Celery Wine

[BenHardy]

Has anyone had problems having their celery wine clear? This is the first time I have made it, and you can see a photo of it on my blog (type in 'Ben Hardy celery wine' into any search engine) but it hasn't cleared at all since putting it into its demijohn. Does anyone have any advice?

 

[jrh143]

Not sure

Sorry, Ben. I've never made celery wine before. There are many clarifying agents available commercially that you could try, though. If you want a decent free clarifier, you could try adding one egg white to a batch up to 5 gal. This will clear up some stubborn particulate which even bentonite will leave behind. Worth a shot! Let us know how you fare.

Cheers!

- John Hance
Hance Wines, North Carolina
[email protected]

 

[BenHardy]

Thanks John - I have never even heard of adding an egg-white to wine! I was thinking of putting in some pectolase or amylase when racking (ordinarily I put pectolase in at the initial making stage but did not this time, as I didn't think celery would have much pectin - and I'm pretty certain they don't have much starch!). If that doesn't work, I shall try the egg-white, but will be nervous about doing so.

Ben

 

[joeswine]

Egg whites

EGG WHITES,came along way before the rest of the clearing agents,basically take one egg separate from the yolk,very carefully,put a pinch of salt with the egg ,very gently stir together and then mix into the wine,gently ,DONE>>>no problem..

 

[BenHardy]

Update - my celery wine cleared on its own, but took about six weeks before it showed any signs of doing so. I have now racked it, and it tastes of sweet, alcoholic celery. Not sure this is a good thing.

 

[jeepingchick]

EGG WHITES,came along way before the rest of the clearing agents,basically take one egg separate from the yolk,very carefully,put a pinch of salt with the egg ,very gently stir together and then mix into the wine,gently ,DONE>>>no problem..

ok... so how do you not get food poising from this. I know it must not make you sick if people are doing it, but I am really interested in knowing the "whys" behind this practice

 

[pjd]

It all gets left behind when you rack the wine off of the sediment.

 

[jeepingchick]

It all gets left behind when you rack the wine off of the sediment.

ok, but how does it not infuse the wine n get u sick...

you eat a veg that has next to raw meat and even if you wash it you can still get ill unless you cook it and bring it to a safe temp.

Water can out of your pipes contaminated even though there is no visible sediment in it, only having been in contact with the harmful agent, again requiring boiling to kill bacteria.

It is hard to get my maind around that even though the egg was stirred into the wine, and left to settle out, then racked off, that it will be fine. Contamination is contamination :S

SOOOOOO confused :-(

 

[janzz]

Little paranoid, aren't you? I eat raw meat - ever heard of steak tartare? And it is mixed with a raw egg. I never ever got sick from it. A little of the egg white in wine, which is already preserved by the alcohol and then treated with SO2 will not harm you, be assured,.

 

[GreginND]

Remember that wine has a high enough alcohol and acid that bacteria harmful to us would not survive. It is self protective. Salmonella grows optimally at pH 6.5-7.5. I believe the lowest it could tolerate is somewhere around 4.5.

 

[jeepingchick]

@janzz LOL! yup a bit and nooooooo never had raw meat @GreginND I spose your right about the alch and acid, hadn't thought of that... I feel better now. Thanks for the insight yall, I like knowing the reasons why