Carrot Wine

[HawleyFarms]

I was going to resurrect one of the long dead carrot wine threads here but decided to start a new one instead.

I have about 6 pounds of carrots that I tossed in the freezer yesterday to start a batch of carrot wine with. I noticed a lot of the recipes call for boiling the carrots instead of the freeze/thaw cold press extraction method.

I have probably another 6 pounds that I could use to try a 2nd recipe.

I am curious as to how others carrot wines have turned out and which methods they've used.

Many of the recipes call for adding raisins, oranges/limes/lemons and combinations of the 2. Some (mostly from the UK) also call for using wheat/barley in primary which seems to be for the purpose of a sour mash type addition with many in that part of the world calling the finished wine a carrot "whiskey".

Anyone have any thoughts? First 1 gallon batch I plan to freeze/thaw the carrots and then ferment the shredded carrots in primary using water and honey (not real fond of table sugar wines). Second 1 gallon batch I am thinking of trying out these other carrot "whiskey" versions.

Any feedback from those who have tried a carrot wine recipe is much appreciated!

 

[bernardsmith]

I cheated. My local supermarket sells commercially prepared organically farmed carrot juice. I simply added some sugar (1.090) and yeast (my go to is 71B) and some nutrient (I am not at home and so don't have access to my notes and do not recall if I added any acid blend) I cracked open a bottle a week or so ago after a year's aging and it is surprisingly peppery and very drinkable and very clear.

That said, I assume that the juice manufacturer simply juiced the carrots - no heat (my guess is that the grains in the recipes are for nutrients (perhaps also some tannin for additional mouthfeel?) for the yeast and the fruit is to add some acidity)

 

[theDREWery]

I made a carrot wine from the recipe on Jack Keller's site, except I dropped the wheat and citrus fruits: http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/reques27.asp

Turned out good at 6 months, fantastic at a year. Most of what I could taste was raisin, the gf could only taste carrot. Would probably blow you away with some pie spices. Definitely going in the rotation, will be using a mash tun to cook 40 lbs of carrots

 

[bmd2k1]

I made a carrot wine from the recipe on Jack Keller's site, except I dropped the wheat and citrus fruits: http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/reques27.asp

Turned out good at 6 months, fantastic at a year. Most of what I could taste was raisin, the gf could only taste carrot. Would probably blow you away with some pie spices. Definitely going in the rotation, will be using a mash tun to cook 40 lbs of carrots

Are you still making this? Any tips/tricks?

 

[bmd2k1]

I cheated. My local supermarket sells commercially prepared organically farmed carrot juice. I simply added some sugar (1.090) and yeast (my go to is 71B) and some nutrient (I am not at home and so don't have access to my notes and do not recall if I added any acid blend) I cracked open a bottle a week or so ago after a year's aging and it is surprisingly peppery and very drinkable and very clear.

That said, I assume that the juice manufacturer simply juiced the carrots - no heat (my guess is that the grains in the recipes are for nutrients (perhaps also some tannin for additional mouthfeel?) for the yeast and the fruit is to add some acidity)

Still in ur rotation? If so.....whats ur go to recipe?

Cheers [emoji111]

 

[bernardsmith]

No "recipe". I add sugar to reach a desired gravity. I add nutrients for the yeast (usually about 1/4 t), generally, I don't add any acidity until after the fermentation has ended because a) the yeast don't need a low pH and too low a pH will stall the fermentation. and b) TA is important - but that has little to do with the strength of the acids (pH) and everything to do with amount of acids. TA is all about taste so you taste the wine and see if it has sufficient zing for the ABV and final sweetness.. (you want the TA to be around 6.5 g/L and c) pH is sorta kinda critical for aging and the pH will determine how much free sulfur you need to add at bottling...
Finally, I likely add tannins - but I use the guide on the bottle to determine how much I add.
Carrot wine is not in fact a wine I have made in the last four years. My wines tend to be meads (t'ej and traditionals) and elderflower with some fruit wines thrown into the mix. The other wine I have been making is based on whey from my cheese making. Believe it or not whey wine after about 3 years can taste incredibly fruit like . You can ferment the whey by adding a lactic enzyme (lactaid) to break down the lactose into glucose and galactose sugars accessible to wine yeast and/or you can add sugars to the whey and ferment the added sugar using the whey only as the source of flavor much like you might do when making wines from flowers.

 

[Mr_S_Jerusalem]

Viking whey wine:

 

[bernardsmith]

Blaand is perhaps an acquired taste. But it is very drinkable. You can also add fruits and/or nuts etc to add additional complexity. Try adding caramelized sugar to the fermenting whey.

I am not certain but I strongly suspect that the Scots who made this - this was not only a "Viking" drink) a) used buttermilk as their source of whey and b) fermented the whey itself (my guess is that Marxianus yeast was embedded in their wooden kegs) This meant that the wine was never much stronger than about 3% so it was drunk more like a beer than a wine. Hard for home wine makers to obtain Marxianus but if you add lactase to the whey (I add about 3-4 tabs/gallon, the enzyme breaks down the lactose into glucose and galactose and wine yeast can eat those sugars.

An additional thought: You can certainly make blaand from whey you get after adding an acid to the milk to make a soft cheese, but it works too if you add cultures and rennet when you are making hard cheese. It is a very good way to make use of what is for all intents and purposes a waste product (sure you can add whey to dough or feed animals with it or add to the compost or directly to tomato plants.. but making a wine from whey would seem to me to be real value added if you make cheese regularly (I make about a pound from a gallon of milk almost every week and so have about 7 quarts of whey as a by-product.
It's not swamped the market yet but there are distilleries now making spirits from fermented whey

Last thought, I made a similar wine about four years ago - kumis and cracked open a bottle a couple of weeks ago. The taste was incredible. Surprisingly very fruity. Very delicious... but very different from the flavors it exhibited a few months after bottling.