A satisfactory ferment is more important with potato wines and wine made from ingredients containing starch, such as roots, wheat and rice, than with other wines. By this I do not mean that a satisfactory ferment is not important with fruit wines; of course it is. But it is even more important if we want wines made with starchy materials to become perfectly clear.

Many people complain that the starch boiled into the water at the beginning remains in the finished wine, and that efforts to clarify with isinglass and egg-white only make matters worse. Filtering the wine, they say, has practically no effect, and ruins the flavor in any case. There is no point in filtering the potato water or what­ever it is before making the wine, because no method of filtering will remove dissolved starch. In that case, they ask, why does potato wine clear at all ? The answer lies in a satisfactory ferment.

Yeast converts starch to sugar and thence to alcohol. A weak yeast will be 'smothered* if too much sugar is added at the beginning; it is therefore unable to convert the starch to sugar, and leaves it in suspension in the wine, which becomes cloudy.

Almost everyone - including myself - has for years put all the sugar in at the start and never had a clearing problem until a poor yeast was used. Most people are still using bakers' yeast, and probably many will never use anything else; quite likely they will never have a clearing problem to deal with. But it is better not to take risks, for there are plenty of poor yeasts about.

If you must still use bakers' yeast, make sure it is fresh and use a nutrient or a specially prepared yeast food; this will put plenty of 'guts' into yeast if it happens to be lacking in any.

All this may lead you to think that, because we add some of the sugar at the start and more later on, wine yeasts are weak. This is not so; wine yeasts are different from bakers' yeast and do not like to be overworked. They are not weak, they merely like to do their job slowly and efficiently.

In the following recipes I have specified 'yeast' with­out naming any special kind. This is so that readers may use an all-purpose wine yeast, an ordinary dried yeast in 'pellet' form - these incidentally are often very vigorous - or, if you still insist, bakers' yeast.

It should be borne in mind that wheat and raisins added when the brew has cooled will not be sterilized during the process. Because these may be carrying all sorts of harmful bacteria that can spoil the wine, it is a good plan to scald them well before adding them to the brew. Alternatively, dissolve one Campden tablet in three pints of water in a non-metal container and drop the wheat and whole raisins (not cut up) into this. Then strain them at once through a polythene colander or cloth and pour some boiled water over them to rid them of the sulphur dioxide.

If oranges and lemons are to be used, treat them the same way: this should be done before cutting them up.

Parsnip Wine

4 lb. parsnips • 1 lb. raisins • 1 lb. kibbled maize

2 oranges • 2 lemons • 31/2 lb. sugar

9 pints water • yeast

Scrub, grate or mince the parsnips and put them in seven pints of water. Bring slowly to boiling-point and simmer for five minutes, taking off all scum that rises.

Strain through two thicknesses of fine muslin (or a strong, coarse cloth) and add half the sugar, stirring until all is dissolved. Then add the maize, the raisins and the juice of the oranges and lemons. Allow to cool, then add the yeast and nutrient or yeast food - not both. Cover as directed and ferment for ten to fourteen days, stirring daily and crushing the raisins by hand at least three times during the fourteen-day period. Strain and wring out fairly dry. Make a syrup of the rest of the sugar and water and add this to the bulk.

Transfer to a jar and fit the fermentation lock or cover as directed and leave until all fermentation has ceased.

Potato Wine

3   lb. potatoes • ½ lb. raisins • 1/2 lb. dates
1 lb. wheat or kibbled maize • 2 oranges

2 lemons • 4 lb. sugar • 9 pints water yeast • nutrient or yeast food

Proceed as for Parsnip Wine, above.

Beetroot Wine

4   lb. beetroots • 3 lemons • ½ lb. raisins

3 ½ lb. sugar • 9 pints water yeast and nutrient or yeast food

Proceed as for Parsnip Wine, page 150, but simmer the beetroots for ten minutes.

Carrot Wine

The only reason the trade does not make a wine from carrots for sale to the general public is that it feels that people would not buy it simply because it happens to be made of carrots. But I will bet my last bottle of ten-year-old carrot whisky that they will one day do this - and charge about eight and six a bottle for it. We can make it for eight bob less than that.

5 lb. carrots • ½ lb. raisins • ½ lb. kibbled maize

2 oranges • 2 lemons • 4 lb. sugar

9 pints water • yeast and nutrient or yeast food

Proceed as for Parsnip Wine, page 150, but simmer the carrots for fifteen minutes.

Norah*s Favorite

3 lb. carrots • 2 lb. potatoes • 1 lb. raisins

2 oranges • 2 lemons • 3½ lb sugar

9 pints water • yeast and nutrient

My wife prefers this wine made with bakers* yeast and nutrient. But there is nothing to prevent you using the yeast of your choice. Scrub, grate and mince the carrots and potatoes. Put them in the water and simmer gently for ten minutes, taking off all scum that rises. Strain into the fermenting vessel and add half the sugar, stirring until all is dissolved. Then add the chopped raisins and cut-up oranges and peel.

Allow to cool and add the yeast and nutrient. Cover as directed and ferment for ten days. During this time take the oranges and lemons and squeeze them well at least three times; stir up the raisins at the same time. After ten days, strain and wring out dry.

Make a syrup of the rest of the sugar and water and add this to the bulk. Transfer to a jar and fit the fer­mentation lock or cover as directed and leave until all fermentation has ceased.

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