# Lilac blossom wine?



## BernardSmith (May 11, 2015)

Our lilac tree is just coming into bloom and it struck me this morning that the best way to preserve the flowers would be to make a wine from them. Hoping to harvest a gallon pail of blossoms... But as to sugar... Has anyone made lilac wine before? If I wanted to make this a mead, would a varietal honey be better or a basic clover or wild flower honey? Indeed would a mead hide the flavors and so should I go for common or garden sugar? Thoughts? Thanks 

all lilacs are edible, aren't they?


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## the_rayway (May 11, 2015)

It sounds like some of the newer lilacs may not be, but the old varieties are.

I did a Lilac mead which is going to be 2 years old in July. I bottled at the one year mark, dry, and was happy with how it was coming along. The only word of caution I can give is to not put too many blossoms in as it will end up being perfume-y.


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## Jericurl (May 11, 2015)

Rae,

Did you use the blossoms in your primary or in secondary?

OP, I used petunia blossoms and lemon blossoms in secondary with wine and they both turned out great. I also didn't use as much.


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## mikewatkins727 (May 11, 2015)

*Lilac Wine*

Try Jack Keller:

http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/reques91.asp


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## the_rayway (May 12, 2015)

@jericurl I used the blossoms in the primary, 1L of packed flowers in 1 Gal (UK). The floral nose is just right, and it's like a Gewurz with floral notes in flavour. 

I've got 3 gallons of plain mead that I want to split and put some adds into. I'm wondering if one of the apple tree owners in the neighbourhood will allow me to pick a litre of their flowers


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## BernardSmith (May 12, 2015)

Thanks to all who responded. In the end I was able to harvest about 1 gallon of petals (It is some job to remove all the greenery!) and decided to forgo the mead route to see what the wine might taste like in purer form. I am still considering whether to treat this as a folk wine or a wine makers wine. If a folk wine I would aim for a sparkling version and so bottle it perhaps after a month while still full of CO2 - much like folk elderflower wine.


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