Red Beet Wine

[PolishWineP]

I started a red beet wine and will pull the beets in the bag in another day. The color is vivid, to say the least. Any advice on maintaining this color?

 

[MedPretzel]

I've read to keep it dark and cool.





That's how I'm keeping mine at the moment. I don't know how it will turn out, but it's been in the bottle since May. I haven't tasted it yet, but maybe we can compare notes.

 

[PolishWineP]

In the words of Bill and Ted, "That would be most excellent."

My recipe suggests aging for 2 years after it's been bottled. So I think it will be quite a while before I taste it. How vivid is your color? Do you have any in a clear bottle that you could do a picture? I've wanted to make this wine for quite a while now and finally got around to it. Mind you, I always ask Bert's permission before I start things now. I'd hate to use equipment he needs for his master wine plan!

 

[MedPretzel]

Oh, PolishPrincess,


My husband always says to me, "Can't you make normal wines" when I tell him what I'm starting. But when they have aged a while and start being really good, he's like, "This is SOOOOOO good!" He doubts me often.

At bottling, I bottled only in dark green or brown bottles. It was a vibrant dark magenta-pink color. Very beautiful. I will look to see if I bottled one in a clear bottle (I usually do, but I'm erratic by nature

) and let you know. I have all bottles of my beet wine in my winerack, which is just bottles layered upon bottle. I tried to move them down at the bottom, so that very little light gets to them, if any. (They are in an old coal-cellar). Jack Keller says that this wine is very earthy (your guessis as good as mine as to whatthis means. To me it tasted beety). I trust JK's comments, because he'sbeen pretty much right at the mark on all of the ones I've done except rose-hip. I don't think you have to wait a year for that one.





At bottling, which was at about 5 or 6 months into the wine, it tasted very beety. I don't particularly like the taste of beets, so I was a little sad. Many times wines don't taste like the fruit/veggie they're made of, but this one (at bottling) tasted like beets. But the color was still that dark, magenta-pink. That kept my hopes up.





This wine, in my opinion, might just be a great wine to blend with. But again, I'm not sure how the final taste will be. Will it be

or

??? I think time will tell. I did not sweeten.





But definitely keep me posted on yours. If I can be of any help, please let me know.

 

[PolishWineP]

I'm so excited that yours is still the magenta! I couldn't come up with the color name, but that's what I have! I will keep you posted.

 

[MedPretzel]

Here is a pic of the beet wine tonight. You inspired me to open up a beer bottle of it. My husband said, "Let it age." I agree!





Sorry for the messy desk, Waldo, the background image is for you!

 

[PolishWineP]

Beautiful color! I'll try to shoot a picture tomorrow night when I take out the beet bag.

 

[MedPretzel]

Oh, I can help you out there too....

 

[PolishWineP]

Well here it is months later and I decided to taste the beet wine while working with it. The SG is at .990. I added a tish less that 1.5 ounces of American oak and will leave it in for a couple of weeks.


Back to the taste. It has a beet smell to it but the taste is wonderful! I'm not much for raw wines but this is going to be an excellent wine! I don't want the oak to overpower the wine's taste but I think it will be a big help to enhance the flavors. A lot of subtle flavors, even now. I'm going to sweeten it a bit but not too much. I think this will be a great dry red.


Can you tell I'm really excited?

 

[NorthernWinos]

Thats really pretty. I love beets, pickled mostly, my Honey hates them, doubt if that wine would be allowed in this house..

 

[PolishWineP]

I'll have to get a bottle of this to you. Bert doesn't eat beets, even pickled beets, but he thinks this is a good wine. Maybe I'll get a sneaky name onto the bottle!

 

[NorthernWinos]

Thanks

When I cook beets for pickles he says it smells like I'm cooking dirt...like at the SugarBeet factory. I made some Borsch [beet soup]once...wasn't a hit.

 

[PolishWineP]

Oh! That is harsh! When you cook beets for pickling it smells like earth. Good, wholesome earth.


When the sugar beet plant is fired up that smells like stink! (Farmers around here say it smells like money, but you'll notice that THEY can't smell it out on the farms!)

 

[pkcook]

I love pickled beets, especially with pinto beans and corn bread. I had never given much thought to beet wine, but I'm getting inspired

. The color is beautiful!


Pat