Gorse Wines, Sherries, and/or Meads

• 12 cups of gorse flowers
• 7 pints of water
• 1-1/2 pounds sugar
• 1-1/2 cups seedless white raisins
• 2 oranges
• 2 lemons (or 1/4 oz. citric acid)
• 1/8 teaspoon grape tannin
• 1 teaspoon yeast nutrient
• 1 pkg Lalvin EC-1118 yeast

Put the flowers into primary immediately. Boil half the water, half the sugar and the chopped raisins
together for 1 to 2 minutes, then pour over flowers. Thinly peel the rind from the oranges and the lemons and
add rind (no pith) to primary. Squeeze out the juice and add that too, but not the pulp. Add the tannin and
stir thoroughly. Add cold water to bring total to 1 gallon. When water cools to 90 degrees F, or less, add
the activated yeast and yeast nutrient, stir well and cover. Ferment 3 days, stirring twice daily, then add
remaining sugar and stir to dissolve. Recover primary and continue stirring twice daily until fermentation
subsides or s.g. drops below 1.020. Strain through a sieve or cloth and transfer to a gallon secondary. Fit
airlock and set in warm place. Rack after 30 days and again when clear, wait a month and rack again. Stabilize,
wait 30 days, and sweeten to 1.004-1.006. Wait additional 30 days, rack into bottles and age 6 months before
tasting it. [Author’s own recipe.]