Homemade

Flower-Flavoured Meads

admin — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 19:16:16 +0000

These meads flavored with flowers are something quite special. The flavor of the flowers in these is not so marked as when more flowers are used to make flower wines. The amounts of flowers given in these recipes give a delightful background flavor while allowing the flavor of the honey to remain unmasked. These ‘meads’ are not, strictly speaking, meads, but I call them meads because the basic material is honey. All flower mead recipes make for medium sweet wines. Those who know in advance that they must have all wines dry should use not more than three-and-a-half pounds of honey instead of the four pounds given in the recipes. Those who must have all wines on the sweet side should use not less than four-and-a-half pounds and not more than five pounds instead of the four pounds given in the recipes.

Clover Mead

Use purple (sometimes called mauve) clover.

4 lb. honey
¼ oz. citric acid
¼ pint strong freshly-made tea
2-3 pints clover head
yeast - nutrient

The clover heads should be loosely packed in the measure and not pressed down hard.

Mix honey with about half a gallon of hot water, bring slowly to boil and boil for two minutes.

Turn into polythene pail containing the clover heads. Add citric acid and tea and make up to one gallon with boiling water. Add extra quart of boiling water to make up for the space occupied by the flower heads - regardless of the number of pints used. Allow to cool to approximately 65ºF, and add yeast and nutrient. Cover as directed for beers and ferment in warm place for five-six days.

Strain out flower heads and return strained liquor to fermenting vessel. Cover again as before and continue to ferment thus for a further five-six days. Then siphon into gallon jar, leaving as much deposit behind as you can. Fit fermentation lock and leave until all fermentation has ceased. Fermentation may go on for as long as several months. When finished and the wine is clear it should be siphoned into another jar and bunged down for one year, after which it may be bottled.

Sweet Mead

admin — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 19:06:25 +0000

4½ - 5 lb. honey
¼ oz. citric acid
¼ pint strong freshly-made tea
yeast - nutrient

Mix honey with about half gallon of hot water, bring slowly to boil and boil for two minutes. Turn into polythene pail, add citric acid and tea and make up to one gallon with boiling water. Allow to cool to approximately 65ºF, then add yeast and nutrient. Cover as directed for beers and ferment in warm place for ten-fourteen days. After this, proceed as for dry table mead.

Medium-Sweet Mead

admin — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 18:59:17 +0000

4-4 ½ lb. honey
¼ oz. citric acid
¼ pint strong freshly-made tea
yeast - nutrient

Mix honey with about half a gallon of hot water, bring slowly to boil and boil for two minutes. Turn into polythene pail, add citric acid and tea and make up to one gallon with boiling water. Allow to cool to approximately 65ºF, then add yeast and nutrient. Cover as directed for beers and ferment in warm place for ten-fourteen days. After this, proceed as for dry table mead.

Sparkling Apple Wine

admin — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 06:51:07 +0000

A wine with the fragrance and delight of apple blossom.

Ingredients:

4 lbs. pink rhubarb - cut into dice
4 lbs. sugar
1 lb. maize
1 lb. raisins
1 egg white
I slice of toast
1 oz. yeast
1 lb. crab apple blossom
½ lb. barley
4 quarts water

Method:

Put all, except the flowers, into a big jar and stir daily for 14 days. Keep covered and warm.

Add the flowers and stir a further 6 days.

Strain, bottle and cork.

Keep for 6-12. months. See that the wine is clear, add the bubbles for “making sparkling wines” and keep for a further 1-5 months before drinking.

Sparkling Apple Mock Champagne

admin — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 06:50:15 +0000

This is a refreshing wine, deep gold in color.

Ingredients:

2 lbs. vegetable marrow
2 lbs. apples-chopped up
½ lb. sultanas
½ lb. prunes
½ lb. maize
1 beaten egg white
1 slice of toast
1 oz. yeast
5 quarts water

Method:

Put all into a big jar and stir daily for 10 days. Keep covered and warm.

Strain-stand for 2 hours. Pour the clear off, measure it and add 1 lb. sugar to each quart of liquid. Stir well.

Bottle and cork.

Keep for 6 - 12 months. See that the wine is clear, add the bubbles for “making sparkling wines” and keep for a further 1-5 months before drinking.

Sparkling Apple Amber

admin — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 06:49:22 +0000

Tasty and strong. Each ingredient in this amber-colored wine enhances the other.

Ingredients:

1 lb. figs
4 lbs. sugar
3 lbs. rhubarb-peeled and cut into dice
2 lbs. rice
1 egg white
1 slice of toast
1 oz. yeast
1 lb. crab apple blossom
4 quarts water

Method:

Put all, except the flowers, into a big jar. Stir daily for 14 days. Keep covered and keep warm.

Add the flowers and stir for a further 5 days.

Strain, bottle and cork.

Keep for 6 - 12 months. See that the wine is clear, add the bubbles for “making sparkling wines” and keep for a further 1-5 months before drinking.

Sparkling Amber Balm Wine

admin — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 00:01:13 +0000

This recipe includes balm which is a noted cure for headaches and imparts a pleasing fragrance.

Ingredients:

4 lbs, rhubarb-peeled and cut into dice
½ lb. raisins-shredded
½ lb. barley
½ lb. maize
1 egg white
4 lbs. sugar
1 slice of toast
1 oz. yeast
1 lb. balm (lemon scented mint)
4 quart water

Method:

Put all, except the balm, into a big jar. Stand. Stir daily for 14 days. Keep covered and warm.

Add the balm-stand for a further 4 days.

Strain, bottle and cork.

Keep for 6 - 12 months. See that the wine is clear, add the bubbles for “making sparkling wines” and keep for a further 1-5 months before drinking.

Sparkling Dark Amber Wine

admin — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 23:38:32 +0000

This is dark amber in color and more mellow than the preceding recipe. It is a champagne-type wine.

Ingredients:

3 oz. tea
1 lb. figs-shredded
½ lb. maize
½ lb. barley
1 egg white
1 slice of toast
1 oz. yeast
1 lb. rhubarb-peeled and cut into dice
1 lb. privet flowers
4 lbs. sugar
5 quarts water

Method:

Put tea bag into 3 quarts of water and boil for 5 minutes and then remove bag. Put all, except the flowers, into the liquid and stir daily for 14 days. Keep covered and warm.

Add the flowers and stir for a further 4 days.

Strain-stand for 2, hours. Pour clear liquid off.

Bottle and cork.

Keep for 6-12 months. See that the wine is clear, add the bubbles for “making sparkling wines” and keep for a further 1-5 months before drinking.

Sparkling Amber Wine

admin — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 23:25:02 +0000

As the name implies, this is an amber-colored wine.

It has a “bite” in it and even without the flowers it is very good.

Ingredients:

1 lb. dates shredded
3 lbs. rhubarb-peeled and cut into dice
1 egg white
1 lb. bread-toasted
½ lb. rice
5 quarts water
4 lbs. sugar
1 oz. yeast
1 lb. yellow mimulus

Method:

Put all, except, except the flowers, into a large jar. Keep covered and warm. Stir daily for 10 days, squeeze the bread out.

Add the flowers and stir for a further 5 days.

Strain, bottle and cork.

Keep for 6 - 12 months.

See that the wine is clear, add the bubbles for “making sparkling wines” and keep for a further 1-5 months before drinking.

Making Sparkling Wines - Bubble and Sparkle in a Glass

admin — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 18:26:53 +0000

You get the wine absolutely clear and right for drinking, then to each ½ gallon you add 2 dessert spoonfuls of white vinegar and the juice of half a lemon, or to each gallon 2 tablespoonfuls of white vinegar and the juice of one lemon. You mix it well through the wine then put it into small bottles, say pint size. You can put stoppers in if Tau are using that type of bottle, or you can put ordinary corks well in and then, with a piece of calico, say a 4-inch or a y-inch square, tie the corks in. Put the calico over the cork, bring it down on to the neck and tie the string around firmly, until you want to use it.

After one to five months, when the cork is released, it will bubble merrily into the glass and in the glass for a minute or so. At home, we add the” magic” regularly in July, then we drink the wine any time from one month to five months later having often had it until Christmas-but there is a snag to this! Someone, usually a man, says “If it is good at five months, it will be better at twelve “, and that’s where he will fall down, because we once kept some and it was totally flat at one and two years old.

Never put more than 2 tablespoonfuls of white vinegar and the juice of I lemon to a gallon. You get plenty of bubble with that.

The white vinegar with lemon juice makes the wine bubble and jump about in the glass as you pour it and does not alter the color.