Hazel's Celery Wine

[Hazel at the Hill]

If I may be so bold......

The Vine is SO useful as a record of the what's and the where's (not to mention that you grapes comments and input are SO helpful for a wine making newbie) I thought I might open a thread to mark the start of my Celery Wine.

So.

Shirlthegirl most generously sent me some celery seed last year (seed like flipping dust - one sneeze and I'd have had it!) and I sowed it in a pot in April, then planted it out in July, and up it all came (all 1lb of string of it!) last week.

Excellent for wine making, tho'! Hurrah! Good old CJJ has a celery wine recipe listed, so here we go...

[shirlthegirl43]

Just glad something came from the packet of seed! Hope the wine is worth it.

[Hazel at the Hill]

Off we go then - with 1lb of home growed celery topped up with celery from Aldi as 4lb is called for.

(an aside - the celery 'head' sold in Aldi are marked up in the bag as 350g each - but on weighing them, they are 500g each...)

Anyhows - chop celery and boil in a pan 'till tender'....

[shirlthegirl43]

Anyhows - chop celery and boil in a pan 'till tender'....

Okay, I will check back for an update in a week or so then!!

[Hazel at the Hill]

Okay, I will check back for an update in a week or so then!!

Oh b*gger - that was my first question....

However... I'll use the time wisely by asking the following:

I bought a tin of grape concentrate from Wilko - I'm guessing that after I strain the celery ('when tender'), I add the concentrate and enough sugar to make an SG of - say - 1080 (and recipe calls for a bit of citric acid), then cool and add yeast and nutrient?

[shirlthegirl43]

Just typed a big load of tosh, read the berry book, deleted the tosh and now I am starting over!

Personally, I would strain it into a fresh pot and leave it to cool. Tomorrow, take out some of the liquid (a couple of pints should do) and heat it up ready to dissolve the sugar in it. Remove another pint of liquor and set aside. Add the grape concentrate to the remaining liquor, test the SG - depending on what that reading is, dissolve sugar in the hot liquid, you might only need 2lbs instead of the 3lbs in the recipe but not sure. Gradually add the sugar solution to the container with the celery juice and grape concentrate. Test SG as you go (obviously the time this takes depends on the SG reading of celery juice and concentrate). Faff about until you have about a gallon of juicy stuff with an SG of around 1.080 (topping up with the reserved juice if required). Add the citric acid, yeast nutrient and yeast according to the recipe - watch out for action.

The other reason for waiting till tomorrow to do this, you might get better advice from peeps with a lot more brewing experience than me

[Hazel at the Hill]

Right - agreed on the first point, then tomorrow I can mess about with the tricky bit when I 've not been on your wine, Shirley...!

Celery now the colour of old socks (and have tested for tenderness) so will strain it off now.

Apparently I can use the celery as a cooked vegetable - but given afformentioned colour of old socks and sogginess, I think I'll give it a miss!

[scarey55]

...The other reason for waiting till tomorrow to do this, you might get better advice from peeps with a lot more brewing experience than me

Dare I say it Shirley, you seem to have all the experience we need here, you certainly know a lot about winemaking as far as I am concerned

Hazel darling, celery wine... are you sure
xx

[shirlthegirl43]

Did it make sense Hazel? I got mk1 son to read the Berry instructions, then read mine and he says it was okay but I still wasn't sure.

[shirlthegirl43]

Dare I say it Shirley, you seem to have all the experience we need here, you certainly know a lot about winemaking as far as I am concerned

Hazel darling, celery wine... are you sure
xx

Thank you for that Scarey, but I only started brewing in 2005 and make mostly kit wines (quick and easy and guaranteed drinkable). I am getting braver at experimenting but would never have tried celery!

[Hazel at the Hill]

Did it make sense Hazel? I got mk1 son to read the Berry instructions, then read mine and he says it was okay but I still wasn't sure.

Yes. I've read Berry about 15 times on that 'at the same concentration as the original' bit (in italics, so it's prolly important!) and couldn't understand it - and even though I had to read yours though a couple of times (blame the wine!) I have had a lightbulb moment - thank you - and to Aranthos.

I am getting braver at experimenting but would never have tried celery!

Hazel darling, celery wine... are you sure
xx

Oh. Right. Now you tell me. Spot Pioneer Haze going where brave grapes have never dared to tread.....

Right-o - I now have a gallon of 'celery liquor' cooling in the bucket. Will do the grape concentrate/sugar adding thingy tomorrow.

Thanks, Shirley!

[Flummery]

Don't want to put a downer but don't expect veg wines to taste like wine! They'll get you pie-eyed alright but I just don't like them!
CJJ Berry was writing in the 60s I think. People didn't drink wine then. I used to make wine with my Dad in those days. It was alcohol. It was cheap.

[Hazel at the Hill]

Don't want to put a downer but don't expect veg wines to taste like wine! They'll get you pie-eyed alright but I just don't like them!

'salright Flum - my celery wine might be revoltin', but then again it might taste BRILL

Don't know till you try - and if we have a GrapeFest at mine, you'll know what to avoid!

[Flummery]

Doesn't help that I can't stand celery Hazel! At least I LIKE the flavour of fruit!

[JanieB]

Remembering the discussion last Sat, and now reading this thread, I've looked in my CJJ Berry books. I've got the originals published 19 cough, cough predecimal and the revised versions 1978 and todays 2006.

Right so earliest ones don't have Celery Wine. 1978 has the following:-

Ingredients
3 lb celery (inc. green parts)
3 lb cooking apples (or 1 quart cider)
1/2 pint grape juice concentrate
3 lb sugar
1/4 oz tartaric acid
1/4 oz ammonium phosphate
Water to make it up to 1 gal.
Yeast.

Method
Thinly slice celery and grate cooking apples, including core and skins. Put in fermentation vessel together with sugar. Pour over boiling water and stir to dissolve sugar. When cool add grape concentrate (and cider if apples not used) and the rest of the ingredients. Ferment for 10 days stirring every day. Strain into fermentation vessel, fit lock and ferment out and rack in the usual way.

------------------------------------------------------------------

So I would say that you could use a variation of this theme and add grape concentrate and/or cider adding up to 3/4 pint to improve the must.

Just my 2p worth.

Janie

Don't want to put a downer but don't expect veg wines to taste like wine! They'll get you pie-eyed alright but I just don't like them!
CJJ Berry was writing in the 60s I think. People didn't drink wine then. I used to make wine with my Dad in those days. It was alcohol. It was cheap.

They are called "country wines" and even the veg ones can taste like fruit wines.

Some "proper" wines are revolting as are some country wines. It takes time and experimentation to find which ones you like and which you don't. I've chucked home-made wines in the past as I didn't like them and found an odd bottle later that I've missed that has tasted glorious having been kept a few years . (That was Elderberry by the way, and Barley can be a bit like that as well).

You also have to experiment with the main ingredient, water, sugar combination as some people prefer fuller bodied or sweeter wines than others.

My favourite home-made wine is an Elderflower recipe I have which should be called Elderflower and Rosepetal. It tastes remarkably like a Piersporter and is light and refreshing.

When I first started making my own wines, the recipes called for too much sugar and very heavy sweet results. I learnt to cut back on the amount of sugar until I had a result (nearly wrote "got") that I liked.

Janie