Red clover wine can be made with either fresh or dried red clover flowers. Pick the clover flowers early in the morning, but after any dew from the early morning pre-dawn has evaporated. After picking, remove the stems and wash the flowerheads well. You can pick more flowers than needed and dry them for future use. To dry, lay them on a cookie sheet and let the pilot from your gas oven dry them. Turn every 2-3 hours until absolutely dry. If you don't have a gas oven, you'll have to use a dehydrator. When dried, measure 2-1/2 ounces by weight and seal these in a ZipLoc bag for later use to make one gallon of wine. Use recipes below, substituting dried flowers for fresh.
RED CLOVER WINE
- 1 qt fresh red clover flowers
- 1 pint white grape juice (reconstituted from concentrate)
- 2-1/4 lb finely granulated sugar
- 2 tsp acid blend
- 1 tsp yeast nutrient
- 1/4 tsp tannin
- water to one gallon
- wine yeast
Bring 1/2 gallon water to boil and dissolve sugar in it.
Destem and wash the flowers and put in primary.
Pour boiling water over flowers and add grape juice, acid blend, tannin, yeast nutrient, and water to bring up to one gallon total liquid.
When lukewarm, add yeast. Knock down cap 2-3 times daily.
After 7 days, strain liquor into secondary and fit airlock.
Rack after 60 days, top up, refit airlock and set aside 4 months.
Wine should be clear.
Stabilize, wait 10 days, rack, sweeten to taste, and bottle.
Wait 6 months before tasting. [Adapted recipe from W.H.T. Tayleur's The Penguin Book of Home Brewing & Wine-Making
