Mesquite Bean Wine
- 3 lbs mesquite beans
- 1 cup chopped golden raisins
- 2 lbs granulated sugar
- water to make up one gallon
- 1-1/2 tsp acid blend
- 1/2 tsp pectic enzyme
- 1 tsp yeast nutrient
- wine yeast
Wash the bean pods and break them into one-inch pieces. Put them into a large cooking pot and cover them with about 7 pints water. Simmer slowly for one hour, covered. Strain the beans off and discard. Pour the water into a primary and stir into it half the sugar. Stir well to dissolve the sugar, then add chopped raisins. Cover with cloth and set aside to cool. When at room temperature, add acid blend, yeast nutrient and pectic enzyme. Stir to dissolve these ingredients and set aside, recovered, for 12 hours. Add activated yeast and recover. Stir daily for 7 days. Strain off and discard the raisins, stir in remaining sugar until dissolved, transfer to secondary, top up, and fit airlock. Rack into clean secondary, top up and refit airlock every 30 days for next 4 months. Stabilize, bottle and allow to age one year before drinking. This wine will keep well, getting better as it ages. [Adapted from Dorothy Alatorre’s Home Wines of North America ]