It is always the right time of year for brewing and making country wine if you are flexible with your ingredients.
Once again I have missed making dandelion wine. I saw the dandelions flowering but didn’t have enough time in the same place to manage picking flowers, infusing, setting up the ferment. . . . . So I just enjoyed seeing the dandelions. Since I live on the south coast further north it is likely that sufficient quantities of dandelions are still available. The key point to bear in mind is that the green bracts clustered under the yellow petals are bitter while the petals are sweetly fragrant. Unless you want a bitter edge to your beverage it is worth taking the time to go through the fiddly process of removing the golden petals from their stalk and bracts.
With dandelions setting seed and elderflowers tightly in bud in my area I still have a choice of spring beverages to get going.
Oak leaves are unfurled, bright green and soft to touch; perfect for collecting. The only codicil is finding a tree with leaves within reach.
Hawthorn is blooming furiously at the moment and living up to its other name May flower. The flowers unusual scent contains a chemical produced in the early stages of decomposition to attract pollinators. The bouquet of hawthorn wine is not enjoyed by everyone so before picking flowers and investing your effort in making wine smell the sweet flowers on the tree and decide whether it is to your liking.
As early as January gorse was in flower but I hesitated to take the sparse flowers away from insects at a time of year when there is little in bloom. Now the gorse is abundantly golden and there are plenty of other flowers out rendering these coconut scented blooms guilt free.
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