Question about Clovers for Clover Wine

[ExavierSteel]

Even though the sun is burning up the clovers fast, I would still like to make some clover wine. Have some questions though.

One. Does color matter? Can I mix colors?
Two. If the sun is torching them, are they still good as long as the flower head is still their?
Three. I will have to save them for next month as I am not at home. I want to dehydrate them. I read somewhere that you can do this. The article was vague though. How long should I deydrate them for? When will I know they are done?
Four. Anything else that I need to know at this point?
Five. I'm in Burlington Iowa and their are tons of flowers abound. Is their any other good flower wine I could make from the wild flowers in this area?


Thanks for any help.

 

[ExavierSteel]

So nobody knows about clovers, or flower wine or anything?

 

[Scott]

Guess your are it. Try it and let us know!!

 

[tonyandkory]

ya I have never even heard of it before... but then I had never heard of skittles wine either until it was done. good luck.

 

[saramc]

I have made dandelion, elderflower, hibiscus and rosehip wines. Have lavender, fragrant red rose, fragrant pink rose and common orange day lily all in the freezer--just waiting for empty carboys. Have not worked with clovers, sorry.
Personally, I would pick the flowers, first thing in the morning, that are not sunburned. Eat an unburned one vs a burned one and decide.
But please make sure there are not near a roadside and you know for fact they have not been treated with chemicals.
Personally I just weigh them FRESH PICKED, rinse them, pack them in a freezer gallon zip-style bag, cover with enough water to coat, and FREEZE.

Jack Keller had this to say, http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/redclover.asp: "Red clover wine can be made with either fresh or dried red clover flowers. Pick the clover flowers early in the morning, but after any dew from the early morning pre-dawn has evaporated. After picking, remove the stems and wash the flowerheads well. You can pick more flowers than needed and dry them for future use. To dry, lay them on a cookie sheet and let the pilot from your gas oven dry them. Turn every 2-3 hours until absolutely dry. If you don't have a gas oven, you'll have to use a dehydrator. When dried, measure 2-1/2 ounces by weight and seal these in a ZipLoc bag for later use to make one gallon of wine."

 

[ExavierSteel]

Thanks for your help. I have found a field with some in them that were still in really good shape despite the heat. I have been picking them by cutting the stems with a pair of sissors, and then pulling the buds at home. Much easier then debudding them in the field. I am then sort them into three piles. Excellent, less then excellent, and questionable. I plan to make all three into wine and will see if their is a difference. I'm hoping their is not.

As far as the rest goes, I'm certian that they are far enough from the cement road to be safe, and as far as they can be from sprayed corn fields as possible, considering I'm in Iowa. I am dehydrating them, and will weigh them back in Texas as I have no scale here, and plan to use 2.5oz on the good stuff, and maybe 3.5oz-4.0oz for the so so blossoms. I"ll let everyone know how it goes and ask more questions next month when I attempt to make my first batches of wine. Thanks.