Chamomile Wine (& Mead)
Chamomile wine is a lovely floral wine that's easy to make at home. Use honey instead for a homemade mead for even better flavor!
Servings: 20 glasses, Makes One Gallon (about 4 Bottles)
Equipment
- One Gallon Carboy
- Fine Mesh Strainer
- Winemaking Auto-Siphon
Ingredients
- ½ cup dried chamomile flowers
- 2 1/2 pounds cane sugar about 2 cups per pound or 3 lbs honey (for mead)
- 1 tsp yeast nutrient or ⅛ cup raisins, chopped
- 2 tsp acid blend or ½ orange zested and juiced
- ¼ tsp tannin powder or 1 cup strongly brewed black tea
- Wine Yeast see note
- Optional ~ Campden Tablet and Potassium Sorbate for Stabilizing I do not use these
Instructions
- Bring a few quarts of water to boil.
- Once boiling, remove from heat and add the chamomile flowers. If using, add the chopped raisins, black tea, orange zest and orange juice.
- Cover and steep for 15 minutes.
- Next, add the sugar or honey and stir until dissolved.
- Let cool for another 10 minutes.
- Pour the mixture through a strainer into your primary fermentation vessel. If using any winemaking additives (wine tannin, yeast nutrient, or acid blend) add these now.
- Rehydrate the yeast in some room temperature water for 10 minutes. Once rehydrated, add the yeast to the carboy.
- Top with enough water to bring the level to the neck of the carboy and seal with a water lock.
- Ferment in primary for 7 to 14 days.
- Siphon the wine to a new fermentation vessel for secondary, leaving the sediment behind.
- Top up with water as needed and seal with a water lock.
- Ferment in secondary until the wine or mead clears (4 to 6 weeks for wine and about 4 months for mead).
- Sample the wine and adjust to taste as needed (see notes below for info on backsweetening).
- Rack the wine into bottles and seal with corks. Let age for several months before drinking.
Notes
Yeast
For chamomile wine, there are several yeast options for you to choose from. Some particularly good yeast choices include Red Star Montrachet, Cote des Blancs and Lalvin D47 (Lalvin D47 is highly recommended for chamomile mead).Stabilizing and Back Sweetening
If your wine tastes too dry at the end of secondary, backsweetening is an alternative. To do so, rack the wine to a clean container and add 1 Campden tablet and ½ teaspoon of potassium sorbate to stabilize the wine. (Stabilizing the wine will halt the yeast, preventing a rapid ferment caused by the added sugar). Once stabilized, wait 24 to 48 hours, then add sugar (or honey for mead) to taste. Sugar can be added by making a simple syrup of equal parts water and sugar heated in a saucepan. Add sugar and put back into ferment for 1 week before bottling. Amounts vary based on personal preference, but I recommend beginning with ½ cup sugar for a one-gallon batch of chamomile wine. For more information on backsweetening, see notes within the article.Nutrition
Serving: 1glass | Calories: 218kcal | Carbohydrates: 57g | Protein: 0.002g | Fat: 0.2g | Sodium: 1mg | Potassium: 2mg | Fiber: 0.002g | Sugar: 57g | Vitamin A: 0.03IU | Vitamin C: 0.2mg | Calcium: 1mg | Iron: 0.03mg