Orange Spiced Agave Wine - started 11/1/2012

          When I went to purchase my first around of honey from the local co-op I saw that they had fresh bulk agave nectar. That of course made me wonder what it would be like to brew with agave as the base. I know that agave is the base for Tequila but what would it be like as a wine or even a beer?

          So I talked with Larri about what would it take to create a brew using agave. She explained it should be just like doing any other wine or mead. She helped me come up with a really great recipe for making it. Here is the recipe:

TBS (To Be Started)
Ingredients:

• 1/2-1 gallon agave nectar (for 2 gallon bucket)
• 1 gallon Purified Water
• 2 lbs of sugar
• 1/2 gallon fresh organic orange juice
• 1/2 lb dried orange peels
• 3 cinnamon sticks (Mexican food aisle has great cinnamon bark sticks)
• 3 whole cloves (Mexican food aisle has great cloves) 
• 1/2 teaspoon pectin enzyme
• 1 Campden tablet
• yeast nutrients (1 1/2 teapsons for 4 days)
• mesh bag
• 1 2 gallon fermentation bucket and lid
• 1 airlock
• easy clean sterilization solution

11/1/2012
Sterilized 2 gallon bucket, lid, and airlock. Boiled half gallon of purified water then dissolved agave nectar and sugar into the water. Once cooled a bit added 1/2 gallon all natural orange juice, pectin enzyme, cinnamon sticks, 1 Campden tablet, and gloves. Placed lid and airlock on bucket. Filled airlock halfway with water. Letting stand for 12 hours before adding yeast and yeast nutrients.

11/2/2012
Added yeast and yeast nutrients. Replaced lib and airlock.

11/17/2012
Moved this wine over for secondary fermentation bucket. Liquid is still very cloudy at this point. I added yeast nutrients, Campden tablet, and pectin enzyme because there was still a lot of orange pulp in the wine. There was still a heavy spell of juice, cinnamon and cloves. The muck was very thin and runny at this point. Replaced lid and filled airlock.

1/15/2013
Moved wine over. Added 2 cups of sugar. The aroma was so slight I could barely smell it. The flavor was a ting bit tangy, sweet, and mild. I really am excited to see where this will be since it is only a few months old.