Having a go at carrot wine.

[Rolfster]

I am having a go at the wine recipe given by LeithR on the thread below

viewtopic.php?f=41&t=44999

Got some little cheap carrots from Aldi.
Thought I would use some darker sugar, unless anyone can give a reason why this is not a good idea.....

 

[oldbloke]

The flavour of dark sugar will overwhelm the carrot flavour.
I think.

 

[Rolfster]

Cheers OB I will stick to the white stuff then. :thumb:

I was also wondering how long I leave the liquid on the carrots for. Or do I strain if off once I have finished boiling it?

If I strain it I could make some (probably slightly tasteless carrot soup)....

 

[LeithR]

The recipe suggests 7 days left on the pulp. What you can do to overcome the pulp rising to the surface and decreasing your chances of getting the brew infected is to put a dinner plate face down on the pulp and push down until it is submerged and you have rocked the plate slightly to get rid of the air underneath.

Leave for 7 days then rack and put into FV under airlock until it has stopped fermenting - SG is below 1000 and little or no airlock action.

You can re-rack at this point to get the brew off the yeast but this is not something you need to hurry leaving it for a couple of weeks is ok and the brew is showing signs of clearing.

Once off the yeast and in a clean FV with an airlock, you can leave it like this in the cool for up to 3 months, check it regularly for clarity.

Once you are happy with it you can add a crushed campden tablet (Sodium Metabisulphite) and Potassium Sorbate to stabilize the brew. You also need to de-gas the brew at this stage by shaking - this will give you a still wine.

 

[Rolfster]

Thanks Leith

I just found this
http://www.smallholderseries.co.uk/inde ... Itemid=316

Which suggest getting rid of the carrots after boiling.
Not sure what to do now....

 

[LeithR]

Its ok to ferment on the pulp it does get more flavour extraction then throw the carrots on the compost heap.

You don't have to do this but its an option.

 

[Rolfster]

I like the idea of less cleaning up by removing the carrot now, but its all about the taste so I am going to keep the carrots in.
Thanks for the quick reply!

 

[oldbloke]

Wot I dun:

2013-03-09 4lb carrots, scrubbed, sliced, simmered ~30 minutes; Strained onto 1kg sugar, 1Tbsp citric, 250g chopped raisins; Simmered ~30 minutes
Into FV with crished Campden, left to cool overnight;
Half sachet Gervin No1 B GV9 yeast, nutrient, tsp pectolase;
Stir daily ~week
2013-03-16 Sieved to demi
2013-05-11 Racked & stabilised. Quite sharp but promising
2013-06-08 Finings
2013-06-20 Bottled

 

[Rolfster]

In the pot I have got
1.9kg of carrot
900g of sugar
350g of sulatan
juice of 2 oranges and lemons
2 mashed banana

Just waiting for the kettle to boil so I can make a cuppa tea to dissolve the enzyme into.

Is there a problem fermenting in the pot I cooked the carrots in. Thought I could cover it with a clean teatowel, then strain it into the DJ after a week or so.
R

 

[Rolfster]

I got a Reading of 1.084. Don't think that takes into account the carrots though...

 

[Robbo]

Thanks Rolfster, because of you I'm going to have to sneak in 2 kg of carrots, cook and ferment.....My wife will go ballistic :shock:

 

[Rolfster]

'takes a bow'

Glad to be of service!

 

[Rolfster]

I forgot to say I got little sweet carrots cheap from aldi (49p for 500g)

Although I could have got bigger carrots and it would have been even cheaper........

 

[oldbloke]

Our local garden centre does really cheap carrots, for animal feed - think they fall outside the approved size/shape/etc range for sale in supermarkets etc

 

[Rolfster]

Its fizzing away

 

[Rolfster]

Just taken all the 'fruit' out of the pot and poured it into the DJ.
Just waiting for the kettle to cool before I top the DJ up with water.

 

[Rolfster]

Not sure if its a good time to do it or not (probably left it too long) but I have just syphoned the wine into a clean dj. Got it all over the floor at the same time...
Tasted good I think... Still had the taste of whiskey in my mouth while syphoning...

 

[oldbloke]

I think my carrot took a longish time, but you can't really leave a veg wine too long!

 

[Rolfster]

So I made it in November, re-racked in Febuary.... should I bottle it yet?