Seasonal Wine, May - Gorse

[Will_D]

That looks brilliantly clear.

Enjoy.

With the amount of quality country wines being made by NHC members it may be time to get competitive.

Who runs winemaking comps in Ireland The ICWA?

[Ciderhead]

Jeez the amount of nat stuff you brew with amazes me, still waiting on the fresh air brew tho

[Blueshed]

got my months mixed up  and brewed this last week, transfered from plastic container with all the bits n bobs to a glass DJ today and now under the stairs for a few more weeks.

had 300g of petals, 170g of raisins, 2 tea bags, 2 lemons, 1 lime and 1kg of sugar with an OG of 1095.

[LordEoin]

I was out shooting today and noticed the gorse flowers are very thick and fragrant.
Months mixed up or not, the gorse is at its prime

[Will_D]

The sun is shinning and natures is bursting with free goodies:

Off to pick the Dandelions (They are best picked on St Georges day which for any English people reading this is on April 23rd)

Then its the Furse (Gorse to the .uk) - in the sunshine yesterday you could really smell the coconut flavours. Pina-Colda here we come!

Also clearing out the freezer of last years bounty:

Blackberry cider is on the go.

Rhubarb/Rasberry wine also doing nicely.

Next its the frozen rose hips for a Melomel

Then we have space to store this years crop.

As its only a small garden we pick and freeze as the fruit ripens. Then at the end of season there is enough to make whatever. Also freezing breaks down the cell walls and makes mashing easier

[googoomuck]

Going to give both this and the dandelion wine a go over the next few days, just wondering would either of the recipes work for primroses? My garden is full of them.

[Will_D]

Indeed it should. Just checked the good old "First Steps in Winemakin" and there is a recipe there.

You just need to be careful about certain flowers which are classed as POISONOUS:
Aconite, alder, aquilegia, azalea, baneberry, deadly nightshade(ther's a clue in the name!), bluebell, buckthorn, buttercup, celandine, columbine, charlock, christmas rose, clematis, cowbane, cuckoopint, cyclamen, daffodil, delphinium,  and so on ...

[LordEoin]

it'll take a hell of a lot of primrose petals!