Libertarian Fat Cat supports making his own beverages. Using his orphan work force.

 

When my wife’s grandmother passed, she had a number of great books on her shelf.  I collected them all.  I got a very old book on Texas History, a few cookbooks, and a great book called ‘Folk Wines, Cordials and Brandies.’  This particular version was published in 1963 although the content is much older. Periodically I am going to transcribe some of these, so people can try to make their own grog. Why?  Because Top Men would rather you pay your hard earned money at government licensed booze shacks!  Making your own booze is freedom!

A brief warning – If you store homemade wine in old bottles, chances are one will pop.  Keep the stuff over something you don’t care about, like a garage floor.  Do not keep it over your significant other’s 100 year old Persian rug. Also I am not an expert, just a dude who copied some recipes and added snark.

There were three recipes for dandelion wine, which appears to be the most popular type of wine due to the ease of gathering dandelions. I am going to post two here.  One old, one new.

The first recipe is from Connecticut, circa 1677. Read it a couple of times to make sure you have all the equipment and steps down. Like a lot of old recipes, it is not written in good order:

  • 4 to 6 qts of dandelion flower heads
  • 2 gals water
  • 4 to 6 lbs sugar
  • 6 lemons
  • 6 oranges
  • 1 tbsp. ground ginger (or 1/2 oz. fresh ginger root)
  • 3 cups raisins (1 1/2 pounds)
  • 1/2 oz. yeast (2 packages)
  1. Gather the dandelions and put them into the water in an unchipped enamel pot. RJ – Really?  How about an old turkey fry pot. Who the hell has a giant enamel pot? You are not fermenting it in the metal, so I don’t see the harm. if you must have one, I found one for $45 on Amazon that is five gallons.
  2. Add sugar, bring to boil and let boil for a full thirty minutes.
  3. Strain; return liquid to enamel vessel. RJ’s Pro Tip – Use one of your orphan’s potato sacks to strain the liquid.
  4. Wash and thinly peel the lemons and oranges and put the peelings in the water, also the ginger. Let it simmer for another half hour.
  5. Pour the liquid into a crock, and now add the juice of the lemons and oranges.
  6. Add the cut up raisins.
  7. Dissolve the yeast in 1/2 cup warm water and pour it over the liquid when it has cooled to lukewarm.
  8. Cover and set it in a warmish place (65 – 70 F) Fermentation will take from ten to twenty-one days.  RJ – Here is where you could move everything to a bucket for fermenting and cover it with a cloth.  Don’t leave it in a metal pot or crock.
  9. When the fermentation has stopped, strain the wine into glass jars and let it rest to see if it clears.  If it does not, fine it. Then bottle it.  RJ – How much do I fine it?  Ten dollars?  Isn’t that oppressive government behavior?
  10. Do not drink for at least a year.  RJ – This person has the patience of Job.

The next recipe is modern, from Dr. Margaret Bryant, the word wizard RJ – I don’t know who this is. She says this is the way folks make dandelion wine in Kansas:

  1. Put four quarts of dandelion heads in a crock; add four sliced lemons.
  2. Add 8 quarts hot (not boiling) water.
  3. Set away for three days, then put on stove (In an enamel pot) and boil away twenty minutes.
  4. Strain into crock, add 6 pounds sugar and 1/2 ounce yeast.
  5. Tie a cloth over the top of the crock and put in a dark place.
  6. When the fermentation has ended, strain and bottle the wine.

That’s it for now!