Lilac Wine Recipe 

Lilac wine is so sweet its almost a dessert wine! This was a challenging recipe, very tedious prep work and only yeilded a light wine of about 8%. Lilac and other floral wines are especially difficult to work with as unlike berry and grape wines they do not contain a lot of natural yeist and sugars so a lot needs to be added. I would probably not make this wine again but it was a beautiful process and smelt amazing the whole way through! I don't really go for sweet wines myself but it makes a very unique gift for others. 

I would not recommend this recipe as a first time wine making attempt. If you are reading this recipe and are suddenly interesting in dabbling in the world of brewery I strongly encourage you to reach out to your local brewery supply store and educate yourself on the process of brewing first. It is highly important that you use proper equipment and follow proper brewery sanitation methods when attempting wine, mead or beer brewing. If you are not willing to put the effort in for cleanliness and proper care of your brewing process then DO NOT attempt brewery. 

Finding Lilacs

Lilacs grow in many cities along roads and parking lots, planted by the city around buildings and in parks. It is very important when collecting your lilacs that you do not pick lilac planted by the city in these areas as they are often sprayed for pest control...you don't want to be putting that in your body! 

When I began my lilac hunt I searched the natural lilac growing on the sides of bike paths not maintained by the city, or collected from mine and neighbours yard whom i had permission to snip some flowers from. Remember to only take about 10% of anything you forage in the wild as to maintain the natural balance, provide food for wildlife and leave plenty to re-seed the following years. 

Luckily lilac are a very distinct flower with a recognizable smell so there is no worry of look-a-like dangerous plants. Only forage safe edible florals as many are poisonous! Do your research when looking to use florals in food and drink. 

Prepping Lilacs

Make sure you set a side a full afternoon for cleaning and prepping these lovely flowers! This is a great time to invite some friends over to lend a helping hand as the task of prepping lilac wine can take roughly 4 hours depending on the quantitiy you are hoping to make. I trippled my reciple and make 3 gallons or about 18 bottles. This recipe will yeild 1 gallong but you can multiply it for a larger batch. 

To prep lilacs I recommend snipping large clusters off the bush until you have enough for the batch you wish to make. I snipped roughly 30 large clusters. Then the de-petaling begins. You must ensure the green stems, leaves and buds are all removed leaving only the purple petals. The green can cause the wine to taste a bit more bitter. As lilacs are very small and delicate this process took ages! 

Once you have all your petals with no green bits its time to clean. You always need to clean your wild foraged materials to remove rotten, dead, wilted elements and bigs/pests. To clean your petals simple make a cool water bath and pour your petals inside. Swirl the water around and hose them down. Any unwanted petals , green bits or bugs will typically float to the top or sink to the bottom so be sure to sseparate these out.

then using a colander or mesh bag toss the petals to remove the excess water. If by any point your petals begin to wilt you can place them in the fridge for a while (an hour or overnight) and they will pop right back up all perky! After cleaning you should end up with something like this:

Now its time to make your wine! I've attached some images below of my own process and the recipe steps are listed below. If you are not an experienced wine brewer I would not recommend this recipe to first timers as I found it challanging and only ended up with an alcohol level of around 8%. I use a large fermentation bucket as my primary when brewing and I seal it with a tea towel tied around the top to keep pests out. 

After about 10 days I syphoned the wine into a secondary demijhon and sealed it with an airlock. It was still bubbling away and turned a beautiful peach colour! (Note the alliums and lilly of the valley are only table decoration, i DID NOT put them in the wine) 

Instructions for Making 1 Gallon of Lilac Wine

1. Clean lilac blossoms, removing everything but the actual flower. Place them in a fermentation vessel. I prefer a Large bucket over a demijhon as the petals can block your airlock. 
2. Bring 2-3 liters of water to a boil on the stove, add sugar and a few blueberries for colour(optional). Stir to dissolve the sugar. Allow the syrup/water mixture to cool completely before proceeding. Keep your blossoms in the fridge to avoid wilting as you wait for the syrup to cool. ( don't poor the hot mixture on the petals as they will burn!)
3. Pour the cooled syrup over the lilac blossoms, add lemon juice, yeast nutrient. Add tanning powder or earl grey tea.
4. Fill a small cup with water and add the wine yeast. Allow the yeast to rehydrate for at least 5 minutes before adding it to the wine. There will be natural yeist on the petals but after washing its important to add a brewers yeist. I used a Champaign yeist but a wine yeist will also work well. Take your first hydrometer reading now. 
5. Allow the mixture to ferment in primary bucket, place the lid on but air should be able to escape still. I do not use a water lock as it can get clogged with petals unless you are keeping the petals secured in a mesh bag. I place a tea towel over my fermentation bucket and tie a tight string around it to keep flies out. Allow to sit for for 7 to 10 days.
6. After primary, use a siphon to rack the wine into a clean fermenter, leaving the flowers and sediment behind. This is a great time to take a reading with a hydrometer to check that all the sugars are gone. 
7. Ferment in secondary for 3-6months before bottling. Re-rack to improve clarity. Bottle, and store in a cool dark place for atleast an additional 2 months to improve the wine.