# Cucumber Wine



## ROADRUNNER (Mar 27, 2011)

I want to make this; figure it's close to the honeydew ginger wine I made. Have been ALL OVER the net w/ very little success. Here's what I've gleaned so far for a 5 gal batch. Does this look right to anyone?

8 lbs cukes
4 oranges
4 lemons
ginger 
14 c sugar
water obviously
4 1/2 tsp acid blend - whoa! really?
2 tsp pectic enzyme
1/2 tsp tannin
3 tsp yeast nutrient

or...

2 cans grape juice concentrate
9 c sugar?
no lemon - 4 tsp acid blend
1/4 tsp tannin
2 tsp yeast nutrient


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## grapeman (Mar 27, 2011)

Why on God's earth did you decide to make a cucumber wine? There are some things you are better of without making into wine. Honeydew at least has a good flavor. I can't imaging making a wine with cucumber as a base. Eat the cucumbers, burp a few times and have a glass of honeydew wine.

Just my opinion.............................


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## Runningwolf (Mar 27, 2011)

grapeman said:


> Why on God's earth did you decide to make a cucumber wine? There are some things you are better of without making into wine. Honeydew at least has a good flavor. I can't imaging making a wine with cucumber as a base. Eat the cucumbers, burp a few times and have a glass of honeydew wine.
> 
> Just my opinion.............................



....so Rich how do you really feel about it. LOL


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## Minnesotamaker (Mar 28, 2011)

You have to think on the bright side. Maybe the wine will spoil and it'll taste like one of my favorite summer garden treats.... cucumbers and vinegar.


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## ROADRUNNER (Apr 2, 2011)

OK all you nay-sayers; I'm gonna make it anyway. I've done a little homework on measurements & here's what I've got. Wish I could find honeydew to mix in but have an alternative. This is for a 5 gal batch.

8-10 lbs cukes & 4 lbs pears
Ginger
4 1/2 lbs sugar, maybe more - will have to ck the PA
4 t. acid blend
2 t. yeast nutrient
1 t. pectic enzyme
1/2 t. tannin

Other alternative adds - pineapple, honeydew, lime, basil, rosemary


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## Julie (Apr 2, 2011)

take a reading before adding sugar, you won't want to go over 1.090, add whatever amount of sugar to get you there. after mixing everything and before adding yeast check your acid level to make sure you have enough. And did you check the freezer section of your local grocery store? You might find some frozen honeydew.

I'm curious about this, could you keep posting your progress?


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## grapeman (Apr 2, 2011)

So you aren't really making a cucumber wine, you have a blend going. I would rather just make the pear wine, but hey, everybody has their own tastes. If it turns out good, I may need to raid the family produce farm. We typically throw away hundreds to thousands of bushels of cukes that don't sell or ever even get picked................




ROADRUNNER said:


> OK all you nay-sayers; I'm gonna make it anyway. I've done a little homework on measurements & here's what I've got. Wish I could find honeydew to mix in but have an alternative. This is for a 5 gal batch.
> 
> 8-10 lbs cukes & 4 lbs pears
> Ginger
> ...


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## Runningwolf (Apr 2, 2011)

Road runner that is way to cool. If you don't like it maybe you can turn it to vinegar and make a salad dressing out of it.


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## Julie (Apr 2, 2011)

Ah Dan that is what I was thinking, if it is not good for drinking maybe it would be good for cooking.


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## docanddeb (Apr 2, 2011)

After my beet wine fiasco... and the amount of wine I have in the basement... 

I'm going to skip the weird wines I had an idea to try... just don't need that much more wine!

I don't have wine drinking friends...

oh wait...

I don't have any FRIENDS.....

Debbie


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## Runningwolf (Apr 2, 2011)

docanddeb said:


> After my beet wine fiasco... and the amount of wine I have in the basement...
> 
> I'm going to skip the weird wines I had an idea to try... just don't need that much more wine!
> 
> ...





WOW, DID WE JUST TAKE A BEATING! AND HERE I THOUGHT YOU JUST FOUND SOME NEW FRIENDS. AND WHAT ABOUT WHAT YOU WHISPERED TO ME IN THE CHAT ROOM?


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## docanddeb (Apr 2, 2011)

Oh that....I didn't know you were listening when I was whispering!

So come drink my wine!!

Debbie


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## ROADRUNNER (Apr 3, 2011)

This will be my April Fools Wine! I was able to find some fresh honeydew; really meaty. I ended up with 10 lbs cukes & 5 lbs honeydew. SG needed a leg up so I've got 8 lbs of sugar in there to get it up to 1.088. Acidity was only 20% so I've got 10 tsp acid blend to get it to 50%; I can always add more later. Nixed the tannin in the recipe. Huge amount of fruit for 5 gals; ended up adding 2 3/4 gal water to get it up to 4.5 gals before adding all the extra sugar. Must smells wonderfully cucumbery. We will see what happens!


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## Julie (Apr 3, 2011)

are you planning on backsweetening? If so think about using a bottle of light corn syrup. Since you didn't use any tannin the wine might be a little on the watery side and if so this will thicken it up some. This is really sounding interesting. Cucumbers are very refreshing and this just might become a good wine, you just never know.


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## Runningwolf (Apr 3, 2011)

Roadrunner, i mentioned at dinner tonight that someone is thinking about making a cucumber wine and the first comment was the same thing Julie said. "Oh that sounds refreshing"


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## ROADRUNNER (Apr 19, 2011)

Well, I made it and it's awful. If you like drinking your veggies, you'd like it. I think the rind took over the taste. Not bitter, but oh boy, do you know you're drinking a veggie. I did backsweeten a bit, didn't really need much. It's got that funky aftertaste that makes you roll your tongue! Haven't had the heart to throw it out yet - I'm still looking at it....

Oh, well - on to the next one - blueberry, Lalvin ICV D254, vanilla beans....


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## lloyd (Apr 19, 2011)

LOL I guess it happens to all of us. We make some funky wine when were trying to be creative


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## grapeman (Apr 20, 2011)

We all want to experiment..........................................

It may improve if you let it age- 50 years or so.


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