Celery Wines, Sherries, and/or Meads

• 4 lbs green and white celery
• 2 lbs sugar
• 7-1/2 pts water
• 1 tsp yeast nutrient
• wine yeast

Wash celery, trim away leaves, and chop into one-inch lengths. Put in pot with water and bring to boil for 30 minutes. Strain without pressing and use pulp for soup or other dishes. Pour water into primary and add sugar. Use Demerara sugar for a golden color, light brown sugar for darker amber color, and white granulated sugar for more neutral colored wine. Stir until sugar is dissolved, then stir in yeast nutrient. Cover and set aside until cool, then sprinkle yeast in top without stirring. Recover and allow yeast to propagate. When fermentation is strong, stir and let ferment four days. Transfer into secondary and fit airlock. When wine clears, rack into clean secondary, top up and refit airlock. Set aside until completely dry, then rack into bottles or make into an aperitif. For the latter, stabilize, sweeten to taste, wait 10 days, then rack into bottles. [Adapted from C.J.J. Berry’s First Steps in Winemaking ]

• 6 lbs white celery
• 3-1/4 lbs sugar
• 7-1/4 pts water
• 1-1/2 tsp citric acid
• 1 tsp yeast nutrient
• wine yeast

Clean celery, trim off leaves and chop finely. Combine water and celery in pot and bring to boil. Simmer until tender. Stir in sugar and stir until dissolved. Strain into secondary and allow to cool. When room temperature, stir in citric acid, yeast nutrient and activated yeast. Cover until fermentation is strong, then fit airlock and set aside. Rack after 30 days. Top up, refit airlock and ferment additional 60 days. Rack, stabilize, sweeten if desired, wait 10 days, and rack into bottles. Can be concumed immediately. [Adapted from Leo Zanelli’s Home Winemaking from A to Z ]