wine from ketchup?

[Christopher Weeks]

My wife did the filtration -- I was just going to let it go to compost. We have this mesh bag for steeping solids in a brew. She lined a jar with that and poured the gelatinous sludge into it and then hung it from a bungee over our big funnel with the fine mesh sieve installed. The fluid that collected in the jar under that was poured through a coffee filter and the fluid that passed through that was added back to the wine. And I topped off with sugar-water.

[Tim Hall]

I was just going to let it go to compost.

You've already got it in a container, and invested some time with it. I'd be inclined to see how it does as a vinegar...converted from one condiment to another. All you'd have to do at this point is let it sit and breathe, really.

[Christopher Weeks]

Oh sure, I'll let it continue to brew and probably rack it off again in a few weeks. If it's not drinkable at that point, I'll take the airlock off and add a little live cider vinegar as a culture and see what it does.

The compost was just going to be the gloopy part with lots of solids.

[10kFerment]

I know from past experience that you can make a tasty "Snappy Tom" like wine from pureed fresh or canned tomatoes and jalapeno peppers.

Had a roommate that wanted a tomato wine... so I obliged, along with 3 large jalapeno peppers in a gallon. Turned out really tasty. :)

YMMV

lol

[Christopher Weeks]

I should go check this jug out -- if nothing else it's been a while since I refilled our airlocks with water.

[Tim Hall]

6 months now...might not be a bad time to see what you have. If you think it's any good, try not to get too much oxygen into it.

[Susy]

Going on 10 months now...
I've learned so much from you guys' dialogue. How's the ketchup wine?

[Christopher Weeks]

Golly; thanks for the prod Susy!

So, ketchup wine. It tastes OK. A little funky the sledge-hammer of ketchup has subsided to a hint of ketchup and it tastes remarkably like a sherry or something. I might actually drink this!

How does one make an educated guess about whether to drink now or bottle and age?

And if it helps to know this, many people like Pinot Noir young but I quite enjoyed ten and (maybe?) twenty year old bottles.

[Tim Hall]

I'd thought this one was long abandoned...glad to hear it turned into something. I would guess (and only a guess considering ketchup isn't exactly in my brewing repertoire) that some aging would be good...as long as you can keep oxygen out of it, and you don't have any signs of it turning into vinegar. I'd be inclined to put it in small (maybe beer) bottles, and taste it every few months just to see how it changes over time.

[Christopher Weeks]

Last time you posted, I meant to go check on it, but it got away from me.

When you're talking about keeping oxygen out, what set of techniques are you suggesting?

I have to open the carboy and I have to insert a hose and start a siphon. And I have to let the fluid into the bottles. I'm not seeing much in the way of oxygen regulation available to me.

I suppose there must be tons of fancy equipment that I don't even know exists, but like what? I suppose I could theoretically put the equipment in a box of argon or something and do the bottling with waldos but surely that's not what you have in mind...