Lavender wine

[chadspad]

Hi, Has anyone made some and whats it like please?
Wendy

[lockwood1956]

I tasted some

it didn't taste or smell like lavender, but was quite light and crisp

(well OK it smelt a little like lavender....but not much)

I intend trying flower based wines soon when I can find time


still have 9 kits to start and lots and lots of fresh grape wine to attend to in the meantime, and also a winery to build.

Will take up Heeby's (Mark's) kind offer of help in this regard. (you listening matey?)

regards
bob

[john]

Lavender wine is....

Wendy, I just made a batch (of Lavender wine). It is in the final stages of fermentation now, but I tasted it when I racked it yesterday. It made me laugh! The flavor is a little overwhelming in a way, and it also seems somewhat feminine, but it is a powerful force in its own right.

It is nothing like the wine or mead I usually make, and even the one sip I had seemed to make me a little high. For about half an hour after drinking it there is a vague feeling of being in a field of flowers or having your face in a bra (to put it lightly).

I only made a gallon, which took three cups of dried lavender flowers, and used d47 yeast, a can and a half of welches grape juice and the juice of 3 oranges. I also boiled some barley and used that water to give it body, thinking a flower wine would be too thin. I also plan to make more!

[Mamgiowl]

Nice tip about the barley water there John.

Oo - and welcome to the forum

[john]

Thanks,Mamgiowl. I see you've been here awhile. Have you tried the barley thing before? I actually got that from one of Keller's recipes, the pomegranate wine recipe that I...that I experimented with. Like many wine makers I am unable to just follow a recipe. Instead I elaborate, experiment and cautiously observe the potential brew come to life with hope and trepidation. One of my planned future experiments is making the same wine with and without the barley, just to see what the body/mouthfeel enhancement really is.

[john]

hmm. I just realized that my lavender talk was in answer to a two-year-ago post. Think she'll take a gander? Ha!

[lockwood1956]

I'm sure Wendy will look at it john

thanks for your input

[Mamgiowl]

Thanks,Mamgiowl. I see you've been here awhile. Have you tried the barley thing before? I actually got that from one of Keller's recipes, the pomegranate wine recipe that I...that I experimented with. Like many wine makers I am unable to just follow a recipe. Instead I elaborate, experiment and cautiously observe the potential brew come to life with hope and trepidation. One of my planned future experiments is making the same wine with and without the barley, just to see what the body/mouthfeel enhancement really is.

No, I haven't used it before, but I will try it, possibly with my next rhubarb, which is so nice I make every year. Like you I'll make 2 batches, one with and one without so I can compare.
Does the barley have any effect on taste, or are we both at the experimantal stage at the moment?

[john]

sigh. yes, it's another experiment, and considering the details I would like to nail down, my experimenting should only take fifty llifetimes. However, it is my understanding that barley water (from the boiled barley) provides texture rather than taste. I believe this to be true, as I could not discern any real flavor from the barley.

I have to say that using it with rhubarb could make for an interesting wine. It just sounds right. I'm not at all sure how the barley will hold up with aging in my lavender wine, especially since I also added white grape juice, which we know also provides texture, especially as it ages. Right now, though, the lavender has a silkiness that I like, and I'm hoping it doesn't evolve into lavender jello.

[Hippie]

By saying texture, do you mean mouthfeel or body ?

[john]

I was actually referring to mouthfeel, and I wrongly tend to use them interchangeably.

[Hippie]

Perfectly OK, John. This is the kind of thing us moderators might do to help keep the forum running smoothly.

Cheers !

[winemanden]

If it's like sticking your nose in a bra, I guess you meant full bodied.

Regards to all, Winemanden.