Noobie Carrot Wine Question

[spud]

All of the recipes I have bookmarked or googled so far make carrot
wine by cooking the carrots to retrieve the juice. Now I'm not a
picky eater and I do love my veggies, including cooked, steamed,
whatever carrots.

But, could a guy use raw carrots, or is there a recipe for using raw
carrots? Does anyone have experience with either or both? Seems the
flavor would be more robust, or more 'true' from raw carrots.

At this point I'm most intrigued by the Carrot Whiskey recipe on Jack
Kellers site which use a pound of wheat in the recipe. Sounds
interesting, but it too uses the water from cooked carrots.

Any tips, reflections, pointers etc. concerning carrot wine are
appreciated.


On another note, this is outta hand:

Since the Peach Experiements where put into secondaries, 5 gallons of
Blackberry and 1 gallon of Jalepeno have been commited to glass.

Next on the docket is 25lbs of pears to make a 5 gallon batch, 20lbs.
of plum for a 3 gallon batch. That'll make 44 gallons over 16
different fruits, herbs and veggies for the first year of wine making
- so far.

I know that isn't much for some folks, but now that I "get it", I
have an estimate capacity of about 65+ gallons without aquiring any
more jugs. That should be enough. I think I can find the fruit,
herbs and veggies. The problem I envision now is where the hell do I
store all those bottles!! What a trip!!

Steve Over the Edge Noobie
In Oregon

[Dar V]

Hi!
Carrot wine is something I plan on trying this fall. Since I'm not a fan of
cooked carrots, I wondered if anyone tried freezing the carrots before
making the wine. Freezing generally breaks down a lot of the tougher stuff
to make wine out of like pumpkins and cranberries. You're right, I have
seen most of the recipes using boiled carrots. I'm just going to throw the
idea out there to see if anyone has tried it, and what the negatives might
be...
Darlene
Wisconsin USA

Post by spud
All of the recipes I have bookmarked or googled so far make carrot
wine by cooking the carrots to retrieve the juice. Now I'm not a
picky eater and I do love my veggies, including cooked, steamed,
whatever carrots.
But, could a guy use raw carrots, or is there a recipe for using raw
carrots? Does anyone have experience with either or both? Seems the
flavor would be more robust, or more 'true' from raw carrots.
At this point I'm most intrigued by the Carrot Whiskey recipe on Jack
Kellers site which use a pound of wheat in the recipe. Sounds
interesting, but it too uses the water from cooked carrots.
Any tips, reflections, pointers etc. concerning carrot wine are
appreciated.
Since the Peach Experiements where put into secondaries, 5 gallons of
Blackberry and 1 gallon of Jalepeno have been commited to glass.
Next on the docket is 25lbs of pears to make a 5 gallon batch, 20lbs.
of plum for a 3 gallon batch. That'll make 44 gallons over 16
different fruits, herbs and veggies for the first year of wine making
- so far.
I know that isn't much for some folks, but now that I "get it", I
have an estimate capacity of about 65+ gallons without aquiring any
more jugs. That should be enough. I think I can find the fruit,
herbs and veggies. The problem I envision now is where the hell do I
store all those bottles!! What a trip!!
Steve Over the Edge Noobie
In Oregon

[spud]

Hey Darlene:

Is there a recipe you'd like to try?

The carrot whiskey seems interesting enough, especially because I
haven't made anything with wheat in it yet!

Steve
Oregon

Post by Dar V
Hi!
Carrot wine is something I plan on trying this fall. Since I'm not a fan of
cooked carrots, I wondered if anyone tried freezing the carrots before
making the wine. Freezing generally breaks down a lot of the tougher stuff
to make wine out of like pumpkins and cranberries. You're right, I have
seen most of the recipes using boiled carrots. I'm just going to throw the
idea out there to see if anyone has tried it, and what the negatives might
be...
Darlene
Wisconsin USA

[Dar V]

Steve,
I have 2 resources for recipes, Jack Keller's site and Terry Garey's book on
homemade winemaking. Usually, I look at Terry's recipe and compare it to
the recipes on Jack's site. Then, I try to pick one that I think we'll like
the best or create one which I think we'll like. There are a few things
which I won't use in a wine recipe, for example, one is lemons as the acid
requirement. I made this batch with lemons once and didn't like the lemon
aftertaste. I tried oranges the next time, and the wine was much better
IMHO. While the carrot whiskey does sound interesting, I'll probably start
with a basic carrot wine recipe. Go for and let us know. Good-luck.
Darlene
Wisconsin

Post by spud
Is there a recipe you'd like to try?
The carrot whiskey seems interesting enough, especially because I
haven't made anything with wheat in it yet!
Steve
Oregon

Post by Dar V
Hi!
Carrot wine is something I plan on trying this fall. Since I'm not a fan of
cooked carrots, I wondered if anyone tried freezing the carrots before
making the wine. Freezing generally breaks down a lot of the tougher stuff
to make wine out of like pumpkins and cranberries. You're right, I have
seen most of the recipes using boiled carrots. I'm just going to throw the
idea out there to see if anyone has tried it, and what the negatives might
be...
Darlene
Wisconsin USA

[spud]

Hey There:

I think I will, make a gallon of carrot whiskey with shredded - frozen
raw carrots. Ignorance is bliss at this point in my winemaking. With
literally nothing aged in the bottle long enough to taste I don't know
what is good and what isn't good! So we'll just march forward.

Regarding the lemon, I made lilac wine a few months ago (so far it's
pretty nasty). IIRC you cautioned me to make sure of the species I
was dealing with. Thanks for that BTW. Anyway, the recipe called
for lemons. I didn't know if that was to included zest or not so I
add a little bit along with the juice.

Whew, in a few hours I could see it was going to be lemon wine! So all
of the pulp and zest were strained from the must. Fortunately the
'lemon-ness' dwindled right away. Now I pour lemon juice though a
strainer when adding to the must.

How all of this affects the finished wine, why I have no idea Darlene,
because I have no finished wine!

Take Care,
Steve
Oregon

Darlene Wrote
Steve,
I have 2 resources for recipes, Jack Keller's site and Terry Garey's book on
homemade winemaking. Usually, I look at Terry's recipe and compare it to
the recipes on Jack's site. Then, I try to pick one that I think we'll like
the best or create one which I think we'll like. There are a few things
which I won't use in a wine recipe, for example, one is lemons as the acid
requirement. I made this batch with lemons once and didn't like the lemon
aftertaste. I tried oranges the next time, and the wine was much better
IMHO. While the carrot whiskey does sound interesting, I'll probably start
with a basic carrot wine recipe. Go for and let us know. Good-luck.
Darlene
Wisconsin

[Dar V]

Hello,
Well, I've been at this for almost 4 years, which does and doesn't help
me sometimes. I do have some finished wine, probably about 80 bottles or
so. My goal for this year was to shoot for 11 or 12% alcohol on each of my
batches, to try a few new wines, besides the usual ones which I like, and to
find a good balance of wines which I can drink relatively soon, versus those
wines which will take awhile to mature. As an example, I still have 1
bottle from my first batch of rhubarb. I'm also trying to learn the subtle
nuances about certain wines, and at the same time try to match my tastes. I
also take a lot of time now to think about how I'm going to making a new
wine, than I did when I was a noobie.
Anyway, I've heard good things about carrot wine, but you need to leave
it sit for at least a couple of years before it tastes good. Sounds a lot
like my (first batch) pumpkin wine which will be two years old in January.
I'm looking forward to trying my first bottle then. I hope you have some
wine to drink in the meantime, while you wait for the carrot wine to mature
or you may not like it at all. Good-luck and let us know how it goes.
;o) Darlene

Post by spud
I think I will, make a gallon of carrot whiskey with shredded - frozen
raw carrots. Ignorance is bliss at this point in my winemaking. With
literally nothing aged in the bottle long enough to taste I don't know
what is good and what isn't good! So we'll just march forward.
Regarding the lemon, I made lilac wine a few months ago (so far it's
pretty nasty). IIRC you cautioned me to make sure of the species I
was dealing with. Thanks for that BTW. Anyway, the recipe called
for lemons. I didn't know if that was to included zest or not so I
add a little bit along with the juice.
Whew, in a few hours I could see it was going to be lemon wine! So all
of the pulp and zest were strained from the must. Fortunately the
'lemon-ness' dwindled right away. Now I pour lemon juice though a
strainer when adding to the must.
How all of this affects the finished wine, why I have no idea Darlene,
because I have no finished wine!
Take Care,
Steve
Oregon

Darlene Wrote
Steve,
I have 2 resources for recipes, Jack Keller's site and Terry Garey's book on
homemade winemaking. Usually, I look at Terry's recipe and compare it to
the recipes on Jack's site. Then, I try to pick one that I think we'll like
the best or create one which I think we'll like. There are a few things
which I won't use in a wine recipe, for example, one is lemons as the acid
requirement. I made this batch with lemons once and didn't like the lemon
aftertaste. I tried oranges the next time, and the wine was much better
IMHO. While the carrot whiskey does sound interesting, I'll probably start
with a basic carrot wine recipe. Go for and let us know. Good-luck.
Darlene
Wisconsin

[Ray Calvert]

Good question. All the recipies I have seen are the same. I think the
main reason is extraction. But I don't see why you could not run them
through the blender. The main reason the blender is not used for most fruit
is that the pulverized seed will add off flavors. But that is not a problem
with carrots. Try it, let us know how it comes out.

Ray

Post by spud
All of the recipes I have bookmarked or googled so far make carrot
wine by cooking the carrots to retrieve the juice. Now I'm not a
picky eater and I do love my veggies, including cooked, steamed,
whatever carrots.
But, could a guy use raw carrots, or is there a recipe for using raw
carrots? Does anyone have experience with either or both? Seems the
flavor would be more robust, or more 'true' from raw carrots.
At this point I'm most intrigued by the Carrot Whiskey recipe on Jack
Kellers site which use a pound of wheat in the recipe. Sounds
interesting, but it too uses the water from cooked carrots.
Any tips, reflections, pointers etc. concerning carrot wine are
appreciated.
Since the Peach Experiements where put into secondaries, 5 gallons of
Blackberry and 1 gallon of Jalepeno have been commited to glass.
Next on the docket is 25lbs of pears to make a 5 gallon batch, 20lbs.
of plum for a 3 gallon batch. That'll make 44 gallons over 16
different fruits, herbs and veggies for the first year of wine making
- so far.
I know that isn't much for some folks, but now that I "get it", I
have an estimate capacity of about 65+ gallons without aquiring any
more jugs. That should be enough. I think I can find the fruit,
herbs and veggies. The problem I envision now is where the hell do I
store all those bottles!! What a trip!!
Steve Over the Edge Noobie
In Oregon

[spud]

Hey Ray:

Thanks.

Steve
Oregon

Post by Ray Calvert
Good question. All the recipies I have seen are the same. I think the
main reason is extraction. But I don't see why you could not run them
through the blender. The main reason the blender is not used for most fruit
is that the pulverized seed will add off flavors. But that is not a problem
with carrots. Try it, let us know how it comes out.
Ray

[Tim McNally]

I made carrot wine by juicing the carrots in my heavy duty juicer. I
find the wine to have an unpleasant earthy taste. I would not waste my
time if I were you.
Tim

Post by spud
Thanks.
Steve
Oregon

Post by Ray Calvert
Good question. All the recipies I have seen are the same. I think the
main reason is extraction. But I don't see why you could not run them
through the blender. The main reason the blender is not used for most fruit
is that the pulverized seed will add off flavors. But that is not a problem
with carrots. Try it, let us know how it comes out.
Ray

[spud]

Hi Tim:

Do you mean carrot wine all together or just using raw, juiced
carrots?

Thanks
Steve
Oregon

Post by Tim McNally
I made carrot wine by juicing the carrots in my heavy duty juicer. I
find the wine to have an unpleasant earthy taste. I would not waste my
time if I were you.
Tim

[Tim McNally]

Carrot wine in general. Same with beets. What I find makes decent
country wines are granny smith apples, blackberries or blueberries. In
all cases, I blend them into grape wines. However, I did follow Jack
Keller's jalepeno recipe to some degree, then blended it with chenin
blanc. That came out OK.

Post by spud
Do you mean carrot wine all together or just using raw, juiced
carrots?
Thanks
Steve
Oregon

Post by Tim McNally
I made carrot wine by juicing the carrots in my heavy duty juicer. I
find the wine to have an unpleasant earthy taste. I would not waste my
time if I were you.
Tim

[spud]

Thanks Tim.

Haven't tried apple but do have the berry's you mentioned going. At
this point (a month or so) I am most enthused about these.

Steve
Oregon

Post by Tim McNally
Carrot wine in general. Same with beets. What I find makes decent
country wines are granny smith apples, blackberries or blueberries. In
all cases, I blend them into grape wines. However, I did follow Jack
Keller's jalepeno recipe to some degree, then blended it with chenin
blanc. That came out OK.

[Jack Keller]

Tim, it seems by your comments that you drank the wines young. Am I
right? I ask because carrot wine really DOES have to age a year or
more before it loses its "earthiness." Beet wine's "earthiness" is
even worse when young, but is nice after one year and VERY nice after
two. I forgot about a batch I had hidden on a shelf in a closet to
age. It got covered with things and was both out of sight and out of
mind. I "discovered" it four years later. It won a Best of Show and
was the best dessert wine I ever made.

For both Carrot Whiskey and Beetroot Wine, at least on my site, the
recipes clearly state the minimum aging requirements. Most other
recipes I've seen for both also state aging requirements quite
clearly.

If you let both the carrot and beet age as instructed and both were
bad, then you should review your winemaking techniques. If you didn't
let them age, then you really haven't got much authority to say they
aren't worth the effort of making.

Jack Keller, The Winemaking Home Page
http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/

[Peter Bottomley]

I just made a batch of carrott. I used a power juicer and got as much juice
out of the raw carrots as possible. It took about 2 weeks to ferment and
then another 5 weeks to clear. Make sure you are not driving when you try it
and stick to one or two glasses at a time. boy is it potent.
I did cheat a bit a used Kielosol finings which works a treat.

I have been making 5 gallon (25 litre) of medium white wine from grape
concentrates. Many of which advise leaving for 10 days uoward to clear.
Kielosol clears this wine to crystal brightness in 24 to 48 hours so the
wine is ready in four weeks.

regards

Peter

Post by spud
All of the recipes I have bookmarked or googled so far make carrot
wine by cooking the carrots to retrieve the juice. Now I'm not a
picky eater and I do love my veggies, including cooked, steamed,
whatever carrots.
But, could a guy use raw carrots, or is there a recipe for using raw
carrots? Does anyone have experience with either or both? Seems the
flavor would be more robust, or more 'true' from raw carrots.
At this point I'm most intrigued by the Carrot Whiskey recipe on Jack
Kellers site which use a pound of wheat in the recipe. Sounds
interesting, but it too uses the water from cooked carrots.
Any tips, reflections, pointers etc. concerning carrot wine are
appreciated.
Since the Peach Experiements where put into secondaries, 5 gallons of
Blackberry and 1 gallon of Jalepeno have been commited to glass.
Next on the docket is 25lbs of pears to make a 5 gallon batch, 20lbs.
of plum for a 3 gallon batch. That'll make 44 gallons over 16
different fruits, herbs and veggies for the first year of wine making
- so far.
I know that isn't much for some folks, but now that I "get it", I
have an estimate capacity of about 65+ gallons without aquiring any
more jugs. That should be enough. I think I can find the fruit,
herbs and veggies. The problem I envision now is where the hell do I
store all those bottles!! What a trip!!
Steve Over the Edge Noobie
In Oregon