Ben Evert.com » Wierd Wines

Rice Saki

ben — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 23:11:00 +0000

Use raw rice rather than polished rice, if possible. Ingredients 2 1/2 pounds rice 1 pound raisins 2 1/2 pounds honey 1 tablespoon acid blend 3/4 teaspoon energizer 1 campden tablet 1 package sherry yeast water Wash rice. Place in primary fermentor. Add raisins. Pour 1 gallon hot water into fermentor. Add all other ingredients except yeast. Let sit overnight. Specific Gravity should be 1.100. Add yeast. Stir daily for 5 to 7 days. Strain out the pulp and put wine into secondary fermentor. Attach airlock. 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 wine. For a sweeter wine, add 1/2 cup honey at each racking. 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.

Honeysuckle Wine

ben — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 09:11:00 +0000

With Spring almost here (it's still been a little chilly here), the flowers will soon be popping out. What better way to celebrate than to make a batch of wine with the flowers. For this wine make sure that you only use the flowers because the berries are poisonous.

Ingredients

4 cups honeysuckle blossoms

5 1/2 cups granulated sugar

juice and rind of 2 oranges

1/2 pound raisins

2 teaspoons acid blend

1 teaspoon pectic enzyme

1 campden tablet

1 teaspoon nutrients

1 teaspoon tannin

water to make 1 gallon

1 package wine yeast

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.

Birch Wine

ben — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 03:16:00 +0000

Soon it will be time for the sap to start moving up the trees. I thought that this would be one that would be kinda' neat to make. Very simple recipe.

1 gallon birch sap
4 1/2 cups granulated sugar
2 oranges or 1 lemon, sliced thin
campden tablets
1 package wine yeast

Place birch sap in primary fermentor. Add sugar. Stir to dissolve. Add oranges or lemon. Let sit overnight.

Next day, Specific Gravity should be 1.090 - 1.100. Stir in yeast. Stir daily for 5 to 6 days or until Specific Gravity is 1.040. Strain out fruit and squeeze as much juice out of it as you can. Siphon into secondary fermentor and add 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.

TO GATHER YOUR OWN SAP:

To get your birch sap without harming the tree:

Harvest in springtime. Cut only one or two low branches per tree, about the thickness of your thumb, with pruning shears. Attach a plastic food container (milk jug, margarine carton, etc) so it can catch the sap as it drips. You can cover the opening of the container with cheesecloth or nylons to keep out debris. Collect your sap daily and store it in the refrigerator until you have enough to make your wine. Add one crushed campden tablet each time you add sap to the refrigerator to kill any wild yeast and vinegar bacteria you may have collected.

Sack Mead

ben — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 12:20:00 +0000

Last in the Series

If you like your meads sweet, light and true to their heritage, you'll love sack mead. The flavor is full of honey, you can almost hear the bees buzz!! Because this mead is only flavored with honey, the tannin is an essential part of the recipe. Leave it out, and you may find the end result a bit insipid.

Makes 1 gallon

3 pounds orange blossom honey

1 teaspoon acid blend

1 teaspoon pectic enzyme

1 Campden tablet

1 package Montrachet yeast

1 teaspoon yeast nutrient

1 1/2 cups orange juice at room temperature

1/4 teaspoon grape tannin

In a large enamel or stainless steel pot, boil the hone in water (1 part honey to 2 parts water) for 10 to 20 minutes, skimming off any foam that forms. (the foam will contain water impurities and beeswax residue.)

Let cool, and then transfer the honey mixture to a 2 gallon fermenter. Add the acid, pectic enzyme and enough water to make 1 gallon. Add the campden tablet and let the mixture sit, well covered, for 24 hours.

In a jar, make a yeast starter culture by combining the yeast, yeast nutrient, and orange juice. Cover, shake vigorously, and let stand 1 to 3 hours, until bubly, then add to must.

Add the tannin and allow the mixture to ferment. We recommend racking meads after the most vigorous fermentation, siphon the wine into a 1-gallon airlocked fermenter. In about 3 months, rack again. In about six months, rack once again. Rack a final time right before bottling--about a year after fermentation started. Then bottle and cork the finished mead and store in a cool cellar.

Age for at least six months before opening a bottle.

Sweet Wheat Wine

ben — Sat, 22 Dec 2007 05:28:00 +0000

Fifth in the Series

This wine is light and lively with hints of citrus and a nice, vinous character. The wheat supplies nutrients and sugars to enhance the fermenation process.

Makes 1 gallon

3/4 pound wheat berries

1 pound raisins or 1 pint white grape juice concentrate

2 1/2 pounds brown sugar

1 Campden tablet

1 package wine yeast

1 teaspoon pectic enzyme

1 teaspoon yeast nutrient

1 1/2 cups orange juice at room temperature

1 ounce citric acid

Soak the wheat berries overnight in 1/2 quart of water to soften them. Mince the wheat berries and raisins and transfer to a 2 gallon fermenter. Bring 2 quarts of water to a boil, pour it over the wheat-raisin mixture, add the brown sugar, and let cool. Add a Campden tablet and let sit, well covered, for 24 hours.

In a jar, make a yeast starter culture by combining the wine yeast, pectic enzyme, yeast nutrient and orange juice. Cover, shake vigorously, and let stand 1 to 3 hours, until bubly, then add to the must.

Add the citric acid; then let the mixture sit, loosely covered, for ten days, stirring daily. Rack the mixture toa 2 gallon airlocked fermenter and allow it to ferment to completion. When fermeentation stops, bottle, cork and cellar the wine.

Wait at least six months before sampling.

Technorati Tags: Wine, Winemaking, Wheat, Recipe

Subscribe in a reader

Cornmeal Wine

ben — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 05:13:00 +0000

Fourth in the Series

Cornmeal wine is initially a bit slower to ferment than many other wines, so be patient with it. Once the fermentation gets going, it makes a good dry wine.

Makes 1 gallon.

2 lemons

3 oranges

1 1/2 pounds cornmeal

2 1/4 pounds sugar

3 pints grape juice concentrate

1/4 ounce ground rice

1 Campden tablet

1 package wine yeast

1 teaspoon yeast nutrient

1 1/2 cups orange juice at room temperature

1 teaspoon pectic enzyme

Grate the outer rinds of the oranges and lemons, discard the solids and the white outer rind.

Squeeze the juice from the oranges and lemons into a 2 gallon plastic container.

Add the grated rind to the container, along with the cornmeal, sugar, grape juice concentrate and rice.

Add enough water to make 1 gallon.

Add Campden tablet and let mixture sit, well covered, for 24 hours.

In a jar, make a yeast starter culture by combining the wine yeast, yeast nutrient, and 1 1/2 cups orange juice. Cover, shake vigorously, and let stand 1 to 3 hours, until bubbly, then add to the must.

Add the pectic enzyme. Let the mixture sit for 30 days, loosely covered.

Strain out the solids, transfer the liquid into a 1 gallon airlocked fermenter and allow to ferment for 30 days.

When fermentation is complete, bottle the wine, cork it and store in a cool cellar. Wait at least six months before opening the first bottle.

Subscribe in a reader

Technorati Tags: Wine, Winemaking, Cornmeal, Recipe

Basil Wine

ben — Mon, 14 May 2007 11:24:00 +0000

1 cup basil leaves, loosely packed
2 11-oz cans frozen 100% white grape concentrate
14 oz granulated sugar (to specific gravity of 1.085)
Water to make one gallon
2-1/2 tsp acid blend
1 Campden tablet, finely crushed and dissolved in 1/4 cup water
1/4 tsp tannin
1-1/4 tsp yeast nutrient
1 pkt Champagne wine yeast

Wash fresh basil leaves and place in nylon straining bag and tie closed. Put all other ingredients except yeast in primary and stir well to dissolve.

Cover primary and set aside 6-8 hours. Add nylon straining bag, activated yeast, recover primary, and set aside for 5 days.

Taste and remove bag and discard leaves if basil flavor is sufficient. If not, leave bag in an extra day. Recover primary until s.g. drops to 1.015.

Transfer liquid to secondary, top up if required and fit airlock. Ferment to dryness, then rack, top up and refit airlock.

Repeat every 30 days until wine clears and no new sediments form during a 30-day period. Stabilize and sweeten to taste if desired (if sweetened, wait three weeks for any renewed fermentation to begin) and rack into bottles. Age 3 months before tasting. Serve chilled.

Technorati Tags: Wine, Winemaking, Basil

Dandelion Wine

ben — Tue, 01 May 2007 10:19:00 +0000

Spring is here and soon yards will be sprouting those little yellow flowers. A great solution to the dandelion problem is to make wine with them. This recipe was taking from "Making Wild Wines and Meads" and will make a 1 gallon batch.

6 cups dandelion petals

2 pounds sugar

1 pound light raisins

1 tablespoon acid blend

1 campden tablet

1 pack wine yeast

1 teaspoon yeast nutrient

1 1/2 cups orange juice

1 teaspoon pectin enzyme

Wash and prepare dandelion petals. Place them and sugar, raisins and acid blend into fermenter. Bring 1 gallon of water to a boil and pour it into the mixture. Add a campden tablet and let the mixture sit for 24 hours.

Add pectin enzyme and yeast and allow to ferment for 3 days. Then rack over and allow to finish fermenting. This should take about 3 months. Rack 1 more time and allow to clear. Then bottle.

Should be ready for sampling in about 6 months.

Technorati Tags : Dandelion, Flowers, Wine, Recipe

Oak Leaf Wine

ben — Mon, 16 Apr 2007 10:25:00 +0000

Here is a strange one. Oak leaf wine? I wonder if you can use maple leafs? This will be one to try this summer.

1 gallon oak or walnut leaves
2 lb sugar
2 tsp citric acid
1 gallon water
yeast and nutrient

bring 6 pints of water to boil and dissolve the sugar in it.when sugar is fully dissolved pour ,still boiling, over leaves. let sit overnight and the next day strain into a fermenting jar. add citric acid,nutrient and yeast.shake well. top up with cold water. let it ferment until finished. rack when clear and again in 2 months.

Technorati Tags : Oak, Wine, Recipe, Making_Wine

Eggplant Wine

ben — Mon, 05 Feb 2007 15:26:00 +0000

Sometimes you just get a case of the "blahs" and you really don't feel like posting too much. Well, today is one of those days. I found this recipe while cruising the web and it can also be found at Jack Keller's site. (source)

Enjoy !!

You certainly can. The eggplant is a tropical Old World plant, Solanum melongena, cultivated for its glossy, ovoid fruit. The fruit, called aubergine in French, have long been used to make a reasonably dry white wine. The fruit must be ripe or the wine will taste woody.

EGGPLANT WINE

4 lbs eggplant
2-1/2 lbs granulated sugar
1/2 oz citric acid
1/4 tsp tannin
water to make 1 gallon
1 tsp yeast nutrient
Chablis wine yeast

Bring 1 gallon water to boil. Meanwhile, slice the fruit thinly. Removing the peeling is optional. Put sliced eggplant and sugar in primary. When water boils, pour over contents of primary and allow to cool to room temperature. Add remaining ingredients and cover with clean cloth. Ferment 3 days, then strain liquid into secondary and fit airlock. Rack every 30 days into sanitized secondary until wine clears and no further sediments are dropped during a 30-day period. Stabilize and rack into bottles. This wine improves with age. [Recipe adapted from Leo Zanelli's Home Winemaking from A to Z]

Tech Tags: Wine, Winemaking, Eggplant