# June 2014 Wine of the Month Club



## Jericurl (May 26, 2014)

I can't believe it's already June!

If this is your first time seeing one of these threads, feel free to jump in and join us!

This is open for anyone to join at any time in June by making a 1 gallon experimental batch. 

Post your recipe and step by step instructions. We love pictures, so any you take will be greatly appreciated. 

We hope that at the end of the month you will give us a breakdown on what you learned, what you could have done better, and what went well.

I will post a summary of who participated and wine type in the beginning post. 
Then we move on to the next month's club.

In June 2015, we take our June 2014 bottles out for a taste test and post our final impressions in this thread. Of course, you don't have to wait until June of next year, but it's a good idea to give all of these wines a chance to mature. If yours turns out great, post it in the recipes section.

If not, feel free to open it up for discussion with the group so we can hopefully figure out what happened.

Remember, we are all learning and this is just one way to do it and have a little fun at the same time. Why just one gallon? Because it's an experiment! It may turn out wretched! And pouring one gallon down the sink hurts a lot less than 6 gallons.

1. The Rayway.....Dandelion Mead

2. Vernsgal.....BlueRooiBoos Wine

3. BRGriffith....Black Cherry/Blueberry

4. Winesleeper.....Strawberry Wine

5. ksvet06.....Mulberry Wine

6. Jericurl.....Cactus Flower Wine

7. Stressbaby.....Elderflower Wine

8. Jericurl..... Skyrim themed Wine (Elderberries and Dragon's Blood)

Buffalo Frenchy, I'm not sure if you did the maple wine or not. If you did, let me know and I will add it to the summary.


----------



## sour_grapes (May 26, 2014)

Jericurl said:


> I can't believe it's already June!




There is a good reason for your incredulity! June is almost a week away!


----------



## Jericurl (May 26, 2014)

Yes, yes, I should have put an "almost" in there.

I'm already gearing up for my June wine so I decided to go ahead and start the thread.
I had to jump on this one right now. The window is very small and I'm between west Texas rainstorms, so the timing was perfect. We'll just let this be a placeholder til next Sunday, lol.


----------



## the_rayway (May 27, 2014)

Way to go Jeri! If I could remember where I put my brain (or my winemaking gear) I would be sooo happy. 

School makes you stupid.

On the up side, I'm attempting to collect some flowers for another spring flower wine. If I get enough, and have a few minutes to toss everything together - I might actually be able to participate this month!


----------



## Jericurl (May 28, 2014)

Ingredients are currently hanging out in the freezer.

June Wine will be Cactus blossom. I'll be following Keller's recipe, I just hope I have two quarts of petals once I'm done cutting, etc.


----------



## the_rayway (May 28, 2014)

Wait. You have enough cactuses to do this? You have cactuses?!? (Cacti?) Wow. 

I've currently got 1 litre of dandelions in the freezer from the last couple of days, I'm hoping to get another half to full litre to get going.


----------



## Jericurl (May 28, 2014)

Oh heavens no!

In my family, if you find cactus growing on your land, you kill it with extreme prejudice.

Around here though, I can just pick any country road, drive for 15 minutes and have all the cactus I want.
We had a storm rolling in, so I didn't have much time to gather before we had to head home.

I also didn't bring a knife that was sharp enough to just cut the petals off the cactus pads, so I had to use tongs and twist off the entire blossom and pod base. They smell lovely. And they are full of bugs to prove it. FULL. I'm going to do what I can to shake off as many bugs as possible, but I'm wondering if I should use boiling water and campden as well on the petals.


----------



## the_rayway (May 29, 2014)

Wow, I've only ever seen cactus growing in tiny pots at my parent's house. And they did not flower.

Give 'em a good shake, leave the bucket outside so some can escape, and think of the rest as 'seasoning'


----------



## Xandra (May 30, 2014)

While I won't be able to participate in June's Wine of the Month, perhaps another time I'll be able to, but I've got a question... In a month's time, what would one actually be able to share, since the wine would still be sitting in secondary probably awaiting its first racking? 4 weeks after starting it, I can't imagine I'd even have done its first racking...? Please help me understand what kinds of things one would share as results or insights after 4 weeks? As I said... I'm super confused. Ummm, and embarrassed for having to ask, as well. :/


----------



## Stressbaby (May 30, 2014)

Xandra,
Good point, I agree, I don't have much at all to say after just one month. That is why the updates are important. Some of us try to go back to the older threads and update them with the status of the wine.


----------



## the_rayway (May 30, 2014)

Hey Xandra,
It's more that we start it that month, for the one year mark of tasting; and primary fermentation should be finished by then. There is a lot to be learned just by that (yikes, check out my fails in previous months), but Stressbaby is correct, we like to go back and include important updates as they happen.

Please do join us! It`s a lot of fun, and quite educational.


----------



## the_rayway (Jun 5, 2014)

Score! Score! Score!

I've got nearly 2 L of dandelion heads in the freezer, ready to go when I have the time...but then! Today I was at a farmer's market during lunch and right there in front of me is a guy selling dandelion honey. DANDELION HONEY!!!!

Dandelions + Dandelion Honey = Awesome. 
(Can I get extra points for this? Lol.)


----------



## the_rayway (Jun 5, 2014)

Got it started while making supper today, here is the proposed recipe:

Dandelion Mead
- 1.5 litres dandelion flowers, with a bit of green, but no stems - steeped in boiling water with .5Lbs Golden raisins, washed and chopped.
- 1 banana, simmered with water and one Christmas spice tea bag.
- Dandelion honey to 1.095
- Water to just over 1 gallon
- Juice from 2 lemons
- 1 Campden Tablet
- Yeast nutrient & energizer
- Yeast TBD, thinking ICV-D254 (butterscotch, cream, smoke, hazelnut)
- American oak cubes (just a few) in secondary

So far I did the flowers & raisins steeped, bananas and tea simmered (trying to use the tea for tannins), honey added, and tossed into the bucket to cool. Campden will be added tonight, and hopefully the yeast tomorrow.

I plan to pull out the dandelions out on Saturday at the latest. I've heard that more than 3 days in the must and they start to get funky. Raisins and banana for body.

I should have just barely enough honey to backsweeten a touch if needed at the end. 

The dandelion honey is dark gold, with a tea-type flavour. It's not terribly sweet tasting, and slightly nutty. Totally different than I had imagined in my head. But it definitely smells like dandelions 

There are no pictures as my phone was stolen a few weeks ago - and it was my only working camera. I'll see if hubby will allow me to use his for a few shots as I go along.


----------



## vernsgal (Jun 12, 2014)

Hi guys I've missed a few but hopefully with the move done I can stay on track with my wines.I'm hoping to do up my wine for this month next week but here is the planned recipe ( I had to empty my freezers for move so no frozen fruit on hand)
*BlueRooiBoos* 2 Gal. (I'm making 2 gal. so I have for top ups)
-2 bottles blueberry concentrate
-1 bottle grape concentrate
-2 tsp acid blend
-2 tsp bentonite
-50 grams rooiboos tea
-2 grams fermk
-sugar
-blueberry fpak
-water
-yeast Lalvin 71B
I may add some oakmor in primary and/or raisons. I'll post pics when I make it up  I'm excited to get back at it! lol


----------



## the_rayway (Jun 12, 2014)

Woot! Welcome back Kim!!

My dandelion is nearly finished with primary and smells like   :< Pretty much in that sequence. Kind of like my lilac did last year...


----------



## vernsgal (Jun 13, 2014)

Lol. I had the same with my beet!


----------



## buffalofrenchy (Jun 14, 2014)

I was going to skip this month and wait till next month to make Lavender Mead as my parents are coming from France to visit next month and will bring Lavender Honey. However as I was looking for Mead recipe I saw a Maple Mead recipe which seems easy enough so that could be my June wine instead of skipping.

1.5 Qt of Maple syrup 
1 tsp of yeast nutrient
Champagne yeast


----------



## BRGriffith (Jun 17, 2014)

I'm in!

Here's the recipe I'll be trying:

-1 Gallon Black Cherry Concord Juice
-1 Quart Just Blueberry Juice
-3 Cups Sugar
-1 Cup American Oak (Toasted @ 425F Till Desired Level)
-1 Teaspoon Black Peppercorns (Maybe A Little Less)
-25 Raisins
-1 Pack Pasteur Red Yeast
-SG : 1.105
-ABV : 13.7%

The first attachment is all my ingredients. I put the oak in my oven and toasted it up very nice (sorry I don't have a picture of that) and then put all my ingredients into my custom made 2 Gal primary. Stirred everything vigorously and checked the hydrometer reading. It was right where I wanted it, so I gave it a taste. You can't quite taste as much of the blueberry as I planned, but we'll see how it is after the ferment is over.

Checked in on it this morning while stirring again. Everything looks great and the fermentation kicked off with no problems!

Thanks for reading!


----------



## winesleeper (Jun 17, 2014)

*Strawberry Wine*

I started my June wine the first week of June. But just now getting the time to post what I have started. I laugh when I read the first post every month about making an experimental batch of wine. I have been on this forum for just over a year and every batch of wine that I have made has been an experimental batch of wine for me. I’m starting to get a collection of gallon bottles with airlocks in my basement closet. My wife just looks at me and asks if I’m having fun yet. She loves strawberries so this month’s wine is going to be strawberries. No, not cactus blossoms wine, which I don’t think there is a cactus farm here in Kansas. No, not dandelion wine, which we spray a try to kill every dandelion in Kansas. Just plain old simple strawberry wine.
Here is my plan for one gallon:

4 lbs fresh cut, cleaned then frozen strawberries
1 lb ripe bananas
2 lbs white sugar (Adjust for starting SG of 1.090)
1/16 tsp potassium metabisulphate
1/8 tsp liquid pectic enzyme
1/4 tsp tannin
1 tsp acid blend
1 tsp yeast nutrient
½ tsp yeast energizer
Spring water to 1 1/4 gallons
1 packet EC1118 yeast
½ tsp potassium sorbate (Stabilizing)
1/16 tsp potassium metabisulphate (Stabilizing)
1 tsp sparkolloid (Clarifier)


----------



## the_rayway (Jun 18, 2014)

winesleeper said:


> I started my June wine the first week of June. But just now getting the time to post what I have started. I laugh when I read the first post every month about making an experimental batch of wine. I have been on this forum for just over a year and every batch of wine that I have made has been an experimental batch of wine for me. I’m starting to get a collection of gallon bottles with airlocks in my basement closet. My wife just looks at me and asks if I’m having fun yet. She loves strawberries so this month’s wine is going to be strawberries. No, not cactus blossoms wine, which I don’t think there is a cactus farm here in Kansas. No, not dandelion wine, which we spray a try to kill every dandelion in Kansas. Just plain old simple strawberry wine.
> 
> Do I hear a hint of sarcasm here? Lol!
> I am also hoping to do a strawberry this year, all-juice from field-picked ones. Looking forward to hearing how this comes along!


----------



## ksvet06 (Jun 20, 2014)

june 15 2014 "mulberry wine"

here is what I use

4 lbs mulberries
2 Cans Welch's Grape Juice
3 Pounds White Granulated table sugar
1 tbs. Lemon/Lime Juice for the acid substitute (Optional)
White Labs Red Cabernet Yeast
1 gallon water

First I cleaned and sanitized everything that might touch the ingredients and then juiced
the mulberries. Add the juice to the bucket and the pulp in a cheese cloth and in the bucket it went. 
Then I add the two cans of grape juice with 6 cans of water to the bucket and topped it off with the 
rest of the 1 gallon of water in the recipe. Then I add the sugar and measured s.g. and was at approximate 
s.g. of 1.100. Shooting for around 14.9 abv. Then i added sodium metabisulphite to the must to kill any natural
yeast. let it sit for 24 hrs. Next day I added the yeast nutrient and pectic enzyme and stirred the must up really well. Last but not least I rehydrated the lavlin yeast and added it the must. 

day 1 1.100 s.g. 
day 2 1.071 s.g. 
day 3 1.041 s.g.


----------



## Jericurl (Jun 22, 2014)

Finally!

I knew this was going to be a busy month.
I've finally caught up enough that I could make my June wine and start my Oregon Pinot Noir kit.

Ok, 
here is the recipe I'm using, more or less taken from Keller's website.

*Cactus Flower Wine*

2 quarts firmly-packed cactus flowers

1 11-oz can 100% white grape peach juice concentrate (something happened to all the other plain white grape concentrates in the freezer)

1-3/4 tsp acid blend

1/8 tsp grape tannin

1 crushed Campden tablet

1 tsp yeast nutrient

Water to a little over 1 gallon

Sugar to SG of 1.00

In 12(ish) hours I will add pectic enzyme and 12 hours after that I will pitch yeast.
It doesn't specifically call for pectic enzyme, but this cactus stuff turns into ghost busters slime if you look at it sideways. I'm not taking any chances.


----------



## Jericurl (Jun 22, 2014)

Rae, 
How is the dandelion wine coming along? I've been checking all my local beekeepers and it looks like they are all just doing wildflower honey, no single varietals to be found!

Kim,
Oh that sounds yummy. I've got to look into doing something else with blueberries. What color is it? Are you going to try to color it to a true blue?

BuffaloFrenchy,
I'll be interested to see what yours does. I've heard that the sweetness in the maple gets eaten up and all that is left is a very strong woody flavor. Are you going to backsweeten at all?

BRGriffith,
Oh wow, that sounds/looks fantastic. I'm betting it's going to be a very bold flavored, eat it with steak kind of wine.

Winesleeper,
Yeah, yeah, yeah! Poke fun!
JK, I know what you mean though. I haven't been at this a year yet, and I'm still mildly surprised when something is drinkable and I haven't poisoned anyone yet.

ksvet06,
Sounds pretty interesting. Have you tasted it yet?
I'm thinking with the mulberries and all those cans of concentrate it's going to be a pretty full bodied wine.


----------



## ksvet06 (Jun 22, 2014)

J ericurl 
I think you might be correct. No I haven't tasted yet. Gonna take mulberries out tonight. Gonna be interesting


----------



## vernsgal (Jun 24, 2014)

whew I finally got it in the bucket!
This is what I've done so far:
1st I brewed the tea in 2 liters of boililed water (set aside for 1/2 hour)(I used Rooibos de Provence, see pic for description)
- in primary pail I added 2 tsp. bentonite to 2 cups warm water stirred til well blended
-added 1 liter blueberry concentrate , 1 liter Red Grape concentrate, 5 1/2 liters water,170 g raisons, 2 tsp acid blend and 1 g fermk.
- stirred well then added tea
- SG was 1.072 so I added 3 c simple syrup (2 cups sugar) SG 1.094
I'll wait til later tonight for it to cool down some more then add the yeast( Vinters Harvest R56 )and redo the SG.I'm sure it'll change when it cools
I'm going to use the wild bluberries (see pic) in an fpak later on. Still undecided whether to oak 
Jeri I love the thought of going blue, not sure if I'm able but something to look into


----------



## the_rayway (Jun 25, 2014)

Kim, that sounds super yummy! I've heard that batchelor's button flowers can dye your wine blue, but considering you already have so much purple going on, I'm not sure it would help. Maybe with a white wine?

My Dandelion is happily sitting in it's little jug, clearing quite nicely so far. I still don't have a new phone with camera, so you'll have to take my word for it! Need to get on that. Jeri, if you're still interested in some Dandelion honey, send me a PM and we'll figure something out. 

Will update on S.G. once I've checked it again.


----------



## BRGriffith (Jun 25, 2014)

Jericurl said:


> BRGriffith,
> Oh wow, that sounds/looks fantastic. I'm betting it's going to be a very bold flavored, eat it with steak kind of wine.



Absolutely, lately I've been thinking about how to make something just like that with just store bought ingredients. Hopefully it works out!

vernsgal: That looks awesome! I've really been in to blueberries myself lately, so that goes right along with my tastes.


----------



## Stressbaby (Jun 25, 2014)

Well this thread picked up didn't it?
I thought I was last one to the party!

*Elderflower Wine*
Elderflowers, 2 cups
1 can Welch's white concentrate
1# 10oz sugar
1 Campden tab
Fermaid K
GoFerm
1/8t tannin
1.5tsp acid blend (but likely will need to be adjusted)
7.5 pints water

Sort of going by Keller's second recipe but his volume is always a little short and his acid is always low so will adjust accordingly. I'm skeptical about 1 pint of flowers but I can always top it up with some St. Germain!


----------



## Stressbaby (Jun 26, 2014)

Elderflower Wine Update:
SG was spot on at 1.088. I have found that floral wines using 1 can of Welch's concentrate very consistently come in at 1.085-1.090 using 1# 10oz of sugar + 1 can concentrate per gallon.
pH was closer than usual for a Keller recipe at 3.44. I added another 1/2 tsp acid blend to get to 3.34 for this wine.
Pitching D47 this morning.


----------



## Jericurl (Jun 26, 2014)

Hmmmmm.....don't have time to dink around with it right now but I gave my batch a good stirring.

It was very.......snotty.

I'll be getting the petals out of there when I get home from work and see what else is going on.
It still smells fantastic though.


----------



## vernsgal (Jun 26, 2014)

Jericurl said:


> Hmmmmm.....don't have time to dink around with it right now but I gave my batch a good stirring.
> 
> It was very.......snotty.


Mmmm snotty wine


----------



## Jericurl (Jun 26, 2014)

Snot.
Pure snot.
This is going straight in the compost bin in the morning.
I tried to get pictures but I couldn't stop gagging enough to get a decent picture. 
Manthing was useless. He couldn't stop laughing long enough to help me.

Gross.
So, so gross.


----------



## the_rayway (Jun 27, 2014)

Ugh. Snotty wine. 

Good luck with that taste test! Lol.


----------



## vernsgal (Jun 27, 2014)

Jericurl said:


> Snot.
> Pure snot.
> This is going straight in the compost bin in the morning.
> I tried to get pictures but I couldn't stop gagging enough to get a decent picture.
> ...



   well that's one recipe I know not to try! ( You know it's funny but it's snott)


----------



## Jericurl (Jun 28, 2014)

Kim, 
I'm still shuddering.


So I couldn't let this month go without trying another batch.
I only have 1 quart of cactus blossom left in the freezer, so not enough to try to troubleshoot and figure out why it turned into gel so fast and so completely.

So i'm basically making a variation of Dragon's Blood to serve as my June wine. It's 5 gallons instead of 1 gallon. But I don't think anyone has really messed with elderberries in Dragon's Blood so it still counts as an experiment to me, lol.
This will be my Skyrim themed wine. Dragon's Blood, Elderberries, I'll somehow make it dovetail with dragons and Elder Scrolls!

1 lb plums 
12 lbs blueberries
5 lbs strawberries
9.6 oz elderberries
1/2 of the large bottle of lemon juice
sugar to 1.10 SG
7 tsp french oak powder
The usual suspects for nutrients etc.

I didn't add any acid or tannins for this one.
I figure the lemon juice takes care of the acid and the elderberries will probably add enough tannin.


----------



## winesleeper (Jun 29, 2014)

*Strawberry Wine Update*

the_rayway & Jericul – please !!! don’t take it as sarcasm, I was just talking out load about how I’m not a risk taker and therefore my monthly experiments are just plain old standard recipes. I really enjoy reading about the monthly wine experiments and hope someday I will step out on the edge. But for now, I’m just trying to finish my strawberry wine that is orange not red. So I have read about winemakers using red food coloring or red unsweetened Kool-Aid. Which one should I use and how much? The final SG was .990 so I will back sweeten it to 1.010 before bottling. Currently I’m waiting for the sparkolloid to its thing then I will rack it for ageing.


----------



## Stressbaby (Jun 30, 2014)

Winesleeper,
Just my 2 cents here...if that were my wine, I'd top off the carboy with some of the wine in the 750 and move the remainder to a 375 or a beer bottle or something else. You have a lot of head space and I'd be concerned about oxidation.


----------



## the_rayway (Jul 2, 2014)

Winesleeper: we are just kidding you, no worries. 

I've heard that strawberry turns orange or yellow unless you use the really red, ripe to the stem strawberries. Maybe they do not have enough natural dye? I wouldn't bother with editing the colour personally, but you may want to try a few drops of beet juice to bring out the pink if you want colour. I always worry that food colour or other things may not be stable enough in wine to dye properly. That is an entirely un-scientific statement and just my opinion. 

I finally got a new phone (yaay!) so below is a pic of my Dandelion Mead. Looks like a dandelion colour, clearing nicely, with an...interesting smell so far. Haven't tasted it, and I need to get an S.G. reading soon. I'm always a bit 'relaxed' with the meads on finishing S.G. as I've had a few that really take their time in secondary.

It's time for end-of-month updates isn't it? How is it already July?!? June washed away in a haze of rain for us, so I still feel like we're really behind in the garden and stuff. Just did my first batch of jam for the year last night: Rhubarb Orange. Yum!


----------



## Jericurl (Jul 2, 2014)

lol, 
I managed to be a week early on this thread, and two days late on July! Geez. Let me get a little coffee in me and I'll finish up this one and start the next.

Raelene, I canned my first stuff of the year this week as well.
Roasted red peppers and a few half pints of sandwich onions.


----------



## the_rayway (Jul 2, 2014)

Awesome! I'm totally jealous that you have garden produce. The only thing I have ready is lettuce and rhubarb so far this year. Usually I've got those by the beginning of June. 

WIll PM me your recipe for sandwich onions? I'm very interested


----------



## Jericurl (Jul 2, 2014)

These are so good, I'll derail the thread and post them for everyone.

Versatile and so darn yummy.

Bread and Butter Onions


----------



## vernsgal (Jul 2, 2014)

Stressbaby said:


> Winesleeper,
> Just my 2 cents here...if that were my wine, I'd top off the carboy with some of the wine in the 750 and move the remainder to a 375 or a beer bottle or something else. You have a lot of head space and I'd be concerned about oxidation.


I agree winesleeper, those bottles both need top ups.
I've used kool aid in one of my wines for more red. It's only at the 6 month mark though so can't say on taste. Strawberry kool aid may add a bit more flavor. IMO unknown by me though.

My Roobios tea wine just hit SG 1.10. I'll wait a few more days then rack. Still smelling Mmmm


----------



## the_rayway (Jul 2, 2014)

Thanks Jeri! I've been eying some red onion pickle type recipes lately for sammy toppers. Looking for a sour type one.Will give this a go for sure!


----------



## the_rayway (Jul 2, 2014)

Here's my thoughts currently for my label. Opinions?

 Let's try that again!


----------



## Jericurl (Jul 2, 2014)

Can you blow it up a bit? I can't see it or get it to enlarge properly.


----------



## vernsgal (Jul 3, 2014)

Can't get it to enlarge either


----------



## the_rayway (Jul 3, 2014)

That edit seems to be the biggest I can go with paint before it distorts...
Attached is my test label sheet, it's a bit bigger. 

View attachment Wine Labels.pdf


----------



## BRGriffith (Jul 8, 2014)

Update on my red blueberry:

Racked this wine last night. It dried out very nicely - got to about 0.995. It may have some CO2 holding up the hydrometer, so it might be closer to 0.990, I'm not sure. I made sure to have enough extra to do a little taste test, and let me just say, this wine will be fantastic. Easily one of the best I've made. I do get a little smelliness from the blueberry, as I've heard can happen, but it tastes phenomenal. 
I decided to call this stuff Greed. It just seemed fitting somehow with the plethora of flavors and aromas to be had. I'm not sure on a label yet, but it'll get there. Also, I attached the final version of the recipe, in case anyone would like to try to reproduce it.

EDIT: I know the paper says 3 quart of black cherry concord, but it was actually 4 quarts, so I'd have enough to fill the carboy. Also, I forgot to mention that the oak comes through really well on this one.


----------



## vernsgal (Jul 8, 2014)

the_rayway said:


> Here's my thoughts currently for my label. Opinions?
> 
> Let's try that again!



I like it !


----------



## Jericurl (Jul 8, 2014)

Me too, Raelene.

It's very appropriate.


----------



## vernsgal (Jul 8, 2014)

So I racked my wine this morning. SG .992. Could still smell some of the tea so I'm hoping the flavor stays. To chicken to taste just yet lol.I'll wait a few more weeks to make sure it's done fermenting then will maybe add blueberry fpak. I want to wait to see if I can taste some of the favor of tea because I don't want to lose it in blueberry.


----------



## winesleeper (Jul 13, 2014)

*Strawberry Wine Update*

Stressbaby – I did what you said to do somewhat. I racked the wine again and topped off the gallon jug with the 750. But what was left in the 750 I drank as a sample. Then I opened that beer you were talking about and sampled it. So now what was I going to do with that empty beer bottle…

Vernsgal – I’m still thinking about the strawberry Kool-Aid, red food coloring or beet juice. Have not decided yet.


----------



## the_rayway (Aug 8, 2014)

Racked this today. S.G. 1.004 I think it may be finished. Taste is actually quite good at this point. Like a young Sauvignon Blanc.

Very promising!


----------



## buffalofrenchy (Oct 11, 2014)

Jericurl said:


> I can't believe it's already June!
> 
> Buffalo Frenchy, I'm not sure if you did the maple wine or not. If you did, let me know and I will add it to the summary.



Sorry I haven't been keeping up with this thread... I have done the Maple mead. It is crystal clear and will taste/rack within the next week.


----------



## buffalofrenchy (Oct 13, 2014)

Wow tastes like maple vodka


----------



## the_rayway (Oct 13, 2014)

buffalofrenchy said:


> Wow tastes like maple vodka



Um, wow. Yeah, I'll take a sample of that!


----------



## winesleeper (Dec 30, 2014)

*Strawberry Wine Update*

Bottled my wine at the 6 month mark and ended up with (5) 750 ml bottles.
Starting SG 1.090
Finished SG .990
Back sweetened with simple syrup
Final SG 1.010 after back sweetening. But the SG was 1.014 at the time of bottling.
TA: .625%
PH: 3.6-3.8
ABV: 13%

After trying a bottle I decided it was a good simple strawberry wine. With the change of SG at bottling time it made the wine too sweet for me. Going to start back sweetening with a final SG of 1.006 and hope for a bottling day SG of 1.010.


----------



## Jericurl (Jan 1, 2015)

Looks good!

Is the final color peach toned or is that just my computer? Not a criticism, I've just heard that getting a straight strawberry wine to stay red can be a bit of a challenge.


----------



## Jericurl (Jan 4, 2015)

I will be racking my June wine tomorrow.....but OMG! This is so wonderful.


----------



## winesleeper (Jan 26, 2015)

*Strawberry Wine Update*

@Jericurl yes, the strawberry wine has a peach toned color. In earlier post I questioned what to add to change the color to a light red. I added 6 drops of red food coloring and it still looked like peach. So I stopped and decided on the next batch I would try the beet juice. Or maybe I will use a different type of strawberry to get the color. What type of strawberry will keep its color?


----------



## Jericurl (Jan 26, 2015)

Goodness, I have no idea. Strawberries don't really grow here. We usually have about 2 weeks of spring and then HOT. For strawberries, I'm at the mercy of whatever is in the frozen fruit section at my grocery store
Maybe someone a little further north will chime in.

I wonder if you could "cheat" and find a frozen strawberry drink concentrate to add to a faded strawberry colored wine.


----------



## the_rayway (Oct 17, 2016)

I actually have an update!

We cracked a bottle of my Dandelion Mead a little while back with my boss. She has tried several "professional" ones that she had purchased previously, so I was hoping for a bit of a comparison with that to my little batch.

I'm just going to put it out there: Dandelion Mead is not for me. It tastes too much like...dandelions. Lol! It did have a pretty good balance of sweetness/acid, although I would have added a bit more acid at the end for more of a pop. The dandelion flavour REALLY came forward over the last 2.5 years or so. It's not overpowering or anything; sort of floral, woodsey, earthy, with some bitterness. The honey really only came out at the back of the throat afterwards.

My boss said that of the three commercial ones she tried: "dump out the bottle", "cringe your way through it", and "drinking it but only one glass" (these are her categories) she said it blew all of them out of the water. Still not something she would have more than a glass and a bit of at a time, even though it was much better than "drinking it but only one glass" however. Hubster and I agreed, and he liked the flavour more than I did. 

My boss took the remainder of the bottle to her cabin to share with her family, and they raved about it. So there are people out there that really do like Dandelion Mead! I don't think this will be a do-over unless someone expressly asks me to make them some. It felt good to know that it nailed the commercial versions to the wall, and to taste it finally myself.

I'm calling this a partial success.
Do I like it? No
Do others? Yes, if it's your thing.

Seems a bit too specialized for my tastes and making efforts when it comes down to the end of it!


----------

