Hazel's Celery Wine

[wellie]

I'm learning a tremendous amount here.
Thanks.
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[Hazel at the Hill]

Hi BA - thanks for this - very interesting comments.

I'm glad that you think that I've cracked the sugar issue!

All this is still a heap of theory for me on the taste front, of course - this is only the second batch of wine I've tried - and I'll be making about 10 more 'country wines' (at 12 months maturing a knock) before I will have a chance to enjoy...

I'm interested also in your comment about even if the wine is not quite what it might be, it'll be ok to mix.....suspect I'll be in need of your views on this and other issues in the future.....

[Hazel at the Hill]

I'm learning a tremendous amount here.
Thanks.
X

Not as much as I am, hon!

[Hazel at the Hill]

So the celery wine has had its requisite 4 days 'closely covered' in a fermenting bucket and now having sterilised everything in sight, I've transfered it to a demijohn.

No pictures tho' children, as it's a brown demijohn and therefore makes a boring photo.

The wine was still fizzing in the bucket more than the parsnip was at this point, so I had a dither whether to leave it in the bucket for another day. I decided to put it into the dj tho', because it's a lot more hygenic in there with the airlock.

It's going plop-plop-plop, but doesn't seem in danger of fizzin' out all over.

So that's that one for the next 6 months, I guess. CJJ doesn't say how long to leave in in the dj before bottling, or how long maturing in the bottles before drinking. Any thoughts?

[shirlthegirl43]

Leave in the dj till the bubbles stop coming through the airlock and SG has stabilised. Then rack off the lees and leave to clear, then bottle (or keep in another dj if you prefer) and age till it tastes good

[Hazel at the Hill]

Oh! Forgot to say - SG down to 1006 from 1096 at the mo.

[Flummery]

Hi! Hazel, Shirl and friends. I have read through the whole thread as I have helped in this area before but it looks like you are there at the end of the thread.
I will try to find my previous post which relates to this discussion.

I don't wish to be adverserial but Flummery it depends on your definition of wine.

I realise that most continental wine is made from the 'vine' ( maybe the connection ??) but if you consider beer/lager as 4-7% alchohol, and wines as 10-14% then you get into dark country. What about Barley wines 8-10%.

If I make a wine from blackberries have I made a wine ?
If I make wine from gooseberries have I made a wine ?
Damsons, apples or pears, what have I made?

One thing I have made is a really nice drink which is about 10-14% alchohol.

I love country wines, I celebrate country wines. So carry on, some will not brew out as you want, but then save these to mix with others.

Many of the 'best' wineries mix different years produce to give a taste that is acceptable.

Have fun.

I would just say I define wine as pleasant. I've drunk lots of veg wines that weren't.

[Hazel at the Hill]

Hrmph.

Now hands up all grapes who thought that demijohns were all the same size? Yep, me too. And guess wot - we'd be wrong.

Celery wine has been fizzin' away in a brown dj, and now that I've racked the parsnip wine off, it leaves me with a free clear dj, so I using a funnel I whizzed the celery-brown-dj into the clear dj. The plan is that I can see what the celery wine gets up to, and how it's clearing.

Brown dj = big, clear dj = small.

All I can say is that it's a bloody good job that I was pouring the wine into the funnel in the dj in the sink.

[shirlthegirl43]

Oh bugger, how much of a difference Hazel? You could put the leftover wine into a sterilised bottle and stick a wad of cotton wool in the top. Then you can use the stuff in the bottle to top up after racking off the lees later. Hope that makes sense.

[scarey55]

Now hands up all grapes who thought that demijohns were all the same size? Yep, me too. And guess wot - we'd be wrong.

* holds hand up.

I thought they were all the same size - and I've been on this wine making caper for a while now, thanks for the heads up. Bet you were madder 'n ell

[Hazel at the Hill]

Yep - it makes sense to me, but I'm not sure of the difference (it can't be THAT much) as all the loverly celery wine which overflowed went down the plug 'ole.

Ah - live and learn.

I'll measure and label the djs now - I suspect they are metric/imperial differences or something?

[Flummery]

How can you metricate a gallon of wine? It makes 6 bottles! They haven't changed the size of a bottle of wine for heaven's sake. Press on kid!

[shirlthegirl43]

It could be that somehow you have landed up with a US gallon demijohn, that would be a little smaller than ours.

[Hazel at the Hill]

And now that the celery wine is in the clear dj, I can see what's going on.

It's still bubbling a bit - it'll be interesting to see how long it takes to clear compared to the parsnip wine which was only at the 'emulsion paint' stage for about a week.

[wellie]

Wow! that looks very profesh Haze. Watching with interest still, and I'm learning a lot here.....
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