Mint /lemon balm wine - phototorial

Hi, I started a mint wine recently and thought I'd snap a few pictures during the process. George, move the topic as you see fit.








The frozen mint in the carboy, waiting for.....














boiling water. First I have to add.....











Sugar, which I did, and brought to a boil.





Then, I poured the














Water to the mint and balm. The steam is seen in the pic!





The starting SG was 1.085, and I'm keeping it there.





Today, I added the rest of the ingredients, as well as yeast (Lalvin 72B-1122). Cellar temps today were (ambient) 70*. Might move the concoction up tomorrow morning, but am unsure.


Slow fermentation, so it seems. Even with the addition of nutrient and energizer.


Edited by: MedPretzel

Oh, yes, you don't have to silently think (gosh, she has an ugly kitchen floor)!!! I know that already... 30 years old (and the previous owner used "used" stuff), and in desperate need of renovation.

Didn't even notice the floor you have such a nice stainless steel pot..


Do you grow your own mint and melissa?


Ramona

My mom does the mint (she lives very wooded, and hates to see the bare ground, and she plants mint where conditions are right), I do the balm.





It's a lot more mint than the balm in this wine. My harvest this year wasn't as great as I had wished.





As to my pot, thanks! It's about 2 gallons, and is very useful in winemaking. God forbid I cook with it!!!

Mint wine update.











Bubbling away. I will top up eventually with a choco-mint wine from last year and water.

Martina,


I am impressed. You are an arteest winemaker. I love your postings and they really make me excited to do more.


Keep up the postings for those of us who are lurkers.


Olivia

Looked kinda like turnip greens in the fermenter Martina. See, I am always thinking about something to eat


Looks good and bet it will taste even better when finished

Mint wine tastes different... I don't know how the balm will be since I've never done one with balm before. I have only made one previous mint wine (chocolate mint, one gallon) so this is pretty new to me. We will see!





Right now the whole thing looks pretty gross, but I'll be racking it off the lees either today or tomorrow, but I'm pretty unsure of that as well.





Thanks for the comments! I can't wait go see how it tastes at racking!





martina

Well, the mint wine has been racked and topped up (with niagara wine and water). This wine will be a bit lighter thanmy other ones, so we will see if it works out.





The color has stayed the same, and the smell reminds me of pure guava nectar. Not minty at all. I'm not sure what to make of that. It's still bubbling slowly, and shows no signs of clearing at all.

Here's the picture of the newly racked wine

Daylily on the left, Mint/Balm on the right.

How long before you will bottle these Martina..They look really good

They aren't cleared at all, so I would think a great while (if with any luck, maybe by christmas).





Thanks for the positive comments. They are very much appreciated!

Hi Martina - I'm curious to know what ABV's you generally get with your
non-fruit wines such as these. Are they somewhat delicate in flavor and
want to be on the lower end of the alcohol scale?

Martinia,


Your creativity amazes me. Can't waint to hear how the new mint/balm wine turns out. mwm

Bilbo,


My wines usually end up around 13-14%. I sort of like them that way, and the alcohol isn't too strong (for most people).





MWM, thanks for your comments. I try! I have added Sparkeloid this evening to help with clearing. It seems to have a little trouble at this point. Maybe I'm jumping the gun, but I'm not sure.





Thank you for your comments - believe it or not, they mean a lot.





Martina

Asthe herbs are meant for cooking, I assume the wine is also, much like Waldo's habanero.

bilbo-in-maine said:

Are they somewhat delicate in flavor and want to be on the lower end of the alcohol scale?

Click to expand...

The wines have different qualities, depending on what type of herb I use. The chocolate mint from last year's batch was very strong - but still acceptable. I used 2 quarts of the mint leaves (loosely packed) per gallon.


Basil wine was just barely reminiscent of basil, even though I also used 2 quarts per gallon as well. This year's had about 2.5 quarts per gallon. We will see what it turns out to be.


The Daylily wine will be a surprise for me. I am not sure how it will turn out, but it does smell good.


Sage wine, also using 2 quarts per gallon was very strong in sage flavor. I love this wine, and believe it's not just for cooking. But that is really a matter of opinion. It reminds me and my husband of a sherry. Friends and relatives who have tasted this one loved it, and couldn't believe that it was made from sage leaves.


Rosemary-Nutmeg seems to smell a lot stronger than taste. I believe this one would be good for cooking, unless the smell loses it's quality through the cooking process. It's a warm, "wintery" smell, which reminds me of turning on the fireplace.


Another spice wine I've made is Anise/Banana/Elderberry. Although I used only 1 tsp of anise in the recipe (per gallon), you can taste it. This wine had a light rose' color. Very nice as an aperatif.


Lavender was very strong. Too strong, in my opinion. You couldn't use this for cooking unless you used very little of it, in my opinion. The nose is intense, but had a slightly bitter taste. Not one of my better wines. I haven't given up on it though either. I just haven't gotten the right recipe down pat.


I also made a juniper wine, with dried juniper berries. It's my neighbor's favorite wine. It finished sweeter than my other wines. Yes, I bet this might be good with chicken.


I don't cook very well, so my thoughts on how to use wines in cooking are very limited.

If your cooking skills matched your wine making skills Martina you would be the most sought after chef in the world