Chickweed wine - I'm going for it!

[BigDaveK]

Moving on to weed wines...and another shocker!
Probably everyone has chickweed and I was surprised at the flavor. It tasted like the world's best lettuce. Didn't even bother making a test tea because it's just plain delicious and my mind was made up. There's a bunch of culinary recipes for it and it's supposed to make a darn good pesto.
Low growing, spreading habit, cute little flowers. Everything is edible except the root.
And it took about 30 seconds to gather enough for wine!



Transferred this morning.
Using 1118 it was a surprisingly slow ferment. 10 days to go from 1.090 to 1.020.
Smell was neutral, not fruity or vegetal.
The taste was a shocker. Nutty at first and then apricot-lemonade. Seriously, apricot-lemonade. And it was unexpectedly sweet.
We'll see where it goes but I may have to make this again.

 

[winemaker81]

Dave, I'd like to say that nothing you do will surprise me, but well, that is wrong.

It grows in NC, and it may be that some of the weeds I deal with are it. I'll have to look into it.

https://www.turffiles.ncsu.edu/weeds-in-turf/common-chickweed/
BTW -- NC State is a wealth of help on many topics.

 

[BigDaveK]

Dave, I'd like to say that nothing you do will surprise me, but well, that is wrong.

It grows in NC, and it may be that some of the weeds I deal with are it. I'll have to look into it.

https://www.turffiles.ncsu.edu/weeds-in-turf/common-chickweed/
BTW -- NC State is a wealth of help on many topics.

Bryan, this is the first year I'm not automatically cursing weeds. I've tasted many, have a couple more wine possibilities, but most of them are plain and seem better suited to a salad.

And I can't stress how VERY important it is to be certain that something is edible. I had a recent experience! The first time I taste anything foraged I chew and spit, never swallow. Just because it's edible doesn't mean it tastes good! I remember reading that daisy fleabane is edible. Chewed one flower and spit - my tongue went numb and stayed numb for an hour. WTH? I double checked - the leaves are edible. Oooohh. Lesson absolutely re-learned!

 

[winemaker81]

And I can't stress how VERY important it is to be certain that something is edible.

This is a critical point, in some cases a potentially fatal one, that merits repeated emphasis. Like rhubarb, where the stalks are good to eat but the leaves are very much not.

 

[BigDaveK]

First racking a few days ago. Clearing fast!

Going into secondary I thought it tasted like apricot lemonade. The lemonade component is gone but the apricot is still very strong. What a hoot! I had enough left over to back sweeten and it really intensified the flavor. I would bet money that it's an apricot wine.
Very happy I tried this and we'll see where it goes.

 

[vinny]

Very interesting. I don't know that I would be able to get enough. It grows sparse here. Maybe I can spend some time and water my weeds to get a better harvest.

Wine making sure changes your perspective.

 

[BigDaveK]

Wine making sure changes your perspective.

Wine making changes everything.

If I haven't identified a weed I'll grab my books before doing anything. Definitely a pharmacy in the yard. I was really excited when I found a few elderberry seedlings. Now I've found hundreds and they're back to weed status.

 

[vinny]

I was in for lunch yesterday when I made the last post. We were making cages and supports in the garden. While I was making lunch all the chickweed was done away with. I am going to grow some in a planter so it is safe.

No kidding. I am planting weeds!

 

[Raptor99]

@BigDaveK Sir, you are an inspiration! Now I have to walk through my property and see if I can find any chickweed!

I found a good site on identifying chickweed, and distinguishing it from toxic look-alikes: Chickweed Foraging: Identification, Look-alikes, and Uses

 

[BigDaveK]

@Raptor99 the number of delicious weeds is amazing and I've tasted many this year. Most are best used in salads or sauteed but unfortunately very few make a good test tea. I'll keep trying, though. Next up, I'm waiting for the weed flowers.

 

[Newbie Mel]

Walked my property in search of chickweed today and no luck. We have about 8 acres of overgrown hay field that my husband has mowed paths through. We have no use for hay so we are letting it grow to get more trees. There is so much stuff growing out there, but I don’t know how to identify. I did find a small patch of wild climbing rose and may try and see if I can pluck enough petals to do a gallon of wine. I also found tons of clover, white and yellow. I think the yellow is called hop clover and it is edible. Did a test tea and thought it may be worth a try for wine.

You have mentioned in a previous thread that you do not use additives like grape juice, but sometimes you use raisins. Did you use raisins in your chickweed wine? I have Jack Keller book “Home Winemaking”, but so many recipes I want to try say to use grape juice concentrate, which I can’t even find if I wanted to. I’ve seen other recipes that suggest using lemons and oranges in flower/herb wines. Any suggestions from you @BigDaveK will be so appreciated because your posts are the best!

 

[BigDaveK]

Walked my property in search of chickweed today and no luck. We have about 8 acres of overgrown hay field that my husband has mowed paths through. We have no use for hay so we are letting it grow to get more trees. There is so much stuff growing out there, but I don’t know how to identify. I did find a small patch of wild climbing rose and may try and see if I can pluck enough petals to do a gallon of wine. I also found tons of clover, white and yellow. I think the yellow is called hop clover and it is edible. Did a test tea and thought it may be worth a try for wine.

You have mentioned in a previous thread that you do not use additives like grape juice, but sometimes you use raisins. Did you use raisins in your chickweed wine? I have Jack Keller book “Home Winemaking”, but so many recipes I want to try say to use grape juice concentrate, which I can’t even find if I wanted to. I’ve seen other recipes that suggest using lemons and oranges in flower/herb wines. Any suggestions from you @BigDaveK will be so appreciated because your posts are the best!

My chickweed appears to be done but I've read it may come back a 2nd time. It looks like a yellow carpet right now.

I have books but one place to start might be just googling "edible weeds" or "edible wild plants". My yard is a pharmacy! I must have a plant for every ailment. I've tasted a lot of weeds so far this year. The greens would be great in a salad or sauteed but my test teas were disappointing. Not good enough for wine. Now I'm waiting for them to flower and I'll start tasting again. Please, make sure something is edible before you taste. Not "pretty sure"...100% sure. It's amazing how many plants are toxic or even lethal.

I have wild rose. In fact, one of the requirements for plants on the property is that they must be invasive. I don't know if we have the same thing. Mine have 4 petals, most are white, some slightly pink. I actually made a test tea with petals and it was surprisingly sweet! I was shocked! But there was no other flavor! I skipped the wine and test the hips later in the year.

I did a red clover wine last year. Turned out really nice but not good enough to do every year. I ate some white clover last week and was disappointed in the flavor. Maybe a tea would release more?

I have a honeysuckle in primary right now. It was one of my favorite flower wines last year. This year they're different - good flavor AND I can smell them 20 feet away. I increased the the amount of flowers and I'm also still harvesting and freezing in case I like it.

I will sometimes add a cup of raisins for the heck of it but my main purpose is to see how something tastes. Most of my batches are 1 gallon so I would almost call them test batches. I'm still learning and experimenting and, like I say, some day I'll know something.

Lemons and/or oranges would be good for flower wines. I don't use them because I'm cheap. But I always use citric acid for the flowers.

Kentucky? I'll bet you have a boatload of potential wine making ingredients! I did a sassafras last year (another favorite!) and I'd love to try pawpaw but my trees won't cooperate.

 

[Newbie Mel]

I am a kentucky transplant, lived most of my life in Denver, CO. Kentucky is a jungle compared to Colorado! I’m sure I have many more opportunities for wine than I am aware of. I just have a lot of educating myself first. I downloaded a plant ID app, but it doesn’t seem reliable. I’m going to look for some books and maybe try to find a class. We are currently living near mammoth cave, but spent 4 years in the Daniel Boone national forest. Until the bank account said I had to go back to work. I am super cheap too so the less ingredients I need the better. Have found some black raspberries on our property and I’ll give that a small batch try if I can get to them before the deer do. Although, I have seen some posts saying that raspberry can be challenging.

 

[Ohio Bob]

Have you looked for any blackberries? They propagate like crazy and make a good wine.

My neighbor has two thornless plants. When the canes get really long and touch the ground, they send out roots. You can then snip the cane and you’ve got a whole new plant. My neighbor still has two plants, I now have 8! With his blessing of course.

 

[Newbie Mel]

Have you looked for any blackberries? They propagate like crazy and make a good wine.

My neighbor has two thornless plants. When the canes get really long and touch the ground, they send out roots. You can then snip the cane and you’ve got a whole new plant. My neighbor still has two plants, I now have 8! With his blessing of course.

I am definitely going to look closer and see I have blackberries! Thanks for the tip about propagating them. One of my limitations is that our field is so overgrown and I am fearful of ticks and snakes. My husband offered to mow up to anything I see if interest so I can get to it, but if I could plant some outside of the overgrown area that will make it easier in the future. Blackberries are larger than black raspberries and don’t have the hollowed out part when picked, is that correct?

 

[Ohio Bob]

I understand the concern. I try to get out to the wild patch, in March/April before those creatures come out. I try to clean out the dead canes and re-find my paths through the brush. By June it’s pretty much locked in. No cutting through that jungle.

The thornless I moved to my garden so it’s accessible through out the growing season.

I don’t know if blackberries are bigger than black raspberries. Thornless are absolutely huge, maybe 3x the size of wild blackberries.

 

[BigDaveK]

Bramble are very easy to propagate. Another method is to cut a primocane (first year growth) into 8-10 inch pieces and stick them in the ground. I usually have a 75%+ success rate with blackberries, almost 100% with raspberries. You'll have fruit the 2nd year for sure.

Oh, and as far as I know all raspberries are hollowed out.

 

[Raptor99]

I am definitely going to look closer and see I have blackberries! Thanks for the tip about propagating them. One of my limitations is that our field is so overgrown and I am fearful of ticks and snakes. My husband offered to mow up to anything I see if interest so I can get to it, but if I could plant some outside of the overgrown area that will make it easier in the future. Blackberries are larger than black raspberries and don’t have the hollowed out part when picked, is that correct?

That's right, with blackberries the central core comes off when you pick the berries, unlike raspberries where the core stays on the plant. The size of blackberries depends on the species.

We have Triple Crown thornless blackberries. They are huge and very sweet. Much better than the wild blackberries on my property. I just planted another row last weekend. As @Ohio Bob said, blackberries are very easy to propagate once you have a few. With both blackberries and raspberries, the fruit is produced on the second year's growth (floricanes) rather than first year's growth (primocanes). Here is a great article on growing blackberries: https://catalog.extension.oregonstate.edu/sites/catalog/files/project/pdf/ec1303.pdf

When researching rose petals for making tea blends, I discovered that not all rose petals are edible. It might be good to identify the type of wild roses you have growing before you make them into wine.

 

[Newbie Mel]

I’ve gotten off topic with this thread and going to start a new one. First I am going to become a supporting member. I have a lot of questions and I realize this forum is well worthy of support. Thanks all for every bit of info I have received!

 

[Snafflebit]

Chickweed pesto hmmm, I think I like basil too much to try that.

When I saw this thread I thought about henbit. As a kid, we picked the tiny purple flower from the weed and sucked on the end to taste a little nectar. How to translate this to wine I haven’t a clue, but if there is a will there is a way.