Garlic Wine

 

This wine is more for cooking than drinking.  But, hey, if you like garlic, than you might like this one as a drink.

12 large garlic bulbs

12 ounces (360 ml) apple juice concentrate

Juice of 1 lemon

2 teaspoons (10 g) lemon zest

1 Campden tablet (optional)

1 package (5-7 g) Montrachet wine yeast

1 teaspoon (5 g) pectic enzyme

1 teaspoon (5 g) yeast nutrient

1 1/2 cups (360 ml) orange juice, at room temperature

1/4 teaspoon (1.25 g) tannin

To make:

1. Divide garlic into two piles, one with 8 heads and the other with 4 heads. Separate and peel garlic cloves, discarding any with brown spots. Wrap the cloves from 4 garlic heads in a piece of aluminum foil and seal tightly. Bake in a 350-degrees F (177-degrees C) oven for 2 hours to caramelize the sugars.

2. Place the baked garlic and the cloves from the remaining 8 heads of garlic in a large pot with 2 quarts (1.9 L) of water. Boil for 45 minutes, replacing the evaporated water as needed. Strain out the cloves and return the garlic water to the pot. Add the apple juice concentrate and boil for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in lemon juice and lemon zest. Let cool for 1 hour. Strain out the zest and transfer liquid to a 1-gallon (3.8 L) plastic bucket. Add a Campden tablet, if desired, and let the mixture sit, loosely covered, for 24 hours.

3. 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 bubbly; then add to the must.

4. Add the tannin and let the mixture sit, loosely covered, for seven days. Rack into a 1-gallon (3.8 L) airlocked fermentation vessel, topping off with water if necessary. Let the mixture ferment for three to four months, racking as needed to clear. Bottle, cork, and cellar the wine.

5. Wait six months before using this wine to make wonderful meat marinades. Yield: 1 gallon (3.8 L)

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Technorati Tags : Wine, Winemaking, Garlic, Recipe