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Beetroot Wine

A fermented beverage made from beetroot, sugar, oranges, cloves, tartaric acid, pectic enzyme, yeast, and Campden tablet.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 9 ingredients
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Why it works: Orange and clove are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,987 recipes. Both carry ethyl octanoate, which smells fruity, wine. The science ↓

Beetroot Wine

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the beetroot

  1. Use young beetroot if possible.

  2. Wash beetroot but do not peel it.

  3. Cut beetroot into thin slices and put into a saucepan with 2.5 liters of water.

  4. Bring to a boil and let it simmer until beetroot is just tender.

  5. Strain the liquid (you can use the beetroot now or for culinary use).

Make the must

  1. Return the liquid to the saucepan and add the juice and zest of the fruit, the sugar and the cloves.

  2. Heat just enough to dissolve the sugar, stirring all the time.

  3. Let the liquid cool down, then pour it into a sterile plastic bucket.

  4. Add a crushed Campden tablet and the pectic enzyme and leave covered in a warm place for 24 hours.

  5. Add the yeast and yeast nutrient, cover the bucket again and leave for 3 days, stirring it daily.

Ferment and clear

  1. Strain after 3 days into a demijohn, top it up to the shoulder with cool, boiled water.

  2. Fit a bung and airlock and ferment until dry.

  3. When fermentation has finished, rack the young wine into another demijohn to clear and rack again if necessary.

  4. This wine is ready to drink in six months.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

573Calories
14 gProtein
2 gFat
124 gCarbs

Counts 4 of 5 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 4 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Orange1 medium (131g)62
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Clove1 tsp ground (2g)7
Beetrootnot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Orange + clovetop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,987 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

  2. Beetroot + clovetop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together285 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  3. Beetroot + orangetop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together170 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl butyrate (apple, fruity).

  4. Sugar + orangetop 20% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together19,212 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  5. Beetroot + sugartop 20% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together780 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).

Sugar and orange barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 19,212 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Beetroot
Provides the colour, earthy flavour and body of the wine.
Sugar
Feeds the yeast, which turns it into alcohol, and sets the wine's sweetness.
Oranges
Juice and zest add acidity and fresh citrus aroma.
Yeast
Ferments the sugar into alcohol and carbon dioxide.
Tartaric acid
Adds acidity, giving the wine a sharper, balanced taste.
Pectic enzyme
Breaks down pectin so the wine clears more easily.

The step that matters

Ferment until dry. Keep the airlock fitted and let fermentation finish. Yeast uses up the sugar, so stopping early leaves the wine sweet and cloudy, and it may keep fermenting in the bottle.

Swap the clove

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beetroot, sugar, orange):

  1. Cinnamonfits better
  2. Gingerfits better
  3. Tarragonfits about as well
  4. Clovethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against beetroot, sugar, orange. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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