What are you making and what have you made ???

Billpizzaiolo said:

I use Argon gas, before I used to use a product called "Private Preserve"

it is a can of gas that looks like a can of spray paint but feels empty when you shake it. That is because it is filled with a mixture of Argon, Nitrogen and Carbon Dioxide and no oxygen. All are present in the air we breathe. It is the oxygen that is bad for wine. Carbon Dioxide or CO2 is the gas that the yeast gives off during fermentation and it is the gas that makes sparkling wine and beer fizzy. It is good in those cases. Argon & CO2 are heavier than air they are good to blanket the wine, olive oil or anything you wish to keep from oxidizing. (read that as fruits and vegetables too). I went away from using the mixture in the spray cans because they were costing me $10 USD per .29 oz can. Filling my small 20# tank with Argon costs $20 USD. A great savings and so much more gas and no chance of fizzing up a wine I want to keep still (flat no fizz). There is no change in taste as there is no oxidation no chemical smell or taste and it is food safe. You can find an article on it here:
http://www.wineqc.com/papers/inertgas/inertgas.html

Click to expand...

Thanks for the information. I will be swapping the Co2 (which I was mislead on) to Argon.

Thanks again!

Billpizzaiolo said:

You can find an article on it here:
http://www.wineqc.com/papers/inertgas/inertgas.html

Click to expand...

Good article. I was gratified to read the money line:

One would then naturally assume that since Ar and CO2 are heavier than air that they would displace the air and would settle to the bottom. This is however not really the case. What we are going to explore next is the difference between what your mind tells you and what really happens.

Click to expand...

The article corroborates a point that I have made often, viz., gases of different densities readily diffuse into each other, so there is not such thing as a "blanketing effect" due to a heavy gas. Displacing the oxygen by flushing with an inert gas, however, is a real thing (as the kidz say these days).

There is a simple, unintentional mistake in the article. In Table 1, the specific gravities (compared to air) of the listed gases are shifted over by one column. The FIRST time that the text refers to these values, it does so correctly, that is, it cites the SG of N2 as 0.9669, that of Ar as 1.38 and that of CO2 as 1.53. The SECOND time that the text refers to the SGs (in Sec. 2.3), it "reads off the Table," so the values listed are incorrect.

sour_grapes said:

Good article. I was gratified to read the money line:

The article corroborates a point that I have made often, viz., gases of different densities readily diffuse into each other, so there is not such thing as a "blanketing effect" due to a heavy gas. Displacing the oxygen by flushing with an inert gas, however, is a real thing (as the kidz say these days).

There is a simple, unintentional mistake in the article. In Table 1, the specific gravities (compared to air) of the listed gases are shifted over by one column. The FIRST time that the text refers to these values, it does so correctly, that is, it cites the SG of N2 as 0.9669, that of Ar as 1.38 and that of CO2 as 1.53. The SECOND time that the text refers to the SGs (in Sec. 2.3), it "reads off the Table," so the values listed are incorrect.

Click to expand...

Nice catch there,.. I thought I was the only one that noticed that, LOL. If I knew that table well enough to catch that one, I'd be close to turning into pure energy. Lol
When they were handing out brains, I thought they said trains, and missed that too.
Thanks very much!!

sour_grapes said:

Good article. I was gratified to read the money line:

The article corroborates a point that I have made often, viz., gases of different densities readily diffuse into each other, so there is not such thing as a "blanketing effect" due to a heavy gas. Displacing the oxygen by flushing with an inert gas, however, is a real thing (as the kidz say these days).

There is a simple, unintentional mistake in the article. In Table 1, the specific gravities (compared to air) of the listed gases are shifted over by one column. The FIRST time that the text refers to these values, it does so correctly, that is, it cites the SG of N2 as 0.9669, that of Ar as 1.38 and that of CO2 as 1.53. The SECOND time that the text refers to the SGs (in Sec. 2.3), it "reads off the Table," so the values listed are incorrect.

Click to expand...

Yes so true. The article says that too. However it also says that if you keep adding the replacing gas in enough volume it will eventually tip the proportion into the favor of less O2 and other gases in the mixture. "The amount of argon necessary to inert headspace is usually 2 to 3 times the volume of the headspace ( Allen, 1994 ) and should be monitored by measuring the O2 content." What you need to know is how much O2 is left and if it will cause the spoilage or help in the aging. That is how i read it.

Yes, yes, I don't disagree that purging the headspace with Ar will reduce the amount of O2 in the headspace. (That is what I meant by my second sentence.) Just noting that there is no "blanketing effect."

sour_grapes said:

Yes, yes, I don't disagree that purging the headspace with Ar will reduce the amount of O2 in the headspace. (That is what I meant by my second sentence.) Just noting that there is no "blanketing effect."

Click to expand...

Yup no layers of gases. It is not like making a lasagna, it is more like making a smoothy. You have to tip the scale or proportion in favor of less and less O2. Just want to make it clearer for those that might misunderstand the concept. Thanks

Update of my batches:

In the bottle or was:

Merlot -Kit
Asian Pear -Fresh Fruit
Viognier -Frozen Juice
Malbec -Frozen Juice
Muscadine -Fresh Fruite
Cab Sauv -Kit
Blackbery -Fresh Fruit
Carmenere -Frozen Juice
Zinfendel -Frozen Juice
Strawberry -Fresh Fruit
Barbera -Frozen Juice/grape lugs
Pinot Grigio -Kit
Riesling -Kit
Sangria -Kit
Cab Franc Ice -Kit
Island Mist Green Apple Riesling - Kit
Cab/Merlot -Kit

Still in the Carboy

Zinfendel -Frozen Juice
Apple -Fresh Fruit
Estate Red Blend -(Chambourcin,Baco Noir)
Estate Baco Noir -Baco Noir

howdy
::::
in the bottles
2014--25 bottles pear, apple both green granny's , yellow Delius, an sergeants yellow crab apple,
2014--75 bottles blackberry, honey back sweetened
2014--25 bottles strawberry with honey back sweetened
2012--25 bottles elderberry honey back sweetened
2016--25 gallon apple,pear blend still in ferment barrel
2016--15 gallon cherry/mead still in ferment barrel

2015 wines

Last year's harvest...

Barrels, 50l
blend of Syrah, baby franc, merlot
Sangiovese

Carboys of
Cab franc co fermented with Viognier
Merlot
Tempranillo
Cab Sauvignon
Petit sirah
Petit Verdot
Chardonnay
Sauvignon blanc
Riesling

And a couple of gallon jugs of
Chardonnay-Viognier- gwertraminer co-fermented blend
Viognier
Pinot blanc

All estate. Who planted all these different vines anyway

hounddawg said:

howdy
::::
in the bottles
2014--25 bottles pear, apple both green granny's , yellow Delius, an sergeants yellow crab apple,
2014--75 bottles blackberry, honey back sweetened
2014--25 bottles strawberry with honey back sweetened
2012--25 bottles elderberry honey back sweetened
2016--25 gallon apple,pear blend still in ferment barrel
2016--15 gallon cherry/mead still in ferment barrel

Click to expand...

I hope that this does not embarrass or anger hounddawg, but recently he sent me a bottle of his apple/pear wine and asked for my honest opinion.

As most of you already know, I might have a slight reputation as a wine snob. I also know that I have a lot of faults, but dishonesty is NOT one of them.

The wine was very clear, crisp, and had just the right amount of sweetness to bring out the apple and pear characteristics. To put it bluntly, it was quite impressive. I have to admit that I went from tasting to sipping without another thought.

I was not the only one to taste it that day. I had 3 others and we all came to the same conclusion. Hounddog did an outstanding job.

The reason I published this review is that I have hopes that HD will replay with as much detail on exactly how this wine was made (type/proportions of fruit, type of yeast, number of rackings, etc).

-- Forgive me HD, I hate keeping secrets!

to be honest JohnT I am so honored that I'm blushing,
I took granny apples 20 lb, and 20lb from yellow devious I then put 40 pounds of pears I picked, and 3 lb sergeants yellow crab apples cut up then froze all for 2 months used a combination of 1118 yeast for 5 days then dumped in red pasture I stirred twice ever day using a drill and joint compound mud mixer starting sq was 1100, used pectin enzyme, an yeast energize left in in primary for 10 days .then rack into carboys .re-racked every 3 months at 2 years of bulk aging I racked in to a barrel checked SQ, put a half a glass full an added honey till I liked it check the SQ poured honey into barrel till I got the SQ I liked then mixed with drill I found out if drill rotates one way you move drill in aposset direction which kept air being drawn down a vortex, when all honey mixed I added sorbate then was told I need k-meta so I've done that to the rest...
I can never thank you folks enough . any thing I know which aint much i'll happily tell any an all of you.
HOUND DAWG
Richard

p.s. JohnT, give me about a month an i'll be wanting same as last time the cold blunt truth with a blackberry mead. strawberry mead, an a elderberry mead. all 2014 bulk agsd on em, as I've said on many post I never get in a hurry till breakfast time,,,, and no lol on that. don't believe me just look at my belly........

JohnT said:

I hope that this does not embarrass or anger hounddawg, but recently he sent me a bottle of his apple/pear wine and asked for my honest opinion.

As most of you already know, I might have a slight reputation as a wine snob. I also know that I have a lot of faults, but dishonesty is NOT one of them.

The wine was very clear, crisp, and had just the right amount of sweetness to bring out the apple and pear characteristics. To put it bluntly, it was quite impressive. I have to admit that I went from tasting to sipping without another thought.

I was not the only one to taste it that day. I had 3 others and we all came to the same conclusion. Hounddog did an outstanding job.

The reason I published this review is that I have hopes that HD will replay with as much detail on exactly how this wine was made (type/proportions of fruit, type of yeast, number of rackings, etc).

-- Forgive me HD, I hate keeping secrets!

Click to expand...

I bulk aged in carboys witiht airloce

hounddawg said:

to be honest JohnT I am so honored that I'm blushing,
I took frozen granny apples 20 lb, and 20lb from yellow devious I then put 40 pounds of pears I picked, and 3 lb sergeants yellow crab apples cut up then froze all for to months used a combination of 1118 yeast for 5 days then dumped in red pasture knottily I stirred ever day using a drill and joint compound mud mixer starting sq was 1100, used pectin enzyme, an yeast energize left in in primary for 10 days .then stirred like a mad mam, a brute trash can the big gray one left the lid on in-between since it don't fit tight at all just keep out barrel bulked aged 2 years, then brought sq using a blend of sugar and dehydrate honey the stabilize :toher 5 months

Click to expand...

Apart from all the kit wines I've done, I've been enjoying doing lots of different country wines. Eventually, I got some software to track what I was doing, which helped, but had some critical limitations such as portability -- I wanted to update it on my tablet or phone -- so I wrote up a quick replacement that was more portable and met my needs a little more closely. This is an updated extract from the batch report:

Active Batches
Batch Name - Varietal - Size
Goat's Wild Blueberry II - Blueberry - 5 Gal x 5 batches

Completed Batches
Batch Name - Varietal - Size
Magic Peach - Peach Wine - 6 Gal
Blueberry: on skins - Blueberry Wine - 3 Gal
Blueberry: juiced - Blueberry Wine - 3 Gal
Cranberry Disaster - Cranberry Wine - 1 Gal
Goat's Wild Blueberry - Blueberry Wine - 6 Gal x 5 batches
Goat's Cranberry - Cranberry Wine - 6 Gal x 2 batches
Apfelwein I - Apple Wine - 1 Gal
Currancy - Blackcurrant Wine - 1 Gal
Melted and Red Ia - Strawberry Wine - 1 Gal
Melted and Red Ib - Strawberry Wine - 3 Gal
Sovereign - Sovereign Coronation - 3 Gal
May Day - Dandelion - 1 Gal
La Grenade - Pomegranate Wine - 1 Gal
Melted and Red II - Strawberry Wine - 3 Gal
Dragon Blood I - Triple Berry Skeeter Pee - 6 Gal
Mangonel I - Mango Wine - 5 Gal
Mangonel II - Mango Wine - 3 Gal
Meçai I - Açai Wine - 1 Gal
Meçai II - Açai Wine - 1 Gal
Meçai III - Açai Wine - 1 Gal
Figment I - Fresh Fig Wine - 1 Gal
Grögg I - Lingonberry - 1 Gal (simply amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
Ananas Ananas - Pineapple Wine - 1 Gal
Dried Elderberry I - Elderberry Wine - 3 Gal (geranium taint sad sad sad)
Figment² - Fresh+Dried Fig Wine - 1 Gal
Fruit de l'Oponce - Prickly Pear Wine - 3 Gal
Cider-Pure Juice Test - Apple Cider - 1 Gal
Cider-Cut Juice Test - Apple Cider - 1 Gal
PC Apple Cider - 3 Gal
MacNab Ruby Cab - Ruby Cabernet - 5 Gal
Bizzaro Burgundy - Pinot Noir - 5 Gal
Second Goat - Cranberry - 2 Gal (weak)
Hachiya Persimmon - Persimmon - 3 Gal
Vanilla Persimmon - Persimmon - 3 Gal
Roselle - Hibiscus Flower - 2 Gal (awesome!!!)
Z2 - Mixed Herbal Tea - 6 Gal
Dragon Blood II - Triple Berry Skeeter Pee - 6 Gal (tasty!)
Howling Wolfberry - Goji Berry - 3 Gal (took a LONG time to come around)
Dragon's Breath - Dragonfruit - 2 Gal
Son of Meçai - Açai - 3 Gal
Zinger! - Wild Berry Zinger (Herbal Tea) - 3 Gal
kuru kayısı - Dried Apricot - 3 Gal
Mangue - Mango - 6 Gal
Chilean Carménère - Carménère - 6 Gal (awesome!!!)
Chilean Cabernet - Cabernet Sauvignon - 6 Gal (super awesome!!!)
Mystery Grape - Unknown Grape - 3 Gal (harsh)
Gozdni Sadeži - Forest Fruit - 1 Gal (surprisingly good, took FOREVER to come around)
BluTwo - Blueberry - 3 Gal
Youngberry - Youngberry - 1 Gal (awful!!!!)
Zinger!² - Mixed Herbal Tea - 6 Gal
Goat's Cranberry II - Cranberry - 5 Gal x 2 (one had a weird growth in it so I filtered and dosed it, got 3 useful gallons out of it)
La Grenade II - Pomegranate - 1 Gal
Chilean Carménère 2015 - Carménère - 6 Gal
Chilean Sauvignon Blanc 2015 - Sauvignon Blanc - 6 Gal
Jam Jar - Strawberry Jam - 5 Gal
Confiture Mûres - Blackberry Jam - 3 Gal
Wild! Berry - Wildberry Jam - 3 Gal
Wellesley Sweet Apple Cider - Apple Cider - 5 Gal
Bayou Sweet Tea Cooler - Hard Iced Tea - ~18 Gal


I'll have to take some time to enter in the records for the wines I tracked with my other tool and consult my notebook about any previous experiments...

Currently have five batches going...

Malbec - grapes from Chile
Riesling with Apples
Washing Merlot
Cabernet from Sonoma
Blackberry Merlot

Just bottled another Malbec tonight

Pinot Noir - Juice bucket - Bulk aging, will bottle in early May
Barolo - Winexpert Eclipse Italian Nebbiolo - stabalized a few weeks ago, will bottle in early May
Raspberry Rose - RJ Spagnols Orchard Breezin' Rockin Raspberry Rose White Zinfandel - bottled last week
Chateauneuf-du-Pape - Winexpert Selection Original Vieux Chateau du Roi - bottled one month ago

Plan to take a break until fall juice buckets become available. I'm running out of wine storage room.

I'm new to the party but gaining speed:

Bottled
WE World Vineyard Trinty Red (May 2016)
CC Sterling Sauvignon Blanc (Jun 2016)

Bulk Aging
RJS En Primeur Italian Super Tuscan (Jul 2016)
Peach Wine from my own little peach tree (Aug 2016)
CC Sterling Malbec (Aug 2016)

On Deck
WE Selection Luna Bianca
WE Eclipse Lodi Ranch 11 Cabernet Sauvignon
CC Showcase Walla Walla Cabernet Merlot
CC Passport Kookaburra Red

Working now:
Winexpert Mezza Luna Red...all five gallon batches
Winexpert Pinot Noir
Homemade Sweet Tea
Fontana Cabernet Sauvignon
Homemade Plum

Up next:
Another batch of Plum
Mixed Jelly Wine...have about 20 jars of older jelly...heck, it's fruit juice and sugar, so is wine. We'll see what happens!

Finished:
Applewein 2 5 gallon nice white wine
Welches 5 gallon sweet
Plum 3 gallon this is getting real nice going on one year
Prickly Pear 3 gallons haven't touched it yet
Banana 3 gallon make a nice spiced white for Christmas
Winexpert Mezza Luna red 5 gallon very nice, well liked
Cellar Craft chardonay 5 gallons getting better
Winexpert Pino grisio 5 gallons this one is drinking real good now
Winexpert Niebolo 5 gallons love this one
Winexpert Trinity Red 5 gallons good and getting better
Island Mist Peach Apricot Chardonay that was better as a Moscato
Fontana Malbec 5 gallon really like this one, still real young
Fontana Wildberry Shiraz 5 gallons very berry, kinda merging now, OK

Bottled:
* None so far.

In the works:
* Eclipse Barbossa Valley Shiraz
* Eclipse Dry Creek Chardonnay (split into two 3 gallon carboys, one oaked, one unoaked)
* Dragon's Blood Fruit Wine (strawberry, raspberry, blueberry, and blackberry mix) (almost ready for bottling)
* Eclipse Lodi Old Vine Zinfandel
* Eclipse Washington Columbia Valley Riesling

On Deck:
* Eclipse Lodi Ranch 11 Cabernet Sauvignon
* Eclipse Stag's Leap Merlot

My list has grown a bit in a year and a half since I started this journey.

RJS:

Cellar Classic Australian Cabernet - bottled and nearly gone

Winexpert

Mist:

Peach Apricot Chard - bottled and gone
Strawberry Watermelon Shiraz - bottled and drinking well

Selection:

Australian Chard - bottled and nearly gone
Enigma - bottled and not drinking as I hoped
Amarone w/skins - bottling in August
Malbec w/skins - bottling in August
Luna Bianca - bottled and tasting great. Not yet in its prime.

LE:

14 Super Tuscan - bottled and almost in its prime. Wonderful.
15 Fourtitude - bottling in November.

Eclipse:

Stags Leap Merlot - bottled and drinking fantastically
Lodi Cabernet - bottling in August
Old Vine Zin - bottling in November
Forza - bottling in August


14 kits in 18 months. I may have a problem.

On the go:

white grape peach form welch's 100 % juice plus a can of peaches 3 1/2 gallon
black cherry/concord from welch's 100% juice 1 1/2 gallon
passionfruit from welch's plus a pk of mango chunks

Sorry Johnt


Bill