Most of the wines I’ve done so far were made with grocery store ingredients. I’ve wanted to make wine using local flora — not easy in the middle of a big city — but certainly possible nonetheless.
When I was gathering ingredients for my Ontario Spruce Pale Ale I also picked some Northern White Pine branches, which I later used to make tea. I was expecting the pine to taste bitter and harsh, but it was surprisingly sweet and refreshing. This gave me the idea of making a couple of floric batches: pine wine and spruce wine.
On an oppressively hot May weekend, I met up with Mandy in High Park to gather ingredients for these batches. We spent the afternoon looking for appropriate spruce and pine trees and gathered enough branches to make three gallons of wine.
COUNTRY WINE #1: WHITE PINE WINE (recipe for 3.78L batch)
3 L tightly packed Northern White Pine branches
1 Kg table sugar
2.5 g (1/2 tsp) Wyeast yeast nutrient
Distilled water
Lalvin EC-1118 yeast
Starting gravity: 1.082
The brew process here was quite simple. I rinsed the pine branches under cold water, then put them all in a big stockpot. In a different pot, I brought one US gallon (3.78L) of distilled water to a boil, then I added it to the pine branches. Do not actually boil the pine branches — just let them steep in the water.
Six hours later when the water had cooled, I poured it all a gallon jug. In a separate pot, I poured a small sample of the pine tea, added the table sugar, heated the mix until the sugar dissolved, then poured it back into the jug. Added the yeast nutrient, and once the mixture hit the right temperature, I pitched the yeast.
The batch started fermenting quickly. One week later however, I smelled the must and the fermenting sugar has all but overwhelmed the pine flavour. Hopefully the pine will be more obvious once fermentation has stopped and the batch has aged a bit.
COUNTRY WINE #2: SPRUCE WINE (recipe for 3.78L batch)
3 L tightly packed White Spruce branches
1 Kg table sugar
2.5 g (1/2 tsp) Wyeast yeast nutrient
Distilled water
Lalvin EC-1118 yeast
Starting gravity: 1.082
Exact same process as the pine wine, except using the spruce branches instead. Same observations after one week fermenting.
COUNTRY WINE #3: MAPLE SPRUCE WINE (recipe for 3.78L batch)
3 L tightly packed White Spruce branches
1.08 L Quebec #1 Medium Maple Syrup
2.5 g (1/2 tsp) Wyeast yeast nutrient
Distilled water
Lalvin EC-1118 yeast
Starting gravity: 1.094
This was the most interesting. I wanted to try using some other local “flora”, instead of table sugar, to produce the alcohol in the wine. Maple syrup fit the bill pretty well! Since I live in the middle of the city and have no means to produce syrup, I went and bought a couple cans of the good stuff.
The process was pretty much the same as the above recipes. I started by pouring the maple syrup into a gallon jug. Then I boiled water and steeped the spruce branches until it cooled down. Added everything in the gallon jug and pitched yeast. I took a quick sip of the must and it tasted heavenly. I can’t wait for this one to be ready!!!
UPDATE 2010/8/8: I’ve tried the spruce and pine wines and they’re utterly disgusting. I still haven’t tasted the maple but I’m not holding high hopes. Spruce and pine are great for flavoring other beverages but they don’t work solo.
Three Country Wines
Most of the wines I’ve done so far were made with grocery store ingredients. I’ve wanted to make wine using local flora — not easy in the middle of a big city — but certainly possible nonetheless.
When I was gathering ingredients for my Ontario Spruce Pale Ale I also picked some Northern White Pine branches, which I later used to make tea. I was expecting the pine to taste bitter and harsh, but it was surprisingly sweet and refreshing. This gave me the idea of making a couple of floric batches: pine wine and spruce wine.
On an oppressively hot May weekend, I met up with Mandy in High Park to gather ingredients for these batches. We spent the afternoon looking for appropriate spruce and pine trees and gathered enough branches to make three gallons of wine.
COUNTRY WINE #1: WHITE PINE WINE (recipe for 3.78L batch)
Starting gravity: 1.082
The brew process here was quite simple. I rinsed the pine branches under cold water, then put them all in a big stockpot. In a different pot, I brought one US gallon (3.78L) of distilled water to a boil, then I added it to the pine branches. Do not actually boil the pine branches — just let them steep in the water.
Six hours later when the water had cooled, I poured it all a gallon jug. In a separate pot, I poured a small sample of the pine tea, added the table sugar, heated the mix until the sugar dissolved, then poured it back into the jug. Added the yeast nutrient, and once the mixture hit the right temperature, I pitched the yeast.
The batch started fermenting quickly. One week later however, I smelled the must and the fermenting sugar has all but overwhelmed the pine flavour. Hopefully the pine will be more obvious once fermentation has stopped and the batch has aged a bit.
COUNTRY WINE #2: SPRUCE WINE (recipe for 3.78L batch)
Starting gravity: 1.082
Exact same process as the pine wine, except using the spruce branches instead. Same observations after one week fermenting.
COUNTRY WINE #3: MAPLE SPRUCE WINE (recipe for 3.78L batch)
Starting gravity: 1.094
This was the most interesting. I wanted to try using some other local “flora”, instead of table sugar, to produce the alcohol in the wine. Maple syrup fit the bill pretty well! Since I live in the middle of the city and have no means to produce syrup, I went and bought a couple cans of the good stuff.
The process was pretty much the same as the above recipes. I started by pouring the maple syrup into a gallon jug. Then I boiled water and steeped the spruce branches until it cooled down. Added everything in the gallon jug and pitched yeast. I took a quick sip of the must and it tasted heavenly. I can’t wait for this one to be ready!!!
UPDATE 2010/8/8: I’ve tried the spruce and pine wines and they’re utterly disgusting. I still haven’t tasted the maple but I’m not holding high hopes. Spruce and pine are great for flavoring other beverages but they don’t work solo.