Mulled Wine:
Peter Hood www.thebrewshop.com
http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/indexpage/homebrew
This is my recipe, every year we have a Xmas party in the Red Bull
Stockport and we give away free mulled wine and mince pies . Fortified
by the wine we sing carols and have a great evening. Everyone asks for
the recipe but I just make it up as I go along. So, this Year I wrote
it down so anyone who would like to make it can do so. Please
feel free to copy and use this recipe.
I always use home made wine and usually a Rioja or something similar.
I’ve always used red wine, I suppose you could use white if you wanted.
To Make One Gallon - 8 Pints imperial
.Take one gallon of rough full bodied wine. Rough wine works best, I
don’t mean stuff with a funny taste but harsh young wine is ok.
Heat it slowly with:
2 Teaspoon of allspice
Juice of 2 large lemons.
1 Small cinnamon stick or ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 Sliced Orange
1 to 11/2 pound of sugar.
Put it all in a big pan and heat slowly. Add about a pound of sugar at
first.
When the wine gets hot, taste it, and keep tasting it!!
If it tastes too ‘strong’ ie bitter, or spicy add more sugar. I know
it’s a bit vague but the wine does vary and I know if it tastes
unpleasant it usually just needs more sugar.
If it tastes ‘flat’ it usually means it’s a bit low on acid, add a bit
more lemon juice.
Try to keep the wine from boiling as it can boil off the alcohol, I
frequently forget to check the wine and it boils but it still seems ok
though!
You can slice up a few apples and throw them in. I usually throw the
rind off one the lemons in as well.
It can often taste a bit odd at first but mellows after a few hours,
don’t worry you can always add more sugar later!
How long to heat?
About 20 minutes initially, it really does taste better if you leave it
a few hours and then re-heat for about 10 mins. It tastes better still
the next day if there’s any left.
Experiment!
I’ve made mulled wine with all sorts of things, you can add a few
cloves, half an ounce of dried elderflowers, half a
teaspoon of ginger and whatever takes your fancy.
If you add extra spices you need to cut down on the initial spices or
it can get too strong.
Have fun, and I hope you enjoy the wine!!
Peter Hood
www.thebrewshop.com