Stromness Dragon

It’s been a pretty good summer here in Orkney, give or take a few days of rain and wind. There’s been plenty sun and some nice temperatures (27 degrees at Rackwick! That’s a record, apparently). According to recent figures, the Northern Isles are having their best summer for years. The allotment is looking verdant, but actually it could do with a bit more rain – this will be sickening to the poor folk doon sooth who are drookit this week.

Now we are passed midsummer, and the nights are, as they say, drawing in. It is dark by 11 o’clock. In a couple of weeks it will be the agricultural shows, then the council programme of evening classes will be sent round with The Orcadian…and we’ll know that the year has turned. It has to be one of the most asked questions……What do you do in the winter? Sometimes I turn the question back on the asker – Well, what do you do? But truthfully, there is a noticeable shift here in the rhythm of life in the darker months. Working less, sleeping more, lots of visiting, music, reading, writing, aforementioned evening classes. We also kick back and enjoy the fruits of our summer labours………and that may involve a small drinky every now and again, for purely medicinal purposes.

Living as we do a lifestyle rich in quality but poor in cash, we are not in a position to buy wine or beer very often, so we make our own. There is a long tradition of home brewing in the islands, and many generations of Orkney folk have used the bounty of nature to produce alcoholic beverage. Who are we to fight tradition? We have made wine out of all sorts of things. Carrots. Ginger. Bananas. Rice. Dandelions. Elderflower. Sloes. But this week we cooked up a batch of red clover. Here’s the process in pictorial form…………..

Beryl inspects the crop prior to picking. It should be in full flower, preferably in warm sunshine

Mr Dragon exhausted with the effort

The harvest of red clover heads, with a few rose petals in for good measure

Sugar going in, courtesy of a local supermarket....

Boiling water! We bought a water boiler from a mart sale so we can do lots in one go

You need the juice and rind of lots of oranges and lemons. I broke the glass lemon squeezer so I am using a fork

Now you leave it to cool down a bit!

There's a few chemically bits to go in too

Juice going in to the mix, plus some tea for the tannin

Yeast next – no need for a yeast starter with these warm days, and Super Yeast works quickly

Stir it all up!

Leave it in the bucket for a few days and go and look at the view

Pour into demijohns through a sieve

Airlocks and corks are stuck in the top, and the sediment starts to settle. The air is filled with the gentle ‘bloop….bloop’………and the waiting begins.

Hopefully this batch should be ready by Christmas!