Chestnut wine ?

[GREBO75]

is it possible to make chestnut wine? Obviously the chestnuts would have to be cooked, and getting the wine to clear could be a real sod, but I think the flavour could be good.

Anyone tried this? I tried googling for 'chestnut wine recipe' but just got loads of food recipes.

 

[Ken L]

The fat content is going to be a problem. Even though it's way lower than other nuts at 2 or 3%, I've never heard of a successful wine made from anything with measurable fat.

 

[GREBO75]

Ah, I didn't think of the fat, just the starch.

Think I'll give this one a miss then, lol.

Cheers

 

[GeorgeSalt]

You could try chestnut liqueur.

 

[GREBO75]

hmm, what would be the best spirit for that? Vodka?

So vodka, sugar, cooked chestnuts?

Would be nice to do something with the chestnuts cos there are so many round here and everyone ignores them ;p

 

[Casey76]

They are sweet chestnuts and not horse chestnuts, right? Horse chestnuts are poisonous :sick:

 

[GREBO75]

Lol, yeah, sweet chustnuts.

Accidentally tasted a horse chestnut once when playing conkers, yuk !!

 

[GeorgeSalt]

hmm, what would be the best spirit for that? Vodka?

There's a link to the recipe in my post suggesting it.. :thumb:

 

[Ken L]

If you have a glut, why not try something to go with your tipple ?
Marron Glacés are well regarded and would go very well with some Stilton and a nice glass of red.
Alternately, just peel and freeze - Sprouts and chestnuts tossed in the fat from smoked bacon lardons are very nice with Christmas dinner.
Peel and cook them with chicken stock, sweet potatoes, browned onions, a little garlic, some cream and seasoning before pureeing the lot into a soup and eating with crusty bread and good butter.
Must stop, this is a brewing forum.....

 

[GREBO75]

Well, I always cook a few for various things. But that only uses a handle or two, if I try I could easily collect 5-6lbs maybe more, I'd never use that many for cooking recipes which is why I was wondering about using some for brewing ;p

Then again I'm running out of space for all my current brews, so maybe a good job this looks like one I'll be skipping, lol

 

[calumscott]

Would pureeing followed by a long slow simmer at full brew length separate out the fat?

It works pretty well for stocks and gravy and stuff but of course I'm not sure just how much residual you could get away with in a brew...

 

[GeorgeSalt]

Would pureeing followed by a long slow simmer at full brew length separate out the fat?

It works pretty well for stocks and gravy and stuff but of course I'm not sure just how much residual you could get away with in a brew...

But you'll lose all the fat soluble flavours. It might work, or you might be left with a relatively tasteless mush.

 

[Andyhull]

I've heared about xmas pudding wine before.
Apparently the fat/suet just rises to the top of the FV then you rack off to a demijon leaving the floating fat (etc) behind.
I would chop/puree them and boil, then add the mess to a wide topped FV and add yeast (etc) the solids will sink and the fat will float and can be skimmed off!

Andy

 

[calumscott]

Would pureeing followed by a long slow simmer at full brew length separate out the fat?

It works pretty well for stocks and gravy and stuff but of course I'm not sure just how much residual you could get away with in a brew...

But you'll lose all the fat soluble flavours. It might work, or you might be left with a relatively tasteless mush.

...and so begins the descent to the tomato wine thread! :lol:

 

[GeorgeSalt]

Would pureeing followed by a long slow simmer at full brew length separate out the fat?

It works pretty well for stocks and gravy and stuff but of course I'm not sure just how much residual you could get away with in a brew...

But you'll lose all the fat soluble flavours. It might work, or you might be left with a relatively tasteless mush.

...and so begins the descent to the tomato wine thread! :lol:

I must have missed that one.. I found the onion thread..

 

[alanywiseman.]

Not chestnuts but it could be a doer :hmm:

Walnut Wine

Pecans, hazelnuts, peanuts, brazil nuts, cashews, pistachio nuts, and most other nuts are inappropriate for making wine because their oils go rancid before the wine is finished, but almonds and walnuts can be used in making wine.

2 oz walnuts
12 oz raisins
1 lb 12 oz. granulated sugar
Rind and juice of 1 lemon, 1 orange, 1 grapefruit
7 pts water
1 tsp yeast nutrient
1 sachet wine yeast

Chop the walnuts and raisins and add to 1 quart water with citrus rinds (no pith). Bring to simmer, cover and hold simmer for 30 minutes. Strain and discard solids and dissolve sugar in liquid. Allow to cool and pour into primary with remaining water. Add citrus juice, yeast nutrient and yeast as an activated starter. Cover with sanitized cloth or lid and set in warm place. Ferment to specific gravity of 1.020, transfer to secondary and fit airlock. Ferment to dryness, wait 2 weeks, rack and add one crushed and dissolved Campden tablet. Reattach airlock and refrigerate or place in bucket of crushed ice until white beads of solidified oil form on surface. Gently strain through fine muslin cloth back into secondary to remove beads. Reattach airlock and age 6 months, racking every two months and adding crushed Campden at 4-month racking. Stabilize, sweeten slightly if desired, wait 30 days, and bottle. Age 2-3 additional months before tasting. Improves to two years. [Author's own recipe]

Taken from http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/wineblog10.asp

 

[jkp]

Hi

How about a Chestnut Beer?
In Corsica they have a Chestnut Beer called Pietra, it's a dark lager if I remember correctly and very nice too.
Plus Dogfish Head brewery have also made an Italian inspired Chestnut Mild (sounds nice).

Not sure how you would go about making it though.
Perhaps boil and peel the Chestnuts, then grind them into small flakes, then roast them in the oven.
You might need to mash them with base grains to extract the fermentables though.
Or steeping them might be enough to just get the roasted Chestnut flavour.

Anyone made such a beer?

 

[Tim_Crowhurst]

I'd use amylase to convert the starches into fermentables. I don't think malting is an option for a seed as big as a chestnut.

 

[jkp]

Thanks for that.

After a quick bit of research it seems that beer made entirely of Chestnuts is actually possible, i.e. Gluten-free beer! In addition to the amylase you also want to use pectinase because Chestnuts are actually a fruit! Here is a nice website where they sell the roasted Chestnut chips and give a simple recipe too. All very interesting :hmm:

 

[Tim_Crowhurst]

Here is a nice website where they sell the roasted Chestnut chips and give a simple recipe too. All very interesting :hmm:

If you do the recipe, remember that it's an American site so you need to convert from US measures into Imperial, and Fahrenheit into Centigrade.