Bulk aging for first time

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Rubberboots

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Ok, I am going to be bulk aging for the first time. The only reason I am doing this is I need a way to keep myself from drinking the wine before it is ready lol. My question is, on the last step of the kit I am doing, should I rack it one last time then bulk age? I don't want to rack it after bulk aging and run the risk of exposing it to oxygen.
 
One part of the reason to bulk age is to let the wine clear completely. You'll generally rack every 3-4 months during that time.
Your exposure to oxygen should be brief and you should add meta at that time also.
Mike
 
As "Kraffty" says, rack-over every 3 months and treat with a dose of K-meta. You will notice sediment becoming less and less as well as CO2. IMPORTANT...... be sure to keep carboy topped up to minimize air exposure. Should not encounter any problems AND you will be rewarded
 
Where to start, I make my wine from kits so I am used to aging in the bottle. The kit says minimum 3 months so all I was thinking was doing a 3 month bulk age. Maybe for future batches look at doing a longer term bulk age. Is it worth it to bulk age for only 3 months vs bottle aging? As stated before we have a problem letting it sit for any length of time before drinking it. That being said, do I have to add this k-meta? Not sure what it does or what it's for. Also, I will be filtering when I bottle so I am not worried about sediment at all.
 
k-meta is used as a yeast killer and wild yeast inhibitor. This stops any yeast from being active. Here is a thread that will help you understand some of the terms that are commonly used in winemaking.

http://www.winemakingtalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=4440

Rubberboots, The longer you bulk age really the better. At this point time is your friend, its better to have your product aging as a whole in a bulk container rather than individually aging in bottles.
 
Where to start, I make my wine from kits so I am used to aging in the bottle. The kit says minimum 3 months so all I was thinking was doing a 3 month bulk age. Maybe for future batches look at doing a longer term bulk age. Is it worth it to bulk age for only 3 months vs bottle aging? As stated before we have a problem letting it sit for any length of time before drinking it. That being said, do I have to add this k-meta? Not sure what it does or what it's for. Also, I will be filtering when I bottle so I am not worried about sediment at all.

Rubberboots,

Three months of bulk aging will help the wine's flavor develop. Bottle aging from there will be good if you can spare the time.

Wine is good at six months but great at a year. This is more true of reds, but whites improve with age as well. It's tough to age when you don't have any backstock, though, I know! What I did the first year was make two batches at once to keep up with our demand; now I do four batches at a time, bulk age for 3-6 months, and bottle age for another six months or more.

Kmeta is potassium metabasulphite that usually comes in your kit. When you bulk age, its good to add 1/4 teaspoon for six gallons every three months or so. However, given that you're only aging three months, I suspect you don't need to add it. Again more than that, and it's a good idea. Aging in a bottle doesn't require it.

Bulk aging will also clear and degas your wine without chemicals. It may or may not happen in three months but it will happen. As a result, I don't use the sorbate or superkleer provided with kits, nor do much in the way of stirring to degas, because that happens on it's own with time.

Heather
 
My kit aging formula is as follows. When the kit instructions say to bottle I rack for bulk aging; 4-week kits for 2 months (1/2 the week no. to get the months to BU) and 6-week kits for 3 months. I follow the bulk aging with the same amount of bottle aging before I start consuming or gifting.

Try making some Dragon Blood. You can be drinking some really nice wine, IMHO, in about a months time from starting your batch.
 
Thank you for the responses, I have one more. Should I rack it before I bulk age or should I leave it sitting on the remaining must? Oh and what is dragon blood?
 
I rack before aging, then I rack again prior to bottling.

Dragon's Blood is a fruit-based wine that you can make and enjoy in a matter of days/weeks. It's a great way to stock up on an early-drinker.
 
Never filter a wine with sediment in it. Filtering is only to polish a clear wine.

Oh and as long as your SO2 levels are good, racking does not cause any problems.
 
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So2

Hey I will just chime in with a couple of things if you all don't mind. If you are bulk aging for more than 3 months don't just add another 1/4 tsp of Kmeta you may not need it. You should test the wine for free SO2 to make sure you don't over add. You can add too much and then you will taste it and smell it.. and you don't want that. The other item is if you are bulk aging and then bottling it really depends on how long you plan to keep it weather you need to up the SO2 or not. I know the owner of this thread does not intend to store it long by the sounds of it. haha I just wanted to put that out there for anybody who was reading this that may not fit in the quick drinker category.
 
Where to start, I make my wine from kits so I am used to aging in the bottle. The kit says minimum 3 months so all I was thinking was doing a 3 month bulk age. Maybe for future batches look at doing a longer term bulk age. Is it worth it to bulk age for only 3 months vs bottle aging? As stated before we have a problem letting it sit for any length of time before drinking it. That being said, do I have to add this k-meta? Not sure what it does or what it's for. Also, I will be filtering when I bottle so I am not worried about sediment at all.

Wine does not age in the true sense of the term in the carboy compared to the bottled. True aging requires slow contact with oxygen which happens through the cork when bottled. Carboys with an airlock or solid stopper get almost zero oxygen exchange and what little it does get has to work on 6 gallons vs 750ml in the bottle.

If you plan to store wine in a carboy for more than 3 or 4 months, you will need to add K-meta for the S02 especially after each racking. The amount depends on the wine and its PH and free S02 levels. A good rule of thumb is 1/4 tsp per 6 gallons to maintain 50 ppm of S02.
 
Any other way to test your SO2 levels without a meter?

I have an RJS Aussie Cab that has been aging for 2 1/2 mos. in carboy, that I was going to rack of some fine lees. Was going to add some kmeta at this time and let it sit for another 2 1/2 mos. At that time, rack again, add some kmeta and bottle 2 weeks from then.
 
Wine does not age in the true sense of the term in the carboy compared to the bottled. True aging requires slow contact with oxygen which happens through the cork when bottled. Carboys with an airlock or solid stopper get almost zero oxygen exchange and what little it does get has to work on 6 gallons vs 750ml in the bottle.

Corks being leakier than airlocks does not sound right to me. Do you have a reference for that? Tim Vandergrift says the opposite (although he also comes down on the side of bottle aging):

I don't recommend much long-term bulk ageing beyond this point: once a wine is fully completed fermentation, clarifying, and most of the early ageing processes, the best place to put it for long-term storage is in a bottle, under a good cork. The interface seal between the neck of a carboy and the bung is actually really leaky: the oxygen transfer rate is hundreds of times higher than that of a cork. If you want your wine to age gracefully and appropriately, a bottle is the best place for it.
 
Any other way to test your SO2 levels without a meter?

I have an RJS Aussie Cab that has been aging for 2 1/2 mos. in carboy, that I was going to rack of some fine lees. Was going to add some kmeta at this time and let it sit for another 2 1/2 mos. At that time, rack again, add some kmeta and bottle 2 weeks from then.

By and large, IMHO, the best way to accurately test your free SO2 levels are with a test kit and meter. There are other options which are less expensive, but I recall from my research a while back, that the accuracy of some of those less expensive options was +/- 30 PPM for reds. For my taste, that's way too inaccurate for wine which might not need any more than 30 PPM.

That said, lots of folks just use the 1/4 tsp / 6 gal / 3 months method and are successful bulk aging in carboys.

If you ever intend to do any barrel aging, I can't see how you could get by without one and not end up over or under sulfiting your wine.

I stand corrected, after reading Paul's post above!!!!!!!
 
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For added information here is an interesting article from Iowa State University on wine aging and maturing


http://www.extension.iastate.edu/wine/w-aging

Unfortunately, it doesn't answer the practical questions I have like: How much oxygen is appropriate and when for aging? How much for maturing? I too have always heard that corks very slowly transfer oxygen which is important for maturing, at least until it crosses some line and then becomes harmful. If so, does that make synthetic corks a bad choice for maturing for those of us who want to wait 2-3 years? I can see how the relatively small neck of a carboy doesn't do a very good job exchanging oxygen with the wine during bulk again as compared to the interior area of an oak barrel and it's small transfer, or even the headspace of a barrel. So that's good to prevent oxidation, but does it come at a price of a less than optimal aging experience? All good questions and something for me to take the Wine Maker conference in May.
 
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Wine does not age in the true sense of the term in the carboy compared to the bottled. True aging requires slow contact with oxygen which happens through the cork when bottled.


Ergo ,,, Carboy aging would ensure the required SLOW contact with oxygen!!!
I would take a stab at saying that given the typical 12 month aging time encouraged by most here, one would be hard pressed to be able to note a difference between the two methods. Enthusiasts with a higher goal in mind would be on a parallel but separate path :b
 

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