Well all, I just bottled my Jalapeno wine and it is fabulous! Yes, it's hot all right, but not unbearably so, in fact, what it does is very similar to a neat single malt scotch the way it warms me all the way down. Really interesting experience. I must say I was sort of expecting something that would be too hot for other than experimental drinking and pretty much primarily for cooking, but _this_! This is wonderful, I'm thinking that any used for cooking will be begrudged.
Unfortunately, I didn't pay sufficient attention to the can of jalapenos I used, it was about a 2 lb can I think, and it had other stuff in there too, sliced carrots and stuff, I don't remember what all else. I'll just have to keep my eyes peeled for a similar product somewhere.
Hopefully I can hang onto a couple of bottles until next year sometime, I'll bet this gets even better with a year or two on it. I suspect that the raisins added some nice body to the wine, kind of interesting really, the combination of fruit and vegetables. I think the acid in Jack's recipe is just about right too, I don't think I'd want to deviate too much either way. Nice nose to the wine too, the jalapeno was very evident and I was half expecting a four alarm fire in my mouth after tasting and spitting, even had ice water nearby, but it turned out to be a lovely introduction rather than arson.
Let's see, started on 4/12/03, transfered to jugs from the mayo jars after a week or so, racked 5/28/03 and bottled today, 8/16/03. Very clear, all activity ceased long ago, barely an eighth of an inch of lees in the gallon jug so it was done when I racked on 5/28/03.
That does it, I need to start a five gallon batch as soon as possible! Mmmm!
(Hey, what are those worms they put in tequila bottles? Gotta get me some of those!)
Bob
Bob J. Grey wrote:
>>
>> I'm very interested in your results. Please keep us posted. I'm
>> hoping to do something similar this summer. I don't want to make it
>> so hot that the only thing it's good for is paint removal, but I don't
>> want it bland either.
>
> Now that I've been making wine for a while I've pretty much gotten over
> the impatience thing, but it's back with this jalapeno batch. I can't
> wait to taste it and it's still about a week from 1st racking.
>
> Here's how I went about preparing this batch:
>
> I googled for a recipe and the first one that popped up looked good,
> I didn't realize until just now that it's from Jack Keller's site: >
>
formatting link
>
> Tossed the contents of a large can of jalapenos and a lb of raisins
> into the blender and liquified them.
>
> I figured there would be a bunch of vegetable and fruit matter left behind
> at racking so I figured I'd start with 2 gallons and I could lose a lot and
> still make a full gallon without having to top up with water.
>
> So, I divided the glop (carefully, mind you! gloves and goggles
> recommended!) between two 1 gallon mayonaise jars, added 2 lbs of sugar
> each and all the other stuff, acid blend, pectic enzyme, etc.
>
> Filled each jar a little more than half full with water, screwed the lids
> on and gave them a good shaking, oxygenating and dissolving everything, then
> filled them up. I didn't have any champagne yeast so I used an all purpose
> yeast I've had very good results with instead.
>
> Then I covered the mouths of the jars with 2 layers of paper towels and
> rubber bands to keep them on. It didn't take long, the next day it was
> obvious the yeasties had made themselves at home, dancing around shouting,
> "Arriba! Arriba! Caliente! Hotfoot!" and reproducing merrily.
>
> I left it in the gallon jars for about a week since I wasn't sure what to
> expect in terms of foaming, but everything was going great so I transfered
> to my regular gallon jug and airlock, plus two other plastic containers
> with airlocks, guess I could have used another gallon jug but I didn't > think of it.
>
> Now I can see a great deal of glop settling out and the smaller of the two
> plastic bottles is nearly clear with several inches of glop settled out
> in the bottle, the larger one nearly the same and the gallon jug looks like
> it needs another week, still bubbling. Looks like I'll end up with about a
> gallon and a quart when I rack, maybe a little closer to a gallon and a half. >
> In all, typing this up was more work than actually preparing the batch. I'm
> such a lazy winemaker, I love this hobby, you don't actually have to _do_
> much! Just wait around a lot and talk about it, get drunk, you know. :-) >
> Bob