Wine Recipes

f you like your meads sweet, light and true to their heritage, you'll love sack mead. The flavor is full of honey, you can almost hear the bees buzz!! Because this mead is only flavored with honey, the tannin is an essential part of the recipe. Leave it out, and you may find the end result a bit insipid.

Fifth in the Series

This wine is light and lively with hints of citrus and a nice, vinous character. The wheat supplies nutrients and sugars to enhance the fermenation process.

Makes 1 gallon

3/4 pound wheat berries

1 pound raisins or 1 pint white grape juice concentrate

2 1/2 pounds brown sugar

1 Campden tablet

1 package wine yeast

1 teaspoon pectic enzyme

1 teaspoon yeast nutrient

1 1/2 cups orange juice at room temperature

1 ounce citric acid



Soak the wheat berries overnight in 1/2 quart of water to soften them. Mince the wheat berries and raisins and transfer to a 2 gallon fermenter. Bring 2 quarts of water to a boil, pour it over the wheat-raisin mixture, add the brown sugar, and let cool. Add a Campden tablet and let sit, well covered, for 24 hours.

In a jar, make a yeast starter culture by combining the wine yeast, pectic enzyme, yeast nutrient and orange juice. Cover, shake vigorously, and let stand 1 to 3 hours, until bubly, then add to the must.

Add the citric acid; then let the mixture sit, loosely covered, for ten days, stirring daily. Rack the mixture toa 2 gallon airlocked fermenter and allow it to ferment to completion. When fermeentation stops, bottle, cork and cellar the wine.

Wait at least six months before sampling.



Technorati Tags: Wine, Winemaking, Wheat, Recipe

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