# Veg Wines?



## Leanne (Aug 9, 2009)

I want to try some veg wines. Do any of you make them? Are there specific differences between these and fruit wines?
Any tips would be greatly appreciated.


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## St Allie (Aug 9, 2009)

Starchy veg wines like potato wine need a special enzyme to help clear them.. it's called amylase and has a shelf life of about 6 months. You need to buy it fresh from your local home brew shop.

what are you thinking of making?

Allie


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## Leanne (Aug 9, 2009)

Thank you.
I have carrots, peas, leeks, swede, potatoes and parsnips. Which would you use? Are these any good?


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## Beta_Grumm (Aug 9, 2009)

I've never made any, but In my little winemakers recipe book they have recipes for corrot wine, tomatoe wine,beet wine, corn, onion (gross), parsnip, potato, pumpkin and turnip.

Like i said. i've never tried this, but I would be happy to send you one of the recipes( or however many want)


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## Leanne (Aug 9, 2009)

That would be wonderful. Thank you.


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## St Allie (Aug 9, 2009)

Boozehag ( a member here).. recently made a potato wine and said it was quite good.

She was pleasantly surprised.

I have planted enough swedes to have a go at swede wine in a couple of months. Have heard good reports on parsnip wine.. but they're expensive here, so will have to grow my own to give that wine a try.

this website below, does 1 gallon batch wine recipes..have used it for a few recipes.. They come out fine.

http://www.wine-making-guides.com/wine_recipes.html

Allie


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## Leanne (Aug 9, 2009)

Thank you.
I grow a lot of fruit and veg Allie. Another obsession I'm afraid.

Someone I knew used to make pea wine and it was lovely. I never got the recipe though. I've looked around the internet a bit but can't find anthing that looks like it. Does anyone have any ideas on that one? It had a really delicate flavour.

Thanks again.


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## St Allie (Aug 9, 2009)

If you mean pea pod wine?.. that seems to be very popular, as there are a lot of recipes around for it.

I grow an awful lot of stuff here too.. hehehe another obsession we have in common.

Allie


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## Luc (Aug 10, 2009)

I've done parsley, and must say I was very pleasantly surprised.

http://wijnmaker.blogspot.com/2009/06/uit-je-oren-in-de-wijn-parsley-wine.html

Most vegetable ingredients will be low in acid and in wines made from leaves like parsley there will also be almost none sugar and nutrients.

Measuring SG and acidity and adjusting accordingly is the way to go here.

Luc


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## Leanne (Aug 10, 2009)

Could be peapod I suppose. He called it pea. I just haven't found a recipe for pea though. Loads for peapod.

Thanks Luc. I did wonder about sugar and nutrient values but I'm happy to be obsessive about measuring. I'll even go measure out of general boredom.


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## Sacalait (Aug 10, 2009)

I've made tomato wine which was awful...won't do that again. However, coushaw (a type of pumpkin, crooked neck and green stripped) turned out very well.


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## Leanne (Aug 11, 2009)

Pumpkin sounds interesting. Wouldn't have thought of that.
I have started a carrot wine going today. Could be interesting too.
I've also heard that some of the more unusual flower wines can be fun too.


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## Luc (Aug 11, 2009)

When I came home from my holliday a few weeks ago
I tasted my pumpkin wine. I had a bout 7 gallon (30 liter)
and decided to pour them all down the drain.......

Luc


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## Boozehag (Aug 13, 2009)

Hello Leanne, yay another female here!!! We're not weird after all!!!!

I made a potato wine as one of my first wines and only because my Dad who used to make wines made it and said it was lovely!!!

It was interesting although it took a while to clear (Could have been my newbie impatience too though!) and I had to get extra stuff like Allie said as in the amylase.

I did like the finished product although I could nt get my head around the fact it was potatos and doubt I would make another batch to be honest!

I can give you the receipe if you want it....in fact I think I have already posted it on here somewhere?????


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## Leanne (Aug 14, 2009)

I'd love the recipe please.

Lol. Winemaking does seem male oriented somehow. I still get odd looks from my friends. They don't mind drinking it though I notice.


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## Madriver Wines (Aug 14, 2009)

Luc said:


> When I came home from my holliday a few weeks ago
> I tasted my pumpkin wine. I had a bout 7 gallon (30 liter)
> and decided to *pour them* *all down the drain*.......
> 
> Luc


 Woa Luc what happened?? I am about to try a gallon of pumpkin and starting to rethink it. Tastes bad?
Not sure why wine making is male oriented?? Plenty of room for everyone who wants to give ot a try. maybe it is the stinky part?? Our friend Jane, who supplies me with 4L jugs, used to make wine but quit some where over the years. Lost interest she said. No one obsessed like me to keep her going I guess.


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## Leanne (Aug 14, 2009)

Lol. It is an obsession for me. I think winemaking all the time. I go shopping and other woman think of shoes or bags or something. I'm looking for wine stuff.

I won't bother with the pumpkin then. I do want to see what I can do with peapods though. I'd like to try some herb wines too I think.


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## Boozehag (Aug 14, 2009)

Here you go-

Potato Wine

6 lbs potatoes 
2-1/2 lbs granulated sugar 
1 lb raisins 
1 tsp. acid blend 
1/2 tsp. pectic enzyme 
1 gallon water 
1 tsp yeast nutrient 
wine yeast 
Peel potatoes and grate roughly. Put prepared potatoes in pot and just cover with water. Bring to boil, cover pot, reduce and simmer for 25 minutes. 
Mince or chop the raisins and put in primary with half the sugar. Strain the potatoes over primary. Add enough water to make up a gallon, stir to dissolve sugar. and add acid blend, yeast nutrient and pectic enzyme. Cover with cloth, wait 12 hours, and add the yeast. Cover again and ferment 5 to 7 days, stirring twice daily. Strain through nylon, add remainder of sugar, stir well to dissolve, pour into secondary, and fit with airlock. Rack every 30 days until clear. Wait another 30 days, stabilize and rack after additional 10 days. Sweeten to taste or bottle dry. Taste after 6 months.


Have to admit my eyes light up when people ask me about wine making, its an obsession for sure! Although I still like my shoes and handbag shopping too!!!!! I have two friends who make wine and both are female (Allie and another who isnt in our group!) and no one else seems that keen...like you though they like to help me drink it!!!!!


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## Leanne (Aug 15, 2009)

Thank you. I'll give that a try. Guess I know how I'm spending my weekend!


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## Leanne (Aug 17, 2009)

Started the Potato Wine. Interesting. I'll look forward to trying it. Thanks for the recipe.


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## Madriver Wines (Aug 17, 2009)

Luc says he dumped out his pumpkin wine so I am hesitant to try one. Any advice on it? What should I expect?


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## Luc (Aug 17, 2009)

Madriver Wines said:


> Woa Luc what happened?? I am about to try a gallon of pumpkin and starting to rethink it. Tastes bad?



Sorry overlooked this post.

Well it just tasted bad. 

It was well made, not spoiled not to acidic not overly sweet or anything. A well made wine with a bad taste. We did not like it at all.

But then again, it is all a matter of taste.

I made one in 2007 and published the recipe on my log in september 2008. I made one last year again and used different pumpkins (do you have any idea on how many sorts pumpkins there are !!!!)
Although there were several people really enthousiastic about it on different forums, we just did not like the taste.

*Leanne:*
Now parsley wine, that is something totally different !!!
That is a veg I can recommend just like rhubarb.

Luc


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## Leanne (Aug 17, 2009)

Ok. I'll try that Luc. Thank you.


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## Boozehag (Aug 18, 2009)

No problem. Let me know what you think of the finished product. Everyone who tasted mine liked it......it had a sort of spicey fruity flavour that I think was from the oranges.


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## Madriver Wines (Aug 18, 2009)

Luc:
I guess I will go ahead and try a batch. Thanks for all the info and help.


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## bein_bein (Aug 27, 2009)

Leanne,
This past Feb. I did a carrot and a beet wine. Through the process the beet wine seemed to be progressing and tasting much better than the carrot. After I had racked everything for the second time (after about 4 months from start) I added just few oak chips to the carrot, suspended in a nylon sac. I removed them after about 48 hrs.
By Aug they had cleared ok, but needed some help. Added superkleer and by mid-Aug they were ready to bottle. By now the carrot was tasting _very_ good. The beet was good as well but on the verge of being dust (read _very _ dry) I think I may have ruined the beet in the back sweetening process (read about it here), but the carrot was bottled as is.

All in all I am very pleased with how they turned out. The beet has, what I would call, a strong earthiness to it with a beet flavor, and fair body. The carrot is lighter tasting but has good body and the oak seemed to balance it out nicely.

These were both 1 gal batches, I will probably do both these recipes again in the future, but in a larger batch so there's more reward for all my hard work!


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## donnaclif (Aug 27, 2009)

just inquire about finings used during manufacturing.. coz there are some additives which have some animal extracts in it. fining agent is a processing aid not an additive... but vegans can be assured that it is a veggie wine


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## Midwest Vintner (Aug 27, 2009)

Sacalait said:


> I've made tomato wine which was awful...won't do that again.



try green tomato. MUCH better. plus you can just do it at the end of season when they won't ripen well anyway. you will be very surprised with the taste, i promise! 

anyone who tries tomato wine, remember that there is alot of acid in them. watch that as our first batch seemed to pull more acidity in after the first day.


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## donnaclif (Sep 3, 2009)

Midwest Vintner said:


> try green tomato. MUCH better. plus you can just do it at the end of season when they won't ripen well anyway. you will be very surprised with the taste, i promise!
> 
> anyone who tries tomato wine, remember that there is alot of acid in them. watch that as our first batch seemed to pull more acidity in after the first day.



Is green tomato is some kind of wine? coz i havent heard of it before


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## Midwest Vintner (Sep 3, 2009)

donnaclif said:


> Is green tomato is some kind of wine? coz i havent heard of it before



we make a few wines you wouldn't see on the shelf anywhere 

there's a recipe somewhere as that is what gave my father the idea. it's just like lemonade with a hint of tomato on the end. not bad considering you would normally toss all the green tomato's at the end of the growing season.


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