Ketchup wine

Post date: Oct 12, 2012 12:29:6 AM

I think I'm going to try this.  I saw some organic ketchup at Trader Joes... I mean why not.  Worst it can be is horrible, then I'm out 10 bucks or so.  Probably would be fine for cooking in any case.  Strangely, the web is not awash in Ketchup wine recipes (!?).  There are Pruno recipes, where people seem to go out of their way to make something horrible, and then there is this which is the only serious discussion I've seen of the topic (but not very informative, and again, starting from year old ketchup in packets - really?).  

As a start, I thought I'd take a tomato wine recipe (or this one), and convert the amount of tomatoes into units of ketchup.  That implies that one gallon of wine should use 5-6 lbs of tomatoes, which would correspond to 10-12 oz. of ketchup to get the "right" amount of tomato flavor.  I'll dilute that out in water and check the gravity to figure out the amount of sugar to get an SG of 1.090.

As for acid, I'll go a little light given that there is some vinegar (acetic acid) in the ketchup.  That may end up being a problem - hope not.  I'll use only tartaric acid, since it is very stable, and I don't want any more acetic acid produced.

So here's an initial guess:

12 oz organic ketchup

2-1/4 lbs sugar

1/2 tsp tartaric acid

1/4 tsp grape tannin

1 tsp yeast nutrient

1 Campden tablet

1/2 tsp pectic enzyme.

1 tsp Red Star Pasteur Red yeast.

10/13/12 12PM

Started.  Squeezed ketchup directly into carboy, added water, dissolved.  Dissolved sugar in boiling water, added to carboy.  Topped off to 1g, added acid, tannin, nutrient and Campden tablet, mixed vigorously.  SG is 1.110 - alrighty then...  seems there is a lot more sugar in ketchup than I thought.  Either that or the solids in ketchup are confusing the hydrometer.  This looks to be between 14.9 and 15.3% P.A.  Looks like I'll need a champagne yeast (question - should ketchup wine be dry or sweet?  I don't think it's quite a dessert wine).  Also, there is not as much ketchup flavor as I would have thought.  I'll see how this turns out and perhaps increase the amount of ketchup and lower the amount of sugar.

10/14/12 9AM

Added pectic enzyme dissolved in about a tablespoon of water.  It was cool - I could see a wave pass through the carboy, maybe of the enzyme nuking pectin?

10/14/12 10:30AM

Pitched yeast.

11/4/12 12PM

The wine is a beautiful color on top - sort of yellow orange, and fermenting very slowly.  There is a LOT of sediment, fluffy tomato flakes, in the bottom 2 or three inches of the jug.  I racked through a coffee filter to remove as much of this stuff as possible.  It kept clogging and overflowing - next time put the ketchup in a nylon fruit bag.  Taste is not extreme, although the alcohol is VERY high - kind of rocket-fuelly.  Maybe it will mellow out...  I had to top off with water to replace the fairly large amount of stuff that didn't make it through the filter.

11/12/12 10AM

Racked and added 1/2 tsp of bentonite dissolved in hot water (although a lot didn't dissolve) as a clarifying agent.  Doesn't really need clarifying, but thought I'd test on this.  Taste is getting better, just a hint of onion...  FG is 0.990 at 66 degrees.  ABV 16.3% - maybe.  There were a lot of solids in it initially.

11/17/12 10AM

Bottled.  Got 4 full 750ml bottles, a full 375ml bottle, and about a half of another 750 (but with lots of the bentonite.  The bentonite stripped some of the color - it was initially slightly orange in a very interesting way, now it's just white wine colored...  Decided to name it "Pruneaux One".

11/23/12 5PM

Reconsidered the name - I think I'm going to save that for my actual Pruno.  Pop suggested "Vat 57", which I quite like.  So that's the name now - have to make a label.

11/24/12 8PM

Actually, decided on "The Golden Heinz", since it is golden, and made with Heinz ketchup, and it is a pioneering wine for me (like Drake's 1577 circumnavigation of the world in the Golden Hind).  Here's a label...