Hazel's Parsnip Wine

[SpaceCaptainTheodore]

Sorry for my non-response. The wine resembled lemon barley water in appearance, however, after moving it it cleared dramatically within a week (to somewhere warmer, strangely). I wouldn't taste it yet, it smells a bit 'estery'. I used pectinase a la Berry, not amylase, and it seems to have worked fine. Possibly a temperature thing, I assume an enzyme will be more efficient at something closer to body heat than 'shed heat'. Thanks for the advice though.

Its currently sitting at 17% making it almost as lethal as the blueberry I opened last night (a shade over 18%, ouch).

[Snadger]

I'd love to have a go at making my own wine, but I fear I'll give myself or anyone who tries it alcohol poisoning (and not the good type either!)

Methinks you only get dodgy alcohol if you distil the wine into a spirit.

Normal winemaking will always give you 'good' alcohol!

[Hilary B]

I'd love to have a go at making my own wine, but I fear I'll give myself or anyone who tries it alcohol poisoning (and not the good type either!)

Get a kit and try that. If it goes OK (and as long as you follow the instructions it will go OK), you will have the equipment to do the more adventurous stuff.

[chris]

I'd love to have a go at making my own wine, but I fear I'll give myself or anyone who tries it alcohol poisoning (and not the good type either!)

[Snadger]

Seem to remember from my wine making days adding ground up eggshells to clear wine? The only wine I could never clear was some I made from fennel trying to get the anniseedy taste.
I just blagged it of course, but still never got it to clear!

[Hilary B]

...Having just reviewed this thread I now fear for my Parsnip wine which, if feeling friendly, an observer would say best resembles lemon barley water. Heaven knows how it's going to taste...

That is where a dose of amylase might be handy. The cloudy appearance (which I assume is what you are talking about) is quite likely to be starch, and if so amylase will remove it.
To test whether this really is a starch haze you need some iodine (the sort that is used by shepherds to sterlize the navels of newborn lambs). Put a spoonful of the cloudy wine in an eggcup (or some disposable/easily REALLY washable small container) and add a drop of the iodine. If it goes inky, you've got starch!
I'm not sure of the correct proceedure for using amylase on an otherwise finished wine. CJJ Berry may have instructions, or someone who actually makes that sort of wine......

[Two_Sheds]

I tasted my 10 month old parsnip wine last night, and it's ... odd. I think I'll leave it another year before I open another

[Hazel at the Hill]

...Having just reviewed this thread I now fear for my Parsnip wine which, if feeling friendly, an observer would say best resembles lemon barley water. Heaven knows how it's going to taste...

Welcome to the Vine SCT - but you tantalise us with your lack of detail!

Resembling lemon barley water in appearance, or taste??

My parsnip wine has always cleared like a dream, despite dire warnings in all the books. I have a soft spot for parsnip wine as (a) it was the first wine I made (b) it behaves impeccably for me, clearing quite nicely (c) the SG readings make it about 16/17% (d) if you leave it alone for a good 12 months and more, it will taste all oaky/vanilla - like chardonny - so even the homemade wine scoffers will be impressed.

But I don't waste it on those blaggards! If they wish to scoff then they can spend their money at Tesco instead for their 3 for £10 and I'll keep my wine for myself!

[SpaceCaptainTheodore]

...Having just reviewed this thread I now fear for my Parsnip wine which, if feeling friendly, an observer would say best resembles lemon barley water. Heaven knows how it's going to taste...

[Hilary B]

Pectic enzyme removes unwanted protein, helping clearing.
Amylase converts unfermentable starches to fermentable sugars - don't think it'll affect wine haze much.
If you can't find a place to buy amylase, or can't wait for delivery, you can do what tribal-stylee brewers have done for millennia: spit into the wort(beer) or must(wine)

Having had great success with elderberries last year, I'm just making some parsnip now. I've sort-of averaged a load of recipes I've found, and come up with:
4lb parsnips srubbed and sliced, boiled about 25 mins, strained onto 3lb sugar (1lb is dark brown coz I happened to have that in the cupboard, should add an interesting colour), about 1/2lb chopped raisins and 2Tbsp citric acid. When that's simmered for about 40 minutes I'll put it in a fermenting bin with a crushed Campden tablet and leave it to cool to 21C. Then pectolase, yeast nutrient, and yeast; stir daily for 10 days; rack into a demijohn. Then the long wait...
I made some plum wine last year too. It's... odd. Drinkable, but odd. I think it may age nicely though.

Pectic enzyme removes pectin, which is usually found in fruit (it's what makes jam set). Shouldn't be needed for the parsnips, maybe the raisins (but I don't think they have much).
Yes, starch can cause a haze (so all the books say, I've never made wine from starchy ingredients so it's not a problem I've had to deal with).
Yeah, plum wine does have an ... odd... taste (well the one we made did) it got nicer after several month's storage.

[oldbloke]

Oops, praps that's why my parsnip wine wasn't that great - I would've followed the CJ Berry recipe and used peptic enzyme

Looking forward to "watching" the great Sutton Coldfield experiment

Pectic enzyme removes unwanted protein, helping clearing.
Amylase converts unfermentable starches to fermentable sugars - don't think it'll affect wine haze much.
If you can't find a place to buy amylase, or can't wait for delivery, you can do what tribal-stylee brewers have done for millennia: spit into the wort(beer) or must(wine)

Having had great success with elderberries last year, I'm just making some parsnip now. I've sort-of averaged a load of recipes I've found, and come up with:
4lb parsnips srubbed and sliced, boiled about 25 mins, strained onto 3lb sugar (1lb is dark brown coz I happened to have that in the cupboard, should add an interesting colour), about 1/2lb chopped raisins and 2Tbsp citric acid. When that's simmered for about 40 minutes I'll put it in a fermenting bin with a crushed Campden tablet and leave it to cool to 21C. Then pectolase, yeast nutrient, and yeast; stir daily for 10 days; rack into a demijohn. Then the long wait...
I made some plum wine last year too. It's... odd. Drinkable, but odd. I think it may age nicely though.

[Two_Sheds]

Keep racking until it clears (I do it once a month)

[Brengirl]

My parsnip has been bubbling away for a couple of weeks so I decided to check SP. I didn't do this to start with but the recipe said 3lb sugar so it must have been quite high/low. Well today it is 0.990. Do you leave it to clear itself or use finings. What do I do next?

[Two_Sheds]

can anyone tell me PLEEZE how much nutrient, yeast and amylase to add for 4.5l of this????

1 tsp of each.

Yep, it's always one teaspoon of each. The yeast packets usually say 'makes up to 5 gallons of wine', but I tend to make a packet go to 3 gallons (I find thirds easier to measure out by eye than fifths)

[Scottishnewbie]

thank you thank you thank youxx off to finish it now