peppermint wine

[LieutenantFF]

ive searched the recipe forum and the only things ive found is candy cane wine and such with adding mint to other flavored wines. i am interested in making a straight peppermint wine, maybe a chocolate mint wine from the garden varities of mint. the questions i have for any of you that may know is do i need to use FRESH leaves or can i use dried leaves? and as i know the amounts of fresh and dried for use are totally different. any help would be great!
i am able to get all i need of dried online from a reliable dealer but the fresh would be hard to come by enough to make what id like.

 

[jrh143]

You can try this

Here's a recipe from Jack Keller. He presupposes that you are using fresh mint, but I don't see that it would matter too much if it's dry. You just wouldn't have to wash the leaves prior to boiling them in water. At any rate, here's the link: http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/reques55.asp. I plan to use this recipe this year when my fresh spearmint comes up in the garden, and I'd like to know how yours does, too!

Cheers!

- John Hance
Hance Wines, North Carolina
[email protected]

 

[LieutenantFF]

i started the peppermint wine last night. i took into consideration this recipe but went with it on my own a bit. i found a spot online where i was able to get 2lbs of dried peppermint leaves, no stems, for only $19 with shipping! here is what i did.

8 oz. of dried peppermint leaves.
sugar to make SG up to 1.080, i believe it was roughly 7.5 lbs
water up to 5 gallons.
nutruient
tiny bit of enzyme
energizer
tannin
monotrachet red star yeast.
all chemicals were up to specs on bottles

created a super stong tea with the 8oz of mint and a little under a gallon of water. brought to boil with leaves and let steep for 30 minutes. and added other ingredients as normal!

below is a picture of the tea i made BEFORE i added the rest of the water!

fermentation took off over night and is bubbling away! house smells great.
i also bought some awesome chocolate extract that i will be adding to the wine during the bulk aging to give a chocolate finish....

 

[LieutenantFF]

update on peppermint wine!

my peppermint (chocolate) wine is going along nicely. started at SG at 1.080 and we are still a few days away from it being where i want it to rack it into secondary. the ONLY thing i have a problem with is the color. i will be using green bottles when bottling comes around however i dont care for the color of it now. is food coloring a GREENa bad idea in the end? or should i leave it as the natual color?

 

[LieutenantFF]

here is where we are at this point with my peppermint wine!

3.5 gallons of bulk aging wine. added a little bit of green for color because the tea color wasnt appealing to me. added a bit of chocolate extract.
the drink had a peppermint smell and cooling effect on the mouth. it has a bit of woodsy taste because of the dried leaves i used to make the tea. it finishes with a smooth mellow chocolate on the VERY end. i will let it age until october and bottle it in time for christmas!

 

[DeniseHogemann]

I am interested in making some mint wine. So 8 ounces of dried leaves is all you needed? I am going to use fresh because I have so much in the garden. I think I am going to freeze the leaves and make it after summer. Where did you get your chocolate extract from? And you added this after the primary, right?

 

[saramc]

Denise...I don't know if this will help you, but for a fresh mint recipe you use 4 cups per gallon. If you happen to have chocolate mint growing in your garden, or know someone who does, use that. You don't even have to add chocolate extract. The wine tasted just like a favorite after dinner mint.

I have been collecting fresh mint, stripping the leaves off the stems, measuring and then transferring to zipper style freezer bags (4 cups of fresh leaves per bag), covering with cool water, sprinkling on some ascorbic acid (a little preventative) laying bag flat and freezing. Labelling bag with contents, amount, date collected. That way I can grab one bag per gallon, as it thaws the water will be included in the wine recipe.

 

[DeniseHogemann]

Thank you Saramc! My mint is not chocolate mint but I am definitely going to start freezing it and make some in the fall. I am interested to see how it will turn out. So you have made mint wine before? Do you have a recipe?

 

[saramc]

Mint Wine or Mead

Denise....I have made Mint wine, here is the recipe I used.


4 cups chopped fresh mint, not packed (if harvesting top most growth and the stems are not too woody, you can use as harvested; otherwise strip the leaves from the woody stems)
1 11-oz. can Welch's 100% White Grape Juice Frozen Concentrate
Approximately 3 cups of granulated sugar (to reach OG of 1.080-1.085)
1 tsp acid blend
K-meta or Campden per package directions (omit if making mead)
1/8 tsp tannin
1 tsp yeast nutrient
1 tsp pectic enzyme
Water to one gallon
1 pkt Montrachet yeast (follow package directions)

Bring half the water to boil, add the mint, simmer for 10 minutes COVERED. Remove from heat and allow to steep for just 1 hour COVERED. Add sugar to hot mint water, stirring until dissolved & then add grape juice concentrate. When room temperature strain (into your primary) off the mint leaves and then add tannin, acid blend, nutrient, and pectic enzyme. Don't forget to top up to 1 gallon volume. Check SG and adjust if need be. Allow to rest lightly covered overnight, then pitch your yeast. Stir at least 2x/day and transfer to secondary when SG has dropped by 2/3, placing airlock at that time. Rack in approximately 30 days, dosing with k-meta/Campden at this time, and every 60-90 days thereafter until clear and no longer dropping sediment. (this cleared very quickly for me) Backsweeten to taste (1.012 was nice for me), stabilize with k-meta+sorbate, keep under airlock for at least 10 more days, rack one final time before proceeding to bottle. Is great served nice and cold!

This wine clears beautifully. Try to age for at least 6 months, if you can.

*Note: 1 can/gallon of WWGJ usually results in a SG of 1.024, and 1 cup of sugar raises the SG of 1 gallon by 0.020, so it should take only 3 cups of sugar to hit a starting SG of 1.085*
**I did not use k-meta at the start of this wine because the mint had boiling water applied and was simmered and steeped, this action alone is significant enough to kill any wild yeast

***You can leave out the WWGJ, but I found that it helped provide nice body to this wine. I have made this with and without the WWGJ and much preferred the wine "with". If you make it WITHOUT the concentrate you do not need the pectic enzyme.

 

[snowgirl812001]

That's awesome! I have Apple Mint and Orange Mint growing in my garden, I will definately have to try this out.