I saw a recipe over at Jack Kellers place for it and decided what the hey, I'll give it a try. Friday I gathered the fresh leaves from the tree in the back yard, it's a white oak some call it a water oak. It's the one with the pear shaped leaves. Any way I washed the leaves while still on the limbs and let them dry in the sun, then stripped off the leaves. Saturday I added about seven pints of leaves to a fermentation bucket and poured boiling water over them to steep. I also added a campden tablet just to be safe
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Last night I drained off the juice and boiled it again so I could bottle it to saveit untilI'm ready to make the wine (I still need other ingredients) I tasted it today not too long ago and have to admit it seems like it would be pretty good once finished, it has a spicy smell to it and the only way I know how to describe the flavor is a light unsweetened fruit juice. The color is very light, clear green.
I've read over at Jacks place that he uses about ten young oak leaves to add tannin to a wine. So I'm wondering if making a wine from the leaves is really even safe, too much tannin can kill you. It basically tans your liver. But the taste wasn't bitter so I'm assuming there is not that much tannin in it.
Any one ever tried this?Edited by: Goslin
Last night I drained off the juice and boiled it again so I could bottle it to saveit untilI'm ready to make the wine (I still need other ingredients) I tasted it today not too long ago and have to admit it seems like it would be pretty good once finished, it has a spicy smell to it and the only way I know how to describe the flavor is a light unsweetened fruit juice. The color is very light, clear green.
I've read over at Jacks place that he uses about ten young oak leaves to add tannin to a wine. So I'm wondering if making a wine from the leaves is really even safe, too much tannin can kill you. It basically tans your liver. But the taste wasn't bitter so I'm assuming there is not that much tannin in it.
Any one ever tried this?Edited by: Goslin