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Last update: December 16, 1995
This is the FAQ for rec.crafts.winemaking. If you have any additions,
deletions, corrections, comments, questions or the like, please direct
them to r.c.w. or Don Buchan at malak@cam.org
Copyright notice:
Copyright (c) 1995 by Don Buchan, all rights reserved. This FAQ may be
distributed to any USENET newsgroup, on-line service, BBS or any other
means, electronic or physical (such as, but not limited to, floppy
diskettes and printouts) as long as:
A) it is distributed in its entirety,
B) no fee is charged to anyone:
i) downloading this file beyond nominal online fees, or
ii) receiving the information beyond nominal format charges,
C) it is not distributed for financial gain. To be included in
commercial collections or compilations (except online services as
allowed above), express permission from Don Buchan (malak@cam.org) must
be obtained.
Academic or professional use and accuracy:
In the case of academic use, follow the guidelines set out at your
institution for referencing electronic texts, provided that my name,
Don Buchan, and email ID, malak@cam.org, are referenced as
editor/compilor. I suggest as title "FAQ List for Usenet Usegroup
rec.crafts.winemaking".
I am not an oenologist, nor is this text guaranteed to be 100% accurate. No liability or warranty, express or implied, is assumed by the editor
or contributors. If you see an error, please point it out to me.
While the text does treat the actual procedures of making wine to
varying degrees, it is assumed that you already have a basic knowledge
of how to make wine. If you don't, request the primers mentioned in
the NET RESOURCES posting for wine & winemaking.
Spelling conventions & editing:
The editor has tried to edit for brevity in some cases, therefore
contributions may be shorter than submitted or as originally posted in
the newsgroup. As well, the word "I" when used is the contributor, not
necessarily the editor. Text in {} is the original question. Further,
British (and Canadian) spelling conventions are used. Please don't
point out "f" instead of "ph" or "gh", that there's no "u" in words, or
it's "s" instead of "z".
Measurement conventions:
An attempt has been made to include imperial, American and metric
measurments. Therefore when a reference to a gallon is made, it will
either be identified as an imperial or American gallon, and its
equivalent in the other size is made as well in litres.
GENERAL:
G01. Newsgroup Charter
G02. Definitions
G03. How is wine made?
G04. Yeast
G05. Possible ingredients
G06. BTW, can I use jam?
G07. The recipe calls for tannin. What's the conversion dry to liquid?
G08. What equipment is required?
G09. Sucrose vs. corn sugar
G10. Kits vs. Grapes or Fruit
G11. What are the usual sizes used in home winemaking?
G12. Barrels
G13. Sanitation
G14. Procedure
G15. Why am I adding the bentonite at the beginning?
G16. Egg white clearing
G17. Higher alcohol levels
G18. Sparkling your wine
G19. Ice wine
G20. Different kinds of fermentation used in winemaking
G21. Acid balance
G22. Chillproofing
G23. Do all wines contain sulphites?
G24. How much sulphite is needed?
G25. Topping up your wine
G26. How to know when a wine is ready to drink
G27. Vinometers
G28. How to measure alcohol levels in your wine
G29. What's the best paper and adhesive to use for labels?
G30. Bottles & Corks
G31. How about distilling my wine?
G32. What are good references for winemaking?
TROUBLESHOOTING:
T01. I didn't rehydrate my yeast. Is that bad?
T02. Why hasn't my wine started bubbling yet?
T03. My wine stopped bubbling. What's wrong?
T04. Foaming problems
T05. My wine just won't clear. Why not?
T06. My fined and filtered wine is hazy. What's wrong?
T07. How do I get rid of the strong paper taste in filtered wine?
T08. The wine I bottled is fizzy. Why?
T09. Ornery bottle labels
T10. My wine smells bad. What happened?
T11. I've got vinegar. Any hope?
T12. Mycoderma (Flowers of Wine)
T13. I rinsed with cold water after sulphiting. Is that bad?
T14. I need to top up. How do I do it?
CREDITS
NET RESOURCES -- Can be found in the seperate posting NET RESOURCES for
wine & winemaking.
GENERAL
G01. NEWSGROUP CHARTER
Name: rec.crafts.winemaking
Moderation status: unmoderated
Rec.crafts.winemaking will be a news group dedicated to the discussion
of the process, recipes, tips, storage, techniques and general exchange
of lore on the process, methods and history of wine making. The above
list is not considered exhaustive, and if a discussion is of interest
to wine makers it may be deemed as appropriate. This group is to be
general enough to encompass both traditional grape wines as well as
wines which are generally described as country wines, sparkling wines,
and champagnes. In general, the appropriateness of a particular
beverage will be determined by the process involved in its making.
Essentially, if the process used is that of wine making, then the
discussion is considered appropriate. This may include such beverages
as cider or mead. It is recognized that there are topics which are of
interest to both wine makers and brewers, and posting or cross posting
of such topics is considered both appropriate and desirable. Personal
stories and experiences shall be welcome as long as they pertain to the
craft of wine making.
G02. DEFINITIONS
Not all these words appear elsewhere in this FAQ; but those that don't
are still useful or at least interesting.
Acid Blend: A blend of (usually) tartaric and malic acids in crystal
form.
Bracket (braggot): An alcoholic beverage made with malt and honey;
thus it bridges the gap between mead and ale.
Bentonite: A type of finely ground clay that is used as a clarifying
agent. It is used at varying stages of the process, including at the
beginning to provide something to which yeast can attach themselves to
improve growth and help clear out solids from the primary fermentation.
Campden Tablets: Tablets of a standard amount of compressed sulphite.
Carboy: A container of five imperial gallons. It is the next commonly
used size smaller than a demijohn. Carboys are made out of glass or
plastic and, like a big bottle, have a constricted neck.
Carbonic Maceration: Fermentation of whole grapes, then pressing
before racking the wine to secondary.
Clearing: Clearing is getting the wine to go clear by either fining,
repeated racking or both.
Cider: Fermented apple juice.
Cyser: A mead with apple juice added (and thus you might consider it
either an apple melomel or a cider with honey).
Demijohn: A container identical in function and similar in shape to a
carboy. They typically hold 25 to 64 litres, about 5 to 14 imperial
gallons, though come in various sizes as small as 1 imperial gallon.
Fermentation: The anaerobic (no oxygen) digestion of various
microflora and microfauna. In our case, yeast are anaerobically
digesting sugar, water and nutrients to produce alcohol.
Fining: Fining is the use of some agent that will collect the fine
particles (cloudiness) out of the wine and then fall to the bottom so
that clear wine can be racked off the top. These substances are
usually isinglass (ground fishbladders) or a gelatin substance, but
also include bentonite (a type of clay) and various cationic and
anionic polymers.
Hydrometer: A glass bulb with a weight in the bulb, a narrow stick
like end with a scale inside it that is used to measure properties such
as liquid density, and in the case of fermentation, usually other
scales such as Brix, Balling and potential alcohol.
Kit: A package containing juice concentrate and other ingredients used
to make wine. Add water and follow the instructions in the box.
Format varies quite a bit: Some kits are a can of concentrate (add
your own sugar, yeast, some other ingredients); some are 5kg to 7kg of
concentrate in a bag, complete with everything needed either in the
concentrate or seperately in the box, except water; others are 15
litres of concentrated juice you bring up to 23 litres. There are even
packets of dehydrated juice crystals in which you add all the water and
sugar. Sometimes the concentrate is actually a hybrid with the
concentrated juices of more than one kind of grape (California requires
at 51% of a given grape to be present to call it that variety, for
instance. Other areas require 75%.) Quality is discussed in section
G10. KITS VS. GRAPES OR FRUIT.
Lees: The solids that have fallen to the bottom of your fermentation
vessel. Among much else, they contain live and dead yeast.
Mead: An alcoholic beverage made by the fermentation of honey and
water. Many ingredients can be added to the basic recipe.
Melomel: A mead with fruit or fruit juices added.
Metheglin: A mead with herbs and/or spices added.
Must: Unfermented wine (ie. grape juice).
Pectins: Pectins are large binding protein molecules that don't clear
properly. They're important in jam making, but annoying and
undesireable in winemaking.
Pectic Enzyme: Pectic enzymes break up pectin to make smaller
molecules that clear more easily.
Primary Fermentation: The stage during which most fermentation takes
place, usually in a covered widemouthed vessel.
Pyment: Honey and grape juice fermented together. This can be either
a fermented combination (as a melomel) or grape wine to which honey is
added after it is finished. (Current use of the term is inconsistent.)
Racking: Transferring by siphoning the clear wine/mead off the top of
a vessel into another closed vessel without transferring the lees at
the bottom of the first vessel.
Secondary Fermentation: The stage during which fermentation is
completed, usually in a closed vessel such as a carboy. This period
commonly refers to the completion of sugar fermentation by yeast, but
also refers to the time when other fermentations, particularly
malolactic fermentation (a bacterial fermentation which converts malic
acid to lactic acid) takes place. See section G20. DIFFERENT KINDS OF
FERMENTATION USED IN WINEMAKING.
sg: Specific gravity. The reading taken from your hydrometer that
measures the relative density of your must/wine to water. Rarely will
the reading go above 1.100 as this makes it very difficult for yeast to
work and this will produce a wine with 14% alcohol, getting in the area
that yeast have difficulty tolerating.
Sorbate: Potassium sorbate. A substance that is noxious to yeasts
and as such is used as a stabilizer. It should be noted that sorbate's
effectiveness depends on low yeast counts in the wine; if it's high, it
will be inneffective. Clear your wine properly, and ferment out to sg
1.000 or less.
Sulphite (or sulphate): Referring to sodium metabisulphite or
potassium metabisulphite. A substance that is noxious to many spoilage
microorganisms and wild yeasts and as such is used as a microbiological
and oxidative inhibitor and stabilizer. It should be noted that
sulphite's effectiveness depends on low organism counts in the wine; if
it's high, it will be inneffective. Clear your wine properly and
ferment out to sg 1.000 or less. Chemically, sulphite is S03(-4) while
sulphate is SO4(-6); the desired form in winemaking is sulphite,
however, the two words are often used (or confused) interchangeably.
Since sulphate is oxidized sulphite (ie. sulphite reacts with oxygen in
the air), sulphite also prevents unwanted browning in wine; further,
too much sulphate in a wine will cause bitterness. Therefore as a rule
avoid letting your wine contact the air as much as possible.
Vapour lock: A simple device that looks like a wide letter 'S' laying
on its side (this is the standard form, there are others). It is
filled with water (enough that there is no way for air or contaminants
to flow through it) while allowing the pressure from the fermentation
to push out. These are also known as fermentation locks and air locks.
Wine: The fermented juice of fruits having an alcohol content of 7% to
14% (though higher levels are possible).
Wort: Unfermented beer.
G03. HOW IS WINE MADE?
Essentially, wine is the product of fermented fruit juice, usually
grapes. Generally, it has an alcoholic content of 7% to 14%. Further,
this alcoholic content is only derived by fermentation, ie. no
distillation, and as a general rule distilled products are not added to
fortify the wine.
The process of fermenting is basically feeding sugars and nutrients to
yeast, which then produce carbon dioxide and alcohol. This process
goes on until either all the sugar is gone or the yeast can no longer
tolerate the alcoholic content of the wine. Different yeasts produce
different results, and have different tolerance levels.
The fruit is crushed to give free-running juice; red wines are usually
fermented with the skins to maximize colour and tannin extraction. The
must is sanitized, usually with sulphite, and is innoculated with a
domesticated yeast; occasionally, the must is allowed to ferment from
the wild yeasts found on grapeskins, though this method can be
unreliable and may allow for the growth of undesireable bacteria. The
wine is racked part way through the process to a closed vessel to
complete fermentation. This last racking is done in order to avoid
contamination and oxydation that would be possible during the slow
fermentation of this period (and therefore low production of a CO2
blanket over the wine to protect it from such). The wine may or may
not be stabilized to prevent further fermentation, as well as allowed
to clear either naturally or with the aid of fining agents, and may be
further racked off the lees to avoid foul smells and tastes from the
lees. The wine may be bulk aged before filtering and bottling.
G04. YEAST
Here's a list of different kinds of yeast often used with different
kinds of wine. Ask your dealer for further recommendations.
Epernay 2
Slow fermenter; leaves a delicate, perfumey aroma without tropical
overtones of UCD 594, and a smooth, fruity flavour. Temperature should
be kept cool to preserve fruitiness. Good for whites and fruits. May
have trouble going to dryness if used with too-cold or nutrient poor
wines (like Chardonnay). Sometimes used for Pinot Noir. Foams very
little.
California Champagne, UCD 505
Flocculates superbly, leaving large chunks if left to settle
undisturbed. White wines have a simple, clean, yeasty quality similar
to champagne. Recommended for sparkling wines and very aromatic
fruits.
Fermivin
Very fast and vigourous fermenter. Good for stuck fermentations.
Never use if you want to leave some residual sugar. Provides clean,
varietal wines. Often used for Cabernet.
Montrachet
Can produce varied results. When good, it's very, very good. When
bad, it's very, very bad. Never use if fruit has been recently
dusted with sulphur. Has a tendency to product H2S. Starts fast,
attaining a very high temperature, then slows and sometimes sticks if
stressed. Very good for reds and full bodied whites that need a hot
fermentation. Flavours are full and complex and intense in colour.
Beaujolais
Intended for carbonic maceration of fresh, fruity red wine. Ferments
strongly but leaves a grapey sort of fruitiness.
Pasteur Champagne
An all purpose white wine yeast sometimes used for reds as well.
Usually a fast, complete fermentation. Do not use for slow
fermentations needing residual sugar. Flavours are clean and pleasant
while body and complexity are not emphasized. Sometimes used for
stuck fermentations. Despite the name, it is not used for sparkling
wines.
Prise de Mousse
Ferments evenly and usually goes to completion. Clean, slightly yeasty
aroma does not interfere with varietal flavours. Used for both reds
and whites.
Assmanshausen
Slow fermentation rate with an austere fruitiness. Wines are spicy,
complex, with medium body and dark colour. Often preferred for Pinot
Noir. Sometimes needs balancing with oak ageing.
Beerenauslese
Used for grapes infected with botrytis. It intensifies the
apricot/honey flavours produced by the mould.
Chanson
Ferments evenly, low H2S production, floculates well, makes compact
lees. Flavours are refined and elegant with emphasis on varietal
fruit. Often used for Chardonnay. Prone to sticking in nutrient-
poor musts.
Etoile
Usually used as a tirage yeast but could be used for innoculating the
cuvee in sparkling wines as well. Has subdued yeastiness with
crispness.
Pasteur Red
Very popular for reds. Fast, strong fermenter used for full bodied
reds. Yields wines that are complex with cabernet style concentration
of fruit and colour.
Pasteur White
Intended for dry, crisp, white wines. The yeast provides complexity
instead of fruitiness emphasizing acidity. Sensitive to sudden
chilling. Foams spectacularly.
Steinberg
Produces a distinctive, flowery, complex combination of scents when
fermented cool. Slows with sudden chilling but usually completes.
Good for riesling and other german style wines.
UCD 594
Starts very very slowly and ferments evenly. Fermentation temperature
does not change much nor is activity that apparent. Provides a highly
aromatic character called 'fruit salad' or tropical flavour. Not
generally used in reds. Sensitive to SO2. May produce excess H2S if
sulphur dust is on the fruit.
Some suggestions (depending on styles)
White wines
Chardonnay (regular) Chanson, Prise de Mousse
Chardonnay (heavy) Montrachet
Chenin Blanc UCD 594, Epernay 2
Gewurztraminer & Riesling (young/fresh)
Epernay 2
Gewurztraminer & Riesling (complex)
Steinberg
Muscat UCD 594 or any white wine
Sauvignon Blanc Chanson, Pasteur White, Prise de Mousse
Semillon Chanson, Pasteur Champagne
Red Wines
Cabernet (regular) Pasteur Red
Cabernet (other) Pasteur Champagne, Montrachet, Prise de Mousse
Merlot Pasteur Red, Assmanshausen
Merlot (for blending) Epernay 2, Beaujolais, Assmanshausen
Gamay Beaujolais
Petit Sirah Doesn't matter
Pinot Noir (light) Beaujolais
Pinot Noir (regular) Assmanshausen
White Zin Epernay 2, Prise de Mousse
Zinfandel, claret style Pasteur Red
Zinfandel, fruity Prise de Mousse
Zinfandel, heavy Montrachet
Zinfandel, over 25 brix Fermivin
French/American hybrids
Aurora Epernay 2
Cayuga Chanson, Prise de Mousse
Red fruity (Chelois, Foch, etc)
Epernay 2, Beaujolais
Red full bodied (Baco, Chambourcin, etc)
Pasteur Red, Fermivin, Assmanshausen
Seyval/Vidal Blanc (dry) Chanson, Prise de Mousse
Seyval/Vidal Blanc (sweet)Epernay 2
Special types
Blanc de noirs and Rose Epernay 2, Prise de Mousse
Carbonic Maceration Beaujolais
Late Harvest (Botrytis) Beerenauslese, Steinberg
Port Pasteur Champagne
Sparkling (cuvee) Eperney 2, Prise de Mousse, Pasteur Champagne
Sparkling (tirage) Etoile, Calif Champagne, Prise de Mousse
Stuck fermentations Fermivin, Pasteur Champagne
Non Grape wines
Apples Epernay 2, Chanson
Berry, Cherry Pasteur Red, Beaujolais
Peach, pear, apricot, plumEpernay 2, C. Champ, Prise de Mousse
Other Epernay 2
G05. POSSIBLE INGREDIENTS
Besides the basic grape juice that most winemakers use, the following
is a non-exhaustive list of possible additives or even bases for your
wine.
Honey, Sugar (sucrose -- white table sugar), Corn Syrup (glucose) (most
commercial corn syrup has vanilla added), Corn Sugar (dextrose), Fruit
(dried or fresh), Fruit Juices (can be concentrate, but no
preservatives: Sorbate is often mentioned in small print even in "100%
juice"), Molasses, Maple syrup, Acid blend, Citric acid (Vitamin C, you
can use lemon or orange juice), Tannin (can be purchased), Yeast
Nutrient (you can boil yeast from previous batch for this, but
commercial nutrients work best), Spices (cinnamon, cloves, ginger,
etc), Pectic Enzyme (needed for fresh fruit pulp, as some fruit juices
(pear and apple notably) require this to clear).
G06. BTW, CAN I USE JAM?
In principle, you could. Recipes you may come across for jam wines
may call for pectin-free jams -- something rather rare unless you make
the jam yourself and don't use pectin. Fruit jams naturally will
contain pectin from the fruit anyway. Further, the jam need not be
pectin-free to work -- that's what pectic enzyme is used for.
The big questions is, though, WHY? If you make the jam yourself, why
not just make the wine directly? If it's old jam, it's probably
oxidized and not appropriate for winemaking (and if opened, probably
contaminated, too.) It would take about twice as much pectic enzyme to
break down the extra pectin added to the jam.
Expect fair wine only from this method.
G07. THE RECIPE CALLS FOR TANNIN. WHAT'S THE CONVERSION DRY TO LIQUID?
The conversion is 1/4 teaspoon dry tannin equals 0.338140227 fluid
ounces. This is about half a gram dry tannin to 10 millilitres liquid.
G08. WHAT EQUIPMENT IS REQUIRED
Standard Kit (all necessary):
- 6.5 imperial gallon bucket (7.74 USG; 29.25 litres)
- 5 imperial gallon carboy (6 USG; 23 litres)
- plastic spoon
- airlock & bung
- sheet of plastic
- sulphite
- hydrometer
- J-tube and plastic tubing
- J-tube holder for carboy
- basic instructions
- You should also get a 20 litre (5 USG) food grade plastic jug to
carry distilled water if you make kits. It may also be used to carry
your juice if you purchase it straight from a market press.
- If you are using fruit and preparing it at home, you may require a
fruit press.
- One 1-gallon (4 litre) glass jug to hold your sulphite solution
- Bottle sanitizer -- used for sanitizing bottles, is pump activated, as
in by hand (put the bottle over the nozzle, and push down.)
- optional if you use the dishwasher and the water is HOT! (65 C or
HOTTER!) (use sanitizing cycle)
Needed sooner or later (especially if you make a lot of wine), but optional:
- Wine filter set AND glass carboy
- These can often be rented -- don't buy it until a) You're really
hooked on wine making (~3 batches) and b) You find you make a lot of
wine and would save by purchasing the system.
- Floor corker (often can be rented)
Optional, but very strongly recommended:
- Jet spray water bottle washer AND tap adapter -- better than a brush
- J-tube holder for carboys -- makes it easier to siphon off the wine
by making things less awkward and keeping your hands from tiring (may
come with the set)
Optional, but very useful:
- Large plastic box(es) for storage of your equipment.
- Hand held bottle corker. It's mainly useful if you make small
bottles or little wine. It is a pain in the wrist to use for large
scale bottling.
- Several extra airlocks and bungs, and extra gallon jugs to take up
the wine that the carboy won't take.
G09. SUCROSE VS. CORN SUGAR
For those of you with really distinguishing palates, sucrose (table
sugar) will give a beverage a fruity character; corn sugar, a malty
character. Both will nonetheless ferment well in your wine.
3/4 unit of sucrose equals 1 unit of corn sugar; therefore if your
recipe calls for 1 lb of sugar, you should use 1 1/3 lbs corn sugar.
G10. KITS VS. GRAPES OR FRUIT
{Do you have any preferences on wine kits, or should I make wine from
grapes or fruit?}
Kits vary in quality, usually according to price: The more expensive
it is, the better the quality.
When buying a kit, don't buy a cheap one just to minimize your
financial risk. Cheap wine kits might resemble watery grape juice with
fire in them. An expensive kit uses the same principles, but the
product is usually far superior. Experiment; often, paying a premium
pays off. Look for a kit that has a lot of concentrate. The ideal
would be a concentrate that has 16 litres (3.5 imp. gal.; 4.25 USG) of
concentrate. The next best would be about 10 kg (22 lbs).
Some people swear by kits, while others by fresh juice. As a steady
rule, high quality wine that lasts for decades is made from high
quality fresh juice from fruit that was grown and picked under optimum
conditions.
That being said, there are good kits out that are of great quality that
can beat out fresh juice wines, but again, usually only the more
expensive kits.
Experiment and decide for yourself what you want. What YOU like as a
final product is the most important factor, as well as the commitment
you wish to make.
G11. WHAT ARE THE USUAL SIZES USED IN HOME WINEMAKING?
It should be noted that the US and Britain use the Imperial system
(though Britain also uses the metric system), but the measurements of
each system do not necessarily correspond to those of the other. The
rest of the world uses the Metric system.
Some information found here was found in Alan Marshall's FAQ on sizes,
which can be found at:
ftp.stanford.edu in /pub/clubs/homebrew/beer/rfdb/beer-capacity.faq
Bottle: 750 mL, 1/5 USG, 1/6 imp. gal.
Barrel: 36 imp. gal. (UK barrel), 31 USG (US barrel)
Carboy: 5 imp. gal., 6.5 USG
Demijohn: 25 to 64 litres, 5.6 to 14.2 imp. gal, 6.6 to 16.9 USG
Gallon (imperial): 4.5 Litres (abbreviated imp. gal.)
Gallon (US): 3.78 Litres (abbreviated USG)
Magnum: 1.5 litres, 2/5 USG, 1/3 imp. gal.
The usual primary fermentor used by home winemakers holds 6.5 imp. gal.
(7.74 USG; 29.25 litres) and the secondary fermentor is a carboy.
However, there are various other sizes, such as 5 USG, as well as
various other sizes that are convenient to the individual.
Bottles:
Volume Name
375ml fillette
750ml bottle
1500ml magnum
2250ml tappit
3000ml double magnum
4500ml jeroboam
6000ml imperial
G12. BARRELS
Why bother with a barrel?
Oak adds a compelling complexity to wine. You should make sure the
kind of wine you want to make is well suited for oak, since it is more
expensive and trouble. For example, just about any high tannin red
wine will benefit. Many whites such as chardonnay or sauvignon blanc
will also. However, riesling should be left alone. Oak barrels also
have an aesthetic quality that other materials can't match.
New and Used Barrels
Look in a commercial listings phone book for oak barrels, barrel
coopers, wine suppliers or the like. Check a wine trade flyer or
magazine. You can also contact a winery and ask for their source or
ask to purchase one of their used barrels.
A trade advertising flyer may carry advertisements for used barrels.
Often famous wineries will advertise in them. These are generally for
full sized barrels. One may assume that it is the responsibility of
the buyer to pick up used barrels. Purchase only from a reputable
source. Some people have had bad experiences with used barrels; if you
purchase one, "Caveat Emptor -- Buyer Beware".
Oak barrels are generally good for two or three years as a source of
oak in and of itself. At that point, you can either keep it as a
neutral barrel, or you can have a cooperage take it apart, scrape it
down to fresh wood, and re-toast the barrel, at which point it's good
for some more.
Barrel Care
Usually empty unused barrels can be stored indefinitely. Once filled
with wine, the barrels must either be always full or specially treated
when emptied. The recipe for storing solution (for a 40 imp.gal; 50-60
USG) is about 454g (1 lb) citric acid crystals, 454g (1 lb) sodium or
potassium metabisulphite and enough water to fill the barrel. Then
bung it tight.
A new barrel should be filled with water for a week or so before
filling with wine as a new barrel will often leak. For leaks there are
three things to do. First, wait a few days. Swelling will stop a lot
of between stave leaks. Second, if it still leaks between staves, then
you'll need to pound the hoops towards the middle of the barrel to
tighten up the pressure. Third, if your leak is from a defect in the
wood such as a small hole, you can whittle a small plug out of a piece
of oak and jam it into the hole.
Bleach and other cleaners not specifically labelled for wood barrel
cleaning shouldn't be used to clean your barrel as it could remain in
the wood and affect the wine you put in it. If the barrel is dirty,
then scrub it with water. One trick to clean a barrel is to drop a
length of chain inside and shake the barrel around.
Don't reuse a barrel in which wine has turned to vinegar; it's
impossible to get rid of the vinegar bacteria from the wood. Use the
barrel as a planter in your yard.
It's generally not a good idea to mix wine types in a barrel, or white
and red wine. You'll taste the previous wine in the subsequent wine.
Barrels need regular topping off with wine to keep them full. Since a
barrel is porous, wine evaporates through the wood. Once a week for
topping off works fine; some wineries top off twice a week. Keeping
the humidity up in your winery cuts evaporative loss. Losing half a
litre a month is normal.
The bung stave, the one with the hole in it, often cracks just at the
hole as this is the weakest part of the barrel. Either replace the
stave or seal the crack with melted wax.
Wipe the area around the bung hole often with a sulphite solution.
This is the area that gets seepage and spills, and the sulphite keeps
this area from being a source of spoilage.
Five gallon barrels are discouraged because of the high surface to
volume ratio. The wine can get too oaky relatively quickly. When
using a five gallon barrel, keep the wine in for a shorter period of
time, then blend it with wine from the same vintage that was not in
barrel. It seems to work fine. The key is to not let it sit too long.
Toasting Level in Barrels
The level of toasting appropriate to a wine would be based on what kind
of oak taste you want to impart on your wine. Most reds can take higher
toast levels than whites. If you plan on using the barrel for whites, a
light toast level is appropriate for lighter, earlier maturing whites
and maybe medium toast for any fuller body whites to which you wish to
impart a bolder toasted taste. If you have a lighter bodied or
flavoured red wine, you should go with a lighter toast level to avoid
the toasting overwhelming the other flavours of the wine. The majority
of reds would fall into the medium toast range. Heavily toasted barrels
are rare. It is suggested that you try talking to someone from where
you are purchasing the barrel who is knowledgable about the different
toast levels and can steer you in the right direction.
G13. SANITATION
Yeast is tough and tends to beat out most competitors because of its
ability to live in an alcohol solution, while bacteria and fungi tend
to die even at low alcoholic percentages (though some can live almost
as well.) It also survives well because of its rapid reproduction rate
as compared to other microorganisms. However, survival isn't
everything, since even a small infection can spoil the odour and
flavour of your wine. You're unlikely to get sick from these
infections, since anything bad will almost always SMELL bad too, and
taste worse. To avoid this, keep everything that comes in contact with
your wine very clean. This is especially critical when cleaning the
fermenting vessel. You don't need to sterilize, as it is impossible to
keep things sterile anyway. A solution of bleach water (one capful per
gallon) will kill almost anything. You'll need to be very sure all the
bleach gets rinsed off since yeast will have trouble living in the
presence of chlorine and even the tiniest amount of bleach can produce
awful flavours and odours when it reacts with other things in your
must.
If a fermenter has just been in use and you're rinsing it out to put
more wine in immediately, scalding hot water out of the tap will do
nicely, no need to use bleach. Note: You SHOULD bleach if this last
batch had vinegar in it.
G14. PROCEDURE
Prepare the yeast. You can either start from a package of yeast or
the leftover yeast from a previous batch. If you're using a package of
yeast, it can just be thrown in the must, but it works better if you
rehydrate it in a (sanitized) glass of water, covered with a plate or
plastic wrap. You can also give it something to do by tossing in a
spoon of sugar or by substituting some fruit juice for water, but this
is not necessary. Re-hydrating only takes about 15 minutes.
Prepare your must. Crush your fruit and, where appropriate, add water,
sugar and other ingredients. An easy way of preparing non-grape fruit
is to put them through a food processor or blender.
Must sanitation. There are different schools of thought on how must
sanitation should be done: Some people boil their must, others use
Campden tablets (2 per gallon), others freeze their fruit (which helps
to extract juice and flavours better, and is usually done in
conjunction with a dose of sulphite), others pasteurize (raising the
must temperature to a given temperature for a period of time), and
others don't sanitize at all, but rather allow the wild yeasts to
ferment the must. Boiling helps to fend off infections and blend
ingredients, but can change the character of whatever you're preparing
and caramelize some sugars, producing less desirable results, sweet
wine, or both. Often it is sufficient to pour boiling water over
pieces of fruit to get wild yeast and bacteria off the surface of the
fruit and makes the fruit easier to crush and extract juices.
Most fruit juices, especially apple and grape, will ferment out to 7%
or 8%, possibly up to 11%. Adding sugar or honey will make a more
potent wine or cider.
Mix juices, tannins, acids, nutrients in fermenting vessel.
Add the yeast, and let it ferment the must. This can take anywhere
from 2-3 weeks for a kit to several months with some fruit.
Clear the wine. Some people rack the wine from one vessel to another
every three months after fermentation is complete until clear; others
use a fining agent such as bentonite, gelatin or isinglas. Most people
fine and filter their wine before bottling to give the wine a final
polish.
Aging. Quality improves a lot with age. It is usually best to wait at
least a month on anything, and the longer you wait, the better it will
be. Most references say wait at least six months or a year but many
wines can be drinkable earlier. Keep the bottles in a cool place out
of direct sunlight. Wines age better if not jarred or disturbed. Kit
wines tend to be best at a year.
To determine the optimum aging time required for a wine, make a lot of
small bottles and open one up every three months or so and taste it.
G15. Why am I adding the bentonite at the beginning?
{As I understand it, bentonite is a clearing agent. However, in the
instructions for my kit it says to add the bentonite at the same time
as the yeast. Why?}
It helps to get rid of a lot of stuff (including millions of dead yeast
cells) during the primary fermentation by having it all fall out before
clearing ever starts. Doing so optimizes the actual clearing process
by taking care of a lot of it before you even try. It also helps avoid
foul smells from decomposing yeast -- a potential problem when your
wine is in the carboy for several weeks or even months -- when you
transfer the wine into the secondary by having them all fall out to the
bottom in the primary, therefore avoiding their transfer.
G16. EGG WHITE CLEARING
{How is egg white clearing accomplished? Are the egg whites raw? How
does one go about fining with egg white? Any problem with salmonella?}
The egg whites are raw. Add about 2 whites per barrel, with a pinch
of salt; mix the whole thing to get the salt mixed in -- the salt helps
solubilize some proteins in the whites that aren't water soluble.
Don't whip the whites, though, or it'll just float on the top like a
meringue and require counterfining. Salmonella is a good question,
although it likely can't stand the environment of wine for too long
(ethanol and low pH).
If you're doing very small batches, you don't need to add much at all.
You really don't want to add too much. This method should only be used
for red wines.
G17. HIGHER ALCOHOL LEVELS
If you wish to increase your alcohol content, such as for ports,
sherries and the like, try syrup feeding. Prepare your must like a
regular wine (but keep your initial sg below 1.095) and ferment using a
high alcohol tolerant yeast. Rack to secondary as usual at 1.010.
When the sg is at 1.000, bring it up to 1.010 with a 2 to 1 sugar to
water syrup. This can be done several times, but production will
usually stop at roughly 18%. Don't worry about excess sweetness if
you're careful as higher alcohol levels tend to mask sweetness, and in
order to get the same apparent sweetness as a wine with a given lower
alcohol level, you need more residual sugar. If you put in too much
sugar, A) deal with a slightly sweet wine and B) experiment to see what
works best for you in the future.
According to "The Lore of Still Building" by Kathleen Howard and Norman
Gibat, you can accomplish concentrate the alcohol (and everything in the
wine as well) by putting the wine in a freezer until it turns mushy. It
can then be poured or ladled into a large strainer cloth and squeezed
dry. The liquid squeezed out will be higher in alcololic content than
the residue in the strainer cloth. This method should yield a fortified
wine (20% to 30% alcohol) from ordinary wines. Unfortunately, the book
does not give a good indication of freezer temperature or how long the
wine should be frozen.
Please note that this is effectively the same as distillation and can
be quite dangerous with regards to methanol concentration.
G18. SPARKLING YOUR WINE
Champagne can be made by several methods:
Traditional method:
For 20 litres:
Wine should be fermented to 10% alcohol. When still and clear, but
without any sorbate or further sulphite added, add 1 cup sugar and
champagne yeast to the wine. A couple hours later, bottle wine in
champagne bottles with crown caps. Let bottle rest on its side for 1
month.
When disgorging and corking, 12oz (360ml) of this wine is to be added
to 8oz (240 ml) of vodka or brandy (preffered) and 12oz (360ml), wine
conditioner and 1/2 tsp sulphite crystals. This is the "dosage".
Over a period of 6 weeks after the initial 1 month period, gradually
shift bottle angle from near horizontal to near vertical (neck down)
using planks with holes large enough to place the necks in. Then chill
the wine to about -1C (30F) without disturbing the sediment (this can
be done in a large bucket of ice or outside in the winter.) Place
several alternating layers of crushed ice and salt in a bucket and
place the necks down in the ice. When the sediment has frozen,
carefully point the bottle in a safe direction (such as into your
primary) and uncork. The sediment should come out cleanly.
After the wine is disgorged, the "dosage" is added to the sparkling
wine. The wine is recorked.
Articicial carbonation:
WARNING: This method can be dangerous. IF YOU AREN'T SURE, ASK YOUR
DEALER FOR HELP!
Artificial carbonation avoids the nuisance of sediment. The only
problem is that it is comparatively a pain in the a$. You will need
to rent the carbonation setup from a local store. You will have to
place your wine in the freezer until it is 0C. You will have to charge
the tank with CO2, shake, charge, shake, charge, shake. Then each
bottle has to be filled under pressure. Estimates for 23L are in the
2-3 hour range not including chilling time, the extra two trips to the
store, extra time cleaning, and so forth.
When you look at natural carbonation, there is no need to sterilize
your solution (less chemicals in your product), it takes two minutes
extra to add the 1.5 cup sugar, and the bubbles in your wine will be
finer, longer lasting, and they will thread like champagne. So what if
you lose an ounce of wine on the bottom of the bottle? Even so, yeast
sediment is good for you!
Note:
Make sure that you use bottles that are designed to be under pressure
(such as soda bottles or champagne bottles) and that if you're using a
cork that it's secured to the bottle with a wire. Alternatively you
can use large beer bottles or other bottles that can use crown caps.
G19. ICE WINE
{Has anyone had any experience in fudging ice wine?}
Icewine is basically a very sweet desert wine where the grapejuice has
been naturally concentrated by partially freezing the grapes and
pressing, so that the ice will remain with the skins and stems etc.,
resulting in a very concentrated juice.
Home winemakers can produce wonderful icewine style of wines using
concentrates. The only difference is that the juice was concentrated in
a factory, vs the natural way.
Several suggestions follow:
In western Canada the Brew Crew and its affiliated stores carry an
icewine kit which is made by R.J. Grape products. One kit makes
11.5 liters, and it cost approximately $70 Can.
Alternatively you can use a regular kit and only bring it up to 11.5
litres instead of 23.
Start with a base wine (fresh juice or concentrate). Adjust the acid
level. Adjust the brix by adding honey and concentrate (usually 3 parts
concentrate to 1 part honey) to the desired alcohol yield. Ferment
until dry. Stabilize the wine, by using sulphite, sorbate, and filter.
After stabilization, add concentrate & honey to raise the specific
gravity to about 1.050 (THIS IS NOT A TYPO). At this point proceed with
normal winemaking techniques (fining, cold conditioning, and it MUST be
filtered).
This method allows you to be very creative. For example you can start
with a riesling as a base, and add a gewurtztraminer concentrate or
several different concentrates, even a small amount of red wine
concentrate. It is possible to create a truly unique & complex
"icewine" type desert wine using this blending method. Note: you can
also use this method in regular winemaking as well.
Another suggestion is to use a readily available super concentrated form
of grapes: RAISINS. Take 1 pound of raisins, and 1 pound of seedless
dates, put them in the blender with some juice, blend it until it's a
mush and add it to the primary. After fermentation is complete and
the wine is stabilized, add 1/2 pound of raisins and the same amount of
dates, prepared in the blender (at this point extraction of the sugar
and flavour is the goal). Use additional concentrate to raise the
specific gravity to 1.050, and proceed as usual.
The owner of a brew-on-premises shop combines a 15 litre juice kit and
a 3kg to 5kg concentrate kit instead of water to bring the batch to 23
litres.
In order to make it the traditional way, the grapes must be left on the
vine late in the season until they are partly frozen, usually when the
temperature has reached -7C (19F), and then quickly harvested and
pressed to get only the concentrated juice in the centre of the grape,
while avoiding allowing the ice crystals to melt and/or directly join
the must. Alternatively, you can partially freeze your grapes in your
freezer. Ferment the juice as you would a regular wine.
It is important to keep an eye on the acid levels, especially when
using the concentrate feeding method, as concentrates are already acid balanced for 23 litres.
G20. DIFFERENT KINDS OF FERMENTATION USED IN WINEMAKING
Red wine fermentation: the trick with red wine grapes is to hit a peak
temperature near 32C (90F) for at least a short time to optimize colour
extraction.
Pros naturally achieve temperature -- the large fermenters they use
don't allow the heat of fermentation to escape easily. Some go to
lengths to try to prevent overheating! With our small tubs, we
amateurs must resort to trickery. The best heating system is a
"brewbelt" which should be available from a local brewing supply store.
A simple trick is to wrap an electric blanket around the fermenter. A
submersible thermometer will tell you when you've got the right
thermostat setting. Other heat sources are: aquarium heaters (clean
well!), space heaters, and waterbed heaters.
A good fermentation regimen is to hold the crushed/stemmed must at 40F
for 5 days, innoculate and warm to 32C (90F) for a day, then drop the
temperature down into the 15C to 26C (60F to 80F) range for a long
fermentation, pressing a couple days after cap fall.
Cold fermentation: Some white wines benefit from a cooler
fermentation, producing a clean, fruity wine that many consumers love.
Again, cooler fermentations are difficult for amateurs, and we must
resort to trickery. An old fridge run warm (about 10C (50F)) is
perfect for a carboy at a time. Icebags suspended in must or placed in
a tub in which a fermentation vessel sits can be effective. You can
place carboys in tubs of water on the basement floor if it's cool. The
water draws warmth from the carboy to the floor. A good target
temperature for white wines is 10C to 13C (50F to 55F).
Barrel fermentation: It's not hard once you get past the expense of
the barrel. Press the grapes in the usual fashion, settle the juice
overnight. Rack the juice into the barrel (previously swelled to
prevent leaks) to about 80% full. Inoculate with yeast, jam an airlock
in the bunghole and wait. After about 2 to 3 weeks, when vigorous
action has slowed, top the barrel off and keep it topped. Leave it in
the barrel for anywhere from 3 weeks to a year, depending on many
factors (age of oak, desired amount of oak flavour, etc.)
Malolactic fermentation: MLF, as it is abbreviated, is a bacterial
fermentation where sharp malic acid in wine is converted by bacteria to
mellower lactic acid. MLF is usually good, especially for high acid
Chardonnays. Pinot Noir, which has a high natural malic acid content,
almost always undergoes MLF and benefits from it. The MLF bacteria
comes in with the grapes sometimes, can be present in your facility and
equipment and is available for purchase at most wine supply shops.
If you want MLF to happen, keep sulphite down. MLF is sensitive to
sulphite, low pH's (especially below 3.0), and cool temperatures (below
15C (60F)). So, inoculate early -- many do it soon after yeast
fermentation has started (the must is warm and has little sulphite).
If your pH is very low, the wine can be partly neutralized to raise the
pH. Be careful at this point as adding too much chalk can add a chalky
taste to the wine. Refer to section G21. ACID BALANCE. MLF survives
very well in barrels, so if you are putting your Pinot in a barrel that
has held a wine that has undergone MLF, it will take off on its own.
This has historically been a common occurence in the spring following
harvest.
The lees in the barrel or carboy harbour the bacteria, so leaving wine
on the lees until late spring can give MLF encouragement. Some wines,
like Riesling, don't like MLF. A moderate sulphite dose almost always
provides adequate protection against it and all the other bacterial
fermentations.
You can tell that MLF is happening in 3 ways. One is to use
chromatography to measure relative malic and lactic acid levels.
Another is to notice the onset of renewed CO2 action (bubbles) well
after the yeast fermentation is done. Another is to taste the change
in the wine from more sharp to more mellow and buttery.
Lee Stirring
When this is done this in a winery, it's usually in conjuction with
barrel fermentation. Hence, the primary lees are the ones that are
stirred. Having said this, it should be pointed out that the juice has
been racked once before inoculation so the solids are in the less than
2% range in the juice at inoculation.
Stirring frequency is up to the winemaker but even no stirring will
result in what is described as a greater mouthfeel. This can lead to a
sense of richness, softness and definitely better integration of oak,
malolactic character and fruit. Many wineries start off stirring
weekly (originally the stirring was done to encourage malolactic
fermentation) and then gradually tapering to once every two weeks to
once a month with usually the end being at 6-9 months depending on
taste. And that's the most important indicator. Sometimes, there can
be a sulphide problem, so you have to taste the wine throughout the
process. If you push the wine through MLF you shouldn't have a
bacterial problem. Also, once MLF is complete you should add some
sulphite to avoid bacterial spoilage.
G21. ACID BALANCE
Finished wines usually should have the following acid levels (expressed
as tartaric acid):
Fruit wines 0.60% 6.0g/L
Red grape wines 0.65% 6.5g/L
White grape wines 0.75% 7.5g/L
Sherry types 0.50% 5.0g/L
1 ounce of acid blend will raise 5 imp. gal. by 0.13%. 1/4 ounce
calcium carbonate chalk or 1/3 ounce potassium carbonate chalk per
gallon will lower acid by 0.15%. Maximum recommended chalk is 0.5
ounce calcium chalk per gallon to avoid a faint chalky taste.
Potassium bicarbonate produces better results with less taste then
calcium carbonate, and will work better with cold stabilization.
If your wine is really high in acid (VERY low pH), add some water.
G22. CHILLPROOFING
Tartaric acid crystals may fall out of solution to form a white,
crystalline sediment after a while, particularly if your wine gets
chilled. They're harmless and do not add any taste to the wine. To
avoid the problem, chillproof your wine for a couple of weeks in the
carboy in a cool to cold place -- an old fridge or a cold cold room is
appropriate. Desired temperature is 4C (36F).
G23. DO ALL WINES CONTAIN SULPHITES?
All wines do contain sulphur compounds, and almost invariably sulphur
dioxide, a common additive preservative. Yeast produce sulphur
compounds as a byproduct of metabolism. The level they produce is
usually enough to require the "contains sulphites" addition to labels.
Yeast typically produce around 10 ppm (10mg/L) but may produce more.
It is thought not to be harmful unless one is very allergic to sulphur
compounds. There are varying degrees of sulphite sensitivity, ranging
from sinus inflammation to, in extreme cases, respiratory failure.
Many winemakers, both commercially and at home, are trying to reduce
sulphite levels.
Sulphite is often added to the wine as a microbiological and oxidative
inhibitor in wines, the amount wildly ranging depending on the
producer. Often the value may as well be related to the colour of
their eyes or their height. :)
G24. HOW MUCH SULPHITE IS NEEDED?
Neither SO2 nor sorbate kills yeasts; they inhibit them, and can
prevent microbial activity, but only if the cell counts are low. If
you have a mounting problem, they won't do a good job in controlling
it. The amount of sulphite needed depends on the pH of the wine -- the
lower the pH the less you need (at pH 3.2, you need 21ppm (21mg/L) free
SO2; at pH 3.5, you need 50ppm (50mg/L) free SO2.) This has to do with
A) the fact that the active form that inhibits bacteria forms better at
lower pH's and B) the lower the pH, the better the acidity in the wine
is in itself able to protect the wine. The following is the pH
dependant equilibrium for those of us who actually understand it. The
forms depicted in the left are favoured by higher pH's; the right by
lower pH's.
SO2 + H2O <---> HSO3- + H+ <---> SO3-- + H+
1 ppm = 1 mg/L, therefore for 5 gallons of wine with a pH of 3.2, you
need:
5gal*4.5L/gal = 22.5L
21mg/L*22.5L = 472.5mg
Since this is free SO2, we need a conversion for potassium and sodium
metabisulphate, (K2S205 and Na2S205 respectively) which are 3.47 and
2.97 respectively. So we need 1.6g or 1.4g of each respectively -- a
little under a quarter of a teaspoon. Through the same process you
need half a teaspoon for a wine with pH 3.5. One campden tablet is
0.55 grams, or about 1/12 of a teaspoon.
It's always important to remember that both of these products work
better with low pH's, so a non-standard wine (i.e. fruit wine) may
require really large amounts due to high pH.
There is unfortunately no handy way to actually kill yeast in your wine
at home.
G25. TOPPING UP YOUR WINE
Topping up your wine is the process of making your carboy as full of
wine as possible to make sure that there is as small a contact with air
as possible, therefore minimizing oxidation risks.
Some suggestions follow:
A) Make more than five gallons, particularly if you're using fresh
fruit; when racking, squeeze the berries to get the liquid out to
maximize wine volume to begin with. Keep the extra wine in the fridge
until needed.
B) Add water. This can change the sweetness and acid of your wine.
C) Add a honey/water mixture
D) Top off with some commercial wine of the same type as you're making.
This will keep the taste from being watered down
E) Use an inert gas such as CO2. This can be gotten from a supplier,
or if you have access to it, use dry ice. Some suppliers also have
cans of inert gas used to top up bottles of wine.
F) Added clean marbles or aquarium gravel to reduce the amount of room
in the carboy so the wine is closer to the neck.
When you do rack and you introduce something to your wine to top it up,
add some sulfite. Sulfite also helps reduce oxidation and will help
kill any bacteria introduced when racking.
G26. HOW TO KNOW WHEN A WINE IS READY TO DRINK
By no means is the following meant to be complete or authoritative;
however, it does contain some means of determining maturity. If you
know any more, please let the editor (malak@cam.org) or r.c.w. know.
The first thing to remember is that wine-tasting (and therefore when a
wine is "ready") is a subjective exercise and your favourite wine is
someone else's least favourite some of the time. Everyone has a
different palate. Some like oak, some acid, some fragrance, some
body.
Kit wines tend to peak at 1 year. Check that the acid balance and
tannin level are high enough if you want it to last longer. Many other
fruit wines peak at 3 to 5 years. Most fine wines that take time will
still usually peak long before 25 years unless tannins, acids and fruit
flavours are unusually concentrated.
Two of the easiest ways of assessing a wine's maturity are tasting the
wine at intervals and holding a bottle up to the light to assess the
wine's colour. Assessing the wine by tasting is your responsibility;
however, acidity and astringency (the latter from tannins) will
gradually diminish with age, while fruitiness will typically diminish
and give way to more subtle and developed aromas with age, so look for
smoothness and complexity. But watch out! After a certain time, the
wine can actually get tired and move past its peak. Watch out for
wines that have a tired, thin, flabby taste. A practical way to taste
over time is to make a lot of small bottles.
You should also be careful: In the reductive environment of the
bottle, many wines develop hydrogen sulfide smells, and if it smells
bad initially, swirl the wine around in a glass. Decanting can help,
but it's tricky because you can overdo it with a delicately-balanced
wine.
You should also be inspecting the corks for A) leakage B) rot, and C)
dryness. Outside development of mould is not bad, but escape of some
wine through the cork is bad.
As for colour, with age, red wine goes from a deep red or even purple
to lighter shades of red. Typical descriptors for an aged red are
"brick," and "orange." White wine goes from a pale straw colour to
amber.
Also, when examining the bottles in the light, check for clarity --
haziness can indicate A) protein haze B) metals casse (haze) C)
microbiological activity, or D) pectin haze. The worst of these is, of
course, microbiological activity. You should also check the ullage
(fill level) -- if that has decreased, it could indicate excessive
evaporation or leakage, which could oxidatively deteriorate the wine or
indicate the possibility of microbial incursion.
Now for some tips on wine tasting, which might help you determine what
you like, and therefore impact how you make and age your wine. Deciding
what was liked about his wines was what caused the editor (and no doubt
others) to determine how he went about making his wines.
Don't mix sweet wines with dry wines unless you drink the sweet wines
last.
Taste the wines twice or even three times and rescore them. They change
flavour on exposure to air or if they warm up.
Drink white wines cool; let red wines air out.
Find out what styles you personally like and what your friends like and
why.
See if you can find wines that everyone likes. These are the hardest to
make and usually the best buys.
Try to agree on flawed the cause of wines' mousy smell (bad filtration,
mould or bad corks), oxidation etc. The main thing is to not be too
serious and not to talk too much while you're tasting e.g. "Oh...this is
just great!!!" Save comments till later and don't force your tastebuds
on your neighbour.
Have lots of chlorine free water and bits of bread or unsalted crackers
to clean your moutn between wines.
Brown bag the bottles until everyone has tasted. This is a lot of fun
and removes a lot of personal bias which has nothing to do with tasting.
G27. VINOMETERS
{Could someone tell me the principle of how a vinometer works?}
Water's structure causes it to have a very high surface tension and
exhibit marked capillary action. In other words if you stick a narrow
tube in the water the water is pulled up the column.
The more alcohol present the more the capillary action is affected thus
the height of the column changes. Add graduations based on standard
solutions of water and alcohol and you have a reasonably accurate
method of determining the concentration of a water alcohol solution.
Problem is that wine has lots of other things that can affect capillary
action and surface tension. The most prominent of these are residual
sugars. That's why the instructions that come with the device probably
say to only use it on dry wines (wines with minimal residual sugar).
G28. HOW TO MEASURE ALCOHOL LEVELS IN YOUR WINE
To calculate Alcohol by Volume: Subtract the last reading from the
initial gravity and divide the result by 0.0074 this gives the
approximate alcohol content in %.
Ex.:
S.G. = 1.070 F.G. = 0.995
1.070 - 0.995 = 0.075
0.075 / 0.0074 = 10.15%
It does not matter what the first or last reading is, both mean little
alone. The difference between the two does!
Usually there is also an alcohol scale marked directly on a hydrometer;
subtract initial potential alcohol reading from final, and the
difference is the approximate alcohol content.
Another method is the boiling method:
- take 250 ml of wine
- measure specific weight and temperature
- boil the wine down to half of its volume
- get the same volume of liquid by adding boiled water
- cool to the same temperature as above
- measure specific weight
- the difference between the two is related to the alcohol level; use
the following table:
diff. alcohol
s/w volume %
8 5,63
9 6,40
10 7,18
11 7.98
12 8,80
14 10,51
16 12,30
18 14,10
20 16,00
22 18,00
spec. weight is in gram/litre
G29. WHAT'S THE BEST PAPER AND ADHESIVE TO USE FOR LABELS?
Paper:
Any paper will do -- printer paper, copy paper, whatever. Envelope
labels are more difficult to take off.
Inkjet printouts may run if exposed to the slightest moisture; try
photocopying.
Adhesives:
Typically, you should use a water soluble adhesive that is easy to
apply and allows for quick, easy removal of labels.
Milk: Use a small brush and lightly coat the back of the label, then
press it onto the bottle.
Stick glue (UHU or Pritt or the like).
Water/sugar/flour: The old kid-paste trick.
G30. BOTTLES & CORKS:
Any glass bottle without defect that will hold a cork firmly in its
neck will do. However, bottles that used to contain wine are
recommended. Sources are home use, friends, relatives, restaurants and
recycling bins.
TIP: Use one style of bottle for your wine, or at least one style per
batch of wine. That way the "whole experience" is more visually
appealling, and it may help you when storing & handling the bottles
(uniformity = easier).
There is a multitude of methods and general procedures for preparing
bottles for bottling; basically, they involve washing the bottle and
sanitizing them. To wash, soak the bottles in soapy hot water (which
incidentally will remove most labels without any labour) for half an
hour, rinse the outside, rinse the interior with a jet-spary bottle
washer, sanitize with a sulphite solution, and bottle your wine.
Dishwashers with HOT water can replace the rinsing of the outside of
the bottle (but NOT the inside) and sanitizing with sulphite.
Using soap to wash and/or chlorine bleach to sterilize the bottles is
not a concern as long as you rinse the bottles thoroughly on the inside
to remove any residue.
Corks should not be reused. When preparing, soak the corks in just
boiled water with sulphite in it for at least half an hour before
bottling. This will soften the corks and the sulphite will avoid
contamination from the corks and their handling. Steaming also works. Another method is to rinse corks in a sulphite solution, about 500 ppm,
then shake off the excess solution and place them in a bag for a week
before use. This allows the moisture to get absorbed into the corks
which softens them and makes it easier to insert.
Short corks are for short term storage, long corks are for long term
storage. Composite corks are for short term storage. The editor has
had more corked bottles from composite corks than whole ones.
Short corks are easier to pull, and often have fewer defects than
longer ones. End bevelling is only important for hammer corkers & the
both-end-bevelled ones allow hammer corking to proceed somewhat beyond
sobriety. The narrower corks (and silicone lubricated ones) are easier
for hand corking, and the wide ones are more secure and allow slightly
carbonated wines to be made without too many corks popping. Pure corks
are a little easier to put in and take out, but they have a lot more
defects than composite corks.
Plastic corks appear to be mildly inadequate, although useable for
short term storage. Problems include difficulty in retraction and
leakage. Some people have found that they work well and that
they are less expensive.
And it is suggested that you use a floor model corker if you make any
large amounts of wine and bottle it all as a hand corker can be tiring.
G31. HOW ABOUT DISTILLING MY WINE?
Distillation is basically heating an alcoholic beverage to the boiling
point and cooling its steam, with the intention of concentrating the
alcohol.
Though at perfectly safe levels when you ferment your wine,
distillation will concentrate the methanol content in your beverage to
levels that may be dangerous.
Because of the dangers of not properly removing the minute amounts of
methanol present found in most fermented products, home distillation is
illegal in most Western countries, and likely most others. There is a
remote possibility that it may also invite the government to your house
for an unwelcome visit.
THE EDITOR THEREFORE STRONGLY RECOMMENDS AGAINST ANY HOME ATTEMPTS AT
DISTILLATION.
G32. WHAT ARE GOOD REFERENCES FOR WINEMAKING?
For the beginner:
Modern Winemaking by Jackisch
Grapes into Wine by Philp Wagner
"The Roots of Health" by Gypsy Petulegro
For the more advanced:
Winemaking Basics by C.S. Ough. Don't let the title fool you, although
there are basics in there, some areas look like a chemistry course.
Wine Analysis and Production, Zoecklein et al., Chapman & Hall, and is
available through the magazine PWV (Practical Winery and Vineyard) for
$79.95 + shipping.
For both:
Winemaking: Recipes, equipment, and techniques for making wine at
home. Stanley F. Anderson and Dorothy Anderson. A Harvest/HBJ
Original. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich. San Diego, New York, London.
1989.
You Made This? A Guide to Making Wine No One Knows is Homemade.
Thomas Bachelder. Kylix Media Inc. Montreal, Canada. 1992.
BETTER WINEMAKING MAGAZINE, a quarterly, NON-PROFIT publication,
dedicated to the home winemaking, cidermaking and brewing enthusiast.
Write to Paul Jean at jeanpaul@magi.com for further information.
GETTING STARTED WINEMAKING, Paul Jean Jr. Published by JE Underhill,
1993. Covers all aspects of winemaking from kits, introduces
winemaking from juice and grapes and gives recipes for wines from 48
non-grape fruits. Instructions on the use of a hydrometer, acid
testing (6 easy steps) calculating parts per million (ppm) and proper
use of sorbate to stabilize wines. Also are items on how to fix
problem wines. $5.00 by mail. Write to Paul Jean at jeanpaul@magi.com
for further information.
First Steps in WineMaking
By C.J.J. Berry
ISBN 0-900841-83-4
On cellars:
"How and Why To Build a Wine Cellar" by Richard M. Gold, Ph.D.
For Winery startup:
Practical Winery and Vineyard
15 Grande Paseo
San Rafael, CA 94903-1534
(415) 479-5819
Subcription is $30US/year for 6 issues (1995)
TROUBLESHOOTING
T01. I DIDN'T REHYDRATE MY YEAST. IS THAT BAD?
Not generally. It is recommended to rehydrate your yeast, however, as
this will give it a greater advantage in innoculating your wine and
avoiding contamination by other nasties. That means that the wine will
begin fermenting sooner. Rehydrate for at least 15 minutes; even
better overnight in a sample of the juice.
T02. WHY HASN'T MY WINE STARTED BUBBLING YET?
{I put the yeast in about 12 hours ago and I don't see any signs of
fermentation. Does wine yeast take longer to kick in?}
YES. The sugar level is higher in the wine must than in a beer wort,
and thus the yeast takes longer to get going. Float your rapidly
fermenting starter (rehydrated yeast) onto the top of the must.
The editor has also found that inadequate mixing of water and
concentrate plays tricks on the sugar/water concentration in different
parts of the fermentor, making ignition of the wine difficult for the
yeast. The solution is to properly mix the must, and as a safety
precaution add another packet of fresh yeast.
If your wine still refuses to start, the starter or wine could be too
hot or too cool, or the yeast too old. Ideal temperatures are between
20C to 22C (68F to 72F). If the starter or wine was too cool, move it
to a warmer location. If it was too warm, then move to a cooler
location. Note: you may need to reinnoculate if it was too warm, as
excessive warmth could kill your yeast.
Stuck ferment can be cured by, in the following order, A) moving the
wine to an area with an appropriate temperature, B) adding yeast
nutrient, C) adding yeast energizer, D) adding 1 gallon of the wine to
5 gallons of a similar wine during a healthy ferment.
T03. MY WINE STOPPED BUBBLING. WHAT'S WRONG?
{My wine was bubbling furiously for 3 weeks but has now stopped. I
moved it to a warmer room but still nothing. Any suggestions?}
The operative clue here is "3 weeks". Check your sg, and if it's less
than 1.000, then the wine has fermented out. Go to the next step.
Another possibility is that you have a very high alcohol wine (starting
sg higher than 1.100) and the alcohol level has gotten so high that the
yeast can't tolerate it anymore (and you might have a slightly sweet
wine.) If not, follow the instructions for stuck ferment in the
section T02. WHY HASN'T MY WINE STARTED BUBBLING YET?
T04. FOAMING PROBLEMS
{I just racked my kit wine from the primary into the carboy. The
problem is there is a lot of foam. When I had the bottom of the cork 1
inch from the top of the wine the foam came all the way up the cork
spout and into the air trap. I lowered the wine level to 2 inches and
it's not coming out anymore. Is this foam OK?}
Probably. Some kits foam a lot. If you stretch the kit beyond the 5
imp. gal. mark, the last gallon has to be transferred into a glass jug.
When there's too much foam in the secondary (usually 2-3 inches), start
the transfer into the jug. By the time the jug has been filled, most
of the foam in the secondary has subsided. The foam that forms in the
carboy during secondary or stays after transfer is annoying but
harmless. To avoid it being a problem in the air lock, keep the level
of the wine about two inches from the top.
You can use a sanitized drink stirrer from a restaurant to break up the
foam.
T05. MY WINE JUST WON'T CLEAR. WHY NOT?
{I'm in the middle of making a kit and am concerned about the time it's
taking to clear. The wine was racked after the primary and again after
10 days. The instructions say the wine should clear within 14 days
after the second racking and can be bottled then. There is a
disclaimer that if the wine hasn't cleared within the stated time, it
may be filtered.}
It could be related to stretching your clearing agents; don't. Buy
extra gelatin for extra wine over the 5 imp. gal. mark. In any event,
any wine may not clear 100%, and certainly even 2 weeks may not be long
enough. It could be that the fermentation is going slowly due to a
cold room.
It won't hurt the wine at all to leave it longer in the secondary.
Wine can be left an extra month at times with no problem. Racking
repeatedly won't help much as long as the secondary is left undisturbed
between rackings. As for filtering, always filter regardless of how
clear the wine is. Even if the wine isn't 100% clear, the resulting
bottled wine will usually be perfectly clear.
T06. MY FINED AND FILTERED WINE IS HAZY. WHAT'S WRONG?
{I made some Blackberry wine; the fermentation has now stopped and most
of the 'bits' have settled but there is still a lot of stuff sort of
hanging in the demijohn. What is this, what may I have done wrong, and
how can I prevent it next time?}
If you didn't use pectic enzyme during your fermentation to get rid of
it, the cause could be natural pectins in the fruit. Bentonite is also
helpful in clearing such haze. Activated charcoal may also work, but
may also strip your wine of other components if you put in too much or
use it for too long.
If all else fails, try leaving the finished wine outside overnight on a
cold, frosty night. Those who don't live in such cold climates can use
a refrigerator on a very cold setting. The cold will help it to clear.
T07. HOW DO I GET RID OF THE STRONG PAPER TASTE/PAPER FIBRES IN
FILTERED WINE?
When filtering your wine, the instructions should include a part on
running a couple of gallons of water through the filter first in order
to remove these problems.
T08. THE WINE I BOTTLED IS FIZZY. WHY?
{I opened some wine I bottled about 3 months ago and found it to be a
little fizzy. It can be just felt in the mouth, and is easy to see on
the sides of the glass. I have opened 3 bottles before this one and
didn't find the problem. Is it just beginning to show in all the
bottles, or is this bottle a fluke?}
There could be several "problems":
A) You didn't get rid of the carbonation sufficiently (stir it a little
harder and add an extra day of stirring before stabilizing.) This
usually presents itself from the first bottle opened on.
B) You didn't stabilize the wine correctly, and there may have been
some fermentation of residual sugar or MLF in the bottle. Don't
stretch stabilisers; buy extra for the extra wine. MLF can (and often
does) happen in the bottle. It happens because of low sulphite levels
at bottling. MLF will also cause cloudiness, followed by sediment.
C) When you filtered your wine (assuming you did it under vacuum) the
vacuum was insufficient to remove 100% of the carbonation. Not much
you can do except refer to A) and B).
T09. ORNERY BOTTLE LABELS
{Some labels are miserable ... even after soaking you have to pick the
label off a little at a time and no amount of scrubbing or scraping
removes all of the glue. Is there an easier way?}
A) Soak all your bottles in HOT soapy water with soap in it for a few
hours; most labels will come off readily.
B) Some glue isn't water soluble, so use some turpentine to dissolve
it; then use powdered soap to wash off the turpentine. Wallpaper
remover can also work well.
C) Occasionally expect to scrape off labels.
T10. MY WINE SMELLS BAD. WHAT HAPPENNED?
There are three major problems:
A) Somewhere along the line, you didn't keep things clean. The wine
could have been infected by something that produced off flavours and
smells. REMEMBER: Everything that touches the wine in any way has to
be very clean and sanitized first.
B) It's possible that your wine is corked. In this case, it will have
a strong cork smell and taste. The cause is that the cork you used
either wasn't properly sanitized before use or when it was made it
didn't get cleaned properly.
C) Rotten egg smell (hydrogen sulphide) can come from low acid wines in
which dead yeast start to lyse ("explode") and live cells feed on them
or when there is not enough yeast nutrient.
In cases A & B, your wine has gone bad. HOWEVER: It may be a bottle
by bottle problem, particularly with corked wine, so be careful about
wasting good wine. In case C, pour (do not syphon) the wine into a
clean vessel and add 1 campden tablet per gallon as well as some yeast
nutrient.
T11. I SEEM TO HAVE VINEGAR. ANY HOPE?
Nope. Throw it out or cook with it. It would be advisable to bleach
the infected containers as well. Your wood barrel should NEVER be used
again for winmaking, as the vinegar bacteria will never get out. Use
it as a planter in your yard. REMEMBER TO CLEAN ANYTHING THAT TOUCHES
YOUR WINE!
T12. MYCODERMA (FLOWERS OF WINE)
This is when grey islands appear on the surface. Before they
completely cover the surface (in which case it's too late, and you'll
have to throw it out) strain the wine through cotton mesh and add 2
campden tablets per gallon.
T13. I RINSED WITH COLD WATER AFTER SULPHITING. IS THAT BAD?
Usually this shouldn't cause a problem, unless your water supply isn't
potable or is unreliable.
Pros:
A) You can rinse out any extra dirt loosened by the sulphite solution
rinse
B) You can avoid as much bitter taste from sulphate (oxidized sulphite)
and reduce problems with sulphite allergies by rinsing it out
Cons:
A) You have a very mild risk of contamination which is contrary to the
process of sulphiting in the first place
T14. I NEED TO TOP UP. HOW DO I DO IT?
There are several suggestions:
- Make a little more wine than your secondary fermentor can hold, and
keep the extra amount in a sealed container in the fridge. Use it to
top up as you need to.
- Purchase a bottle or two of the same kind of wine and use to top up.
- Use water. Be careful as too much water will dilute your wine.
- Use marbles or clean stones to raise the level of the wine. Be
careful with regards to cleanliness.
- Use smaller containers.
- Use a CO2 source (such as vinegar and baking soda, or dry ice) to
create a blanket over the wine -- pour out the CO2 from the container,
but not the liquid!
Contributors:
Don Buchan (editor) (malak@cam.org), Eric Garrison (ericg@iquest.net),
Peter Rosback (peterr@wine.tv.tek.com), Tony DeVito (tonyd@dorsai.org),
Brian Carty (bcarty@bnr.ca), Rick Regan (rdr@law.cua.edu), David B.
Gibson (aj749@freenet.carleton.ca), Don Schiller (bigdon@minn.net), Dave
Kehlet (david.kehlet@eng.sun.com), Scott Arighi (sarig@teleport.com)
Richard Castle (rcastle@gpu2.srv.ualberta.ca), Victor Reijs
(reijs@surfnet.nl), Jack Ziebart (jziebart@bbs.sd68.nanaimo.bc.ca),
Christopher Sawtell (chris@gerty.equinox.gen.nz), Tamiko Toland
(veraison@aol.com) Brian Hiebert (bhieber@adminbldg.lan1.umanitoba.ca),
Greg Owen (gowen@cs.tufts.edu, gowen@xis.xerox.com), Paul
(placitas76@aol.com), K.D. Colagio (kdc5072@ultb.isc.rit.edu), Mark
Levesque (levesque@nacto.lkg.dec.com), Philip DiFalco (sxupjd@fnma.com),
Anthony Hawkins (hawkins@bigvax.alfred.edu), Patrick J. Tierney
(projexis@ottawa.net), Bob Konigsberg (bobk@3com.com), Tim Hodkinson
(timothy@lerhost.demon.co.uk), Michael Arthurs (fqcx72a@prodigy.com),
Bob Konigsberg (bobk@3com.com), Art Turner (an220@freenet3.carleton.ca),
Ronald Elshaug (rone@worf.rchland.ibm.com), Bryan Johnson
(green@gatewest.net), Ronald Elshaug (rone@worf.rchland.ibm.com), Klaus
Oehr (Klaus_Oehr@mindlink.bc.ca), Morley (news@cunews.carleton.ca), Geza
T Szenes (Geza_T_Szenes/IPL.IPL@notes.ipl.ca), John Katchmer
(74542.3312@compuserve.com), Warren Vidrine (75113.3343@compuserve.com,
vidrine@aol.com)
The NET RESOURCES section is in a seperate posting.