermentation does not restart with the addition of sugar. Rack every three months until one year old. Bottle.

Ths wine is best if you can refrain from drinking it for a year and a half from the date it was started.

NOTE:

If you like a medium sweet wine, taste it at each racking to decide if it is sweet enough yet. Each addition of sugar starts the yeast working again. The result is that sweet wines have a higher alcohol content than a dry wine -- by up to 4 or 5 percent.

Rose Water Wine

Recipe file created February 7, 2000.
I discovered that Rose Water is not very expensive, so I bought a bottle. Then I decided to adapt a Rose Petal Wine recipe to accomodate the ingredients on hand. This is the result.

Ingredients

1 cup rose water water to make 1 gallon juice of 2 lemons NO RIND 1 campden tablet 1 teaspoon nutrients 1/16 teaspoon tannin 2 pounds granulated sugar (about 5 cups) 1 package wine yeast

Combine all ingredients except the yeast. Stir to dissolve sugar. Specific Gravity should be between 1.090 and 1.100. Let sit overnight.

The next day, add yeast. Stir daily until frothing stops -- about 3 days. Siphon into secondary fermentor and place air lock.

For a dry wine, rack in three weeks, and every three months for one year. Bottle.

For a sweet wine, rack at three weeks. Add 1/2 cup sugar dissolved in 1 cup wine. Stir gently, and place back into secondary fermentor. Repeat process every six weeks until fermentation does not restart with the addition of sugar. Rack every three months until one year old. Bottle.

When wine is 6 to 12 months old, bottle. Wine is ready to drink one year after the date the batch was started. 

Blackberry Wine

Recipe file created November 14, 1999.
This is the first wine I ever made, back in 1992. I still have one bottle of it in my cellar. My goal is to keep it longer than my father-in-law keeps the bottle we gave him.

Ingredients

12 cups blackberries, fresh 5 1/2 cups granulated sugar 1 teaspoon yeast nutrient 1 teaspoon acid blend 1 campden tablet 1/2 teaspoon pectic enzyme 1 package wine yeast 1 gallon water

Do not use overripe or spoiled berries. Crush the berries and place in primary fermentor. Add water, sugar, nutrients, acid blend, pectic enzyme and crushed campden tablet. Stir well to dissolve sugar. Let sit overnight.

Specific gravity should be between 1.090 and 1.095. Sprinkle yeast over the mixture and stir. Stir daily for five or six days, until specific gravity is 1.040.

Strain the must and squeeze out as much juice as you can from the fruit. Siphon into secondary fermentor and place airlock.

For a dry wine, rack in three weeks, and every three months for one year. Bottle.

For a sweet wine, rack at three weeks. Add 1/2 cup sugar dissolved in 1 cup wine. Stir gently, and place back into secondary fermentor. Repeat process every six weeks until fermentation does not restart with the addition of sugar. Rack every three months until one year old. Bottle.

The wine is best if you can refrain from drinking it for one full year from the date it was started.

NOTE:

The quality of the wine reflects the quality of the fruit used. Use sour or over ripe fruit, and the wine will be sour or bitter. Use firm, ripe fruit for the best quality wine.

Apple Cider
Apple Jack

Recipe file created January 27, 2001.
I have been asked for a recipe for Apple Jack several times now,
so I thought I had better add one to my site.

Ingredients

1 gallon apple juice (or 16 pounds apples) 1 cup granulated sugar 1/2 teaspoon yeast energizer 1 1/2 teaspoon acid blend 1/2 teaspoon pectic enzyme 1 campden tablet 1 package champagne yeast (for 1 to 5 gallons)

Place chopped fruit or juice in primary fermentor. Add balance of ingredients. Stir to dissolve sugar. Stir daily for 5 to 6 days or until frothing ceases. Strain out fruit and squeeze as much juice out of it as you can. Siphon into secondary fermentor and attach airlock.

Rack in three weeks, and again every 2 months until the cider is clear.

Gently stir in 1/4 cup sugar per gallon. Bottle in champagne bottles or clean pop bottles. Age three months.

Apple Jack

Early settlers made this by setting their apple cider outside in the winter and allowing it to become slushy. They would then skim the frozen water off of the surface, leaving a "hardened" cider behind. Commercially, it is now distilled. This is illegal for the home brewer, but the freezing method is effective.

First, make Apple Cider (recipe above). Skip the final step, and allow it to age the three months in the secondary fermentor.

Second, siphon it back into the primary fermentor. If you have a deep freeze, put the primary fermentor in it overnight. If not, use ice cream buckets and the fridge freezer. Remember to leave room for the water to expand when it freezes.

The alcohol will not freeze, so it is forced into the center of the container when the cider is frozen. The brewer then has the option of either skimming the ice off of the surface, or siphoning the alcohol out of the center. The siphoning method will result in a higher alcohol content than the skimming method.

Alternatively, you could follow this method using your favourite Apple Wine recipe.

NOTE:

The champagne yeast works slower than wine yeast, and has a lower alcohol tolerance. It also produces finer bubbles than wine yeast, and so if preferred for sparkling wines. If you want a still cider with a higher alcohol content, use your favourite wine yeast.