Converting white wine to champagne

murphyaii · Oct 28, 2015

I've finalised the white wine from a kit down to 0.992 from 1.086

I've heard i shouldn't add stabiliser to the wine if i am going to further make it sparkly.
would stabiliser be the second pack of the 4 that comes with the wine?

barbiek · Oct 28, 2015

What kit are we talking about? What is printed on the packages? Did you clear? Add the clearing agent and make sure the carboy is topped
Thanks
Barbie

murphyaii · Oct 29, 2015

finalising means fermenting.
magnum ultimate white wine kit.
answers?

grapeman · Oct 29, 2015

According to the instructions for those kits, packet number two is the stabilizer (potassium sorbate) so if you added it you will have trouble getting carbonation going.
http://www.hambletonbard.com/assets/docs/1-wine-kits/11395-magnum-ultimate-instruction.pdf

JohnT · Oct 29, 2015

Why not try forced carbonation by using a 5 gal keg? The link below is a place that has them on sale.

http://www.homebrewsupply.com/

What you do is to finish your wine and get it clear and stable as if you were making still wine. You then place your wine into a 5 gal keg and pump it up to 20 or 30 psi of C02. Then place the keg in the fridge for 2 or 3 weeks so that the CO2 goes into solution. Done..

I like this method because it takes leftover yeast (from the carbonation step) and disgorging out of the equation. Your champagne will be clear from the first glass right down to the last!!!!

One more benefit is the coolness factor.. Champagne on tap.. How cool is that??

I used to do methode champenoise when making champagne. Not anymore!!

salcoco · Oct 29, 2015

I had good luck in pressurizing at about 40psi, shake the corny keg for 15 minutes, than wait 15 minutes, repeat for about 5 times, have a glass of wine while doing this. keep pressure on keg overnight. reduce pressure and use a counter pressure filler to fill champagne bottles. keep corny keg cold at all times. I used a laundry bucket full of cold water with frozen bottles to keep temp down. . Using the OUT for insertion of gas is good idea, the out tube is to bottom of keg, and this allows gas to push up into the liquid.

murphyaii · Oct 29, 2015

if i had a corny keg i would think about it.
but only have the traditional methods still of wine making
i.e. bucket, champagne yeast, sugar syrup and bottles

murphyaii · Oct 29, 2015

I'll drop packet 2 and continue untill the wine has finished and then i'll proceed adding the champagne yeast and syrup to each bottle and lie the bottles after on their sides and then de-gorge i hope without the bottles exploding.
how do you know how much yeast to put in each bottle though?

Runningwolf · Oct 29, 2015

Go to Bed Bath and Beyond and buy a Soda Stream. I use one when doing bench trials to see how my carbonated wines will turn out.

ceeaton · Oct 29, 2015

JohnT said:
Why not try forced carbonation by using a 5 gal keg? The link below is a place that has them on sale.

http://www.homebrewsupply.com/

What you do is to finish your wine and get it clear and stable as if you were making still wine. You then place your wine into a 5 gal keg and pump it up to 20 or 30 psi of C02. Then place the keg in the fridge for 2 or 3 weeks so that the CO2 goes into solution. Done..

I like this method because it takes leftover yeast (from the carbonation step) and disgorging out of the equation. Your champagne will be clear from the first glass right down to the last!!!!

One more benefit is the coolness factor.. Champagne on tap.. How cool is that??

I used to do methode champenoise when making champagne. Not anymore!!

Ut oh, never thought of that...I've got 4 cornelius kegs, only two filled. Wonder what cheaper white kit I can pick up and have done by New Years Eve? Don't think I want to sacrifice my Eclipse Chardonnay kit or my Chardonel batch. Any suggestions? I tend to stick with WE kits since that is what my LHBS and Labelpeelers have the most of.

FYI, better to have the wine pre-cooled in the keg before carbonating, goes faster. I've done a batch of beer the night before a get together and no one knew I had just kegged it.

Edit: Found this article to be interesting, will help with my kit choice tomorrow.

https://winemakermag.com/480-making-sparkling-wine-from-kits-wine-kits

barbiek · Oct 29, 2015

I know what it is not to be able to afford the extra equipment. If your wanting to be able to create sparkling wine without the added cost. So how many gal are you gonna do sparkling? When I convert a kit to champagne I usually split it doing a whole 5 or 6 is a pia I usually do 2 gal at a time. So #1 is the initial sg of 1.075 or less is recommended if more then the alcohol might be to high to permit the bottle ferm. 2 It is fermented to dry, let wine clear make sure it is topped. After t is completely clear Then you move to the 2nd ferm this is done gradually! Take the full amount of wine and add 70 grams of sugar per gal of wine. Then you use about 1/2 cup of wine and add champagne yeast to hydrate and a pinch of sugar wait about 6 hrs and double the volume of wine you added previously and keep doing this until all wine is used keep doubling it up it will not be a very vigorous ferment when all wine is fermenting siphon into clean sterilized champagne bottles stoppers and wire down lay bottles on side in a room temp setting to start the ferm for a week then moved to a cooler place store them upside down I usually use the box the bottles came in and every couple days give them a twist for at least a month or 2 then comes the tricky part...freezing the the lower part of the bottle neck then disgorging the ice pellit with the yeast then hurrying to put a clean stopper and wire on make sure you use only champagne bottles, stoppers wired down. Also make sure to leave 2" from closure to wine when filling bottles and if you want sweeter champagne use the nonfermentable sugar added at the beginning of the 2nd ferm hope this is the info you were looking for

barbiek · Oct 29, 2015

Oops this double posted

barbiek · Oct 29, 2015

ceeaton try the Pinot Gris as champagne yummy! But I left it to clear 6 months nothing like sparkling champagne!

JohnT · Oct 30, 2015

If you do plan to carbonate in the bottle (methode champenoise), then please take my advise..

Wear eye protection and thick gloves when these bottles are sealed. It is very hard to judge the integrity of the bottles you are using and it does happen that they will explode when being handled. Champagne can have an amazing amount of pressure! Although a rare occurence, I have had them explode on me in the past.

Be safe!

murphyaii · Oct 30, 2015

the initial gravity was 1.086
i'd say another week to go before it finishes as it's at 1 currently
another question.

How do you freeze the neck of the champagne bottles without freezing the whole bottle?

JohnT · Oct 30, 2015

murphyaii said:
the initial gravity was 1.086
i'd say another week to go before it finishes as it's at 1 currently
another question.

How do you freeze the neck of the champagne bottles without freezing the whole bottle?

The neck is much more narrow that the rest of the bottle and freezes first. I place it (inverted) into a chest freezer for about 1 or 1.5 hours, checking it every 30 minutes or so, and disgorge once the neck freezes.

ceeaton · Oct 30, 2015

barbiek said:
ceeaton try the Pinot Gris as champagne yummy! But I left it to clear 6 months nothing like sparkling champagne!

I have a Pinot Grigio from this spring, but may lose an arm when I go to pour a few bottles into my smaller (3 gallon) keg. I don't think my wife would part with too many bottles, especially for an "experiment". Thinking of a Sauvingon Blanc kit, bottle 1/2 and carbonate 1/2. Next spring I can get an extra Pinot Grigio bucket and have it ready for New Years 2017. Thanks for the suggestion!

murphyaii · Oct 30, 2015

i have 5 champagne bottles.
so i'll bottle them and wait and see.
should get at least 20 normal bottles of wine as well.

murphyaii · Oct 30, 2015

barbiek said:
I know what it is not to be able to afford the extra equipment. If your wanting to be able to create sparkling wine without the added cost. So how many gal are you gonna do sparkling? When I convert a kit to champagne I usually split it doing a whole 5 or 6 is a pia I usually do 2 gal at a time. So #1 is the initial sg of 1.075 or less is recommended if more then the alcohol might be to high to permit the bottle ferm. 2 It is fermented to dry, let wine clear make sure it is topped. After t is completely clear Then you move to the 2nd ferm this is done gradually! Take the full amount of wine and add 70 grams of sugar per gal of wine. Then you use about 1/2 cup of wine and add champagne yeast to hydrate and a pinch of sugar wait about 6 hrs and double the volume of wine you added previously and keep doing this until all wine is used keep doubling it up it will not be a very vigorous ferment when all wine is fermenting siphon into clean sterilized champagne bottles stoppers and wire down lay bottles on side in a room temp setting to start the ferm for a week then moved to a cooler place store them upside down I usually use the box the bottles came in and every couple days give them a twist for at least a month or 2 then comes the tricky part...freezing the the lower part of the bottle neck then disgorging the ice pellit with the yeast then hurrying to put a clean stopper and wire on make sure you use only champagne bottles, stoppers wired down. Also make sure to leave 2" from closure to wine when filling bottles and if you want sweeter champagne use the nonfermentable sugar added at the beginning of the 2nd ferm hope this is the info you were looking for

thanks for the detailed breakdown by the way.

only 5 bottles not going to take the risk of the whole kit the first time! :hug

i do have a 1 gallon carboy i can use for the mixing as well

barbiek · Oct 30, 2015

ceeaton Pinot Grigio even better! I refrained from using any of my Pinot Grigio. I understand your wife's point! Lol Thanks John for making the point of safety glasses and gloves I failed to mention that aspect!

Converting white wine to champagne

Help Support Winemaking Talk - Winemaking Forum:

wannabe pro winemaker

barbiek

wannabe pro winemaker

Administrator

Moderator

Veteran Wine Maker

wannabe pro winemaker

wannabe pro winemaker

Super Moderator

slowly going nuts

barbiek

barbiek

barbiek

Moderator

wannabe pro winemaker

Moderator

slowly going nuts

wannabe pro winemaker

wannabe pro winemaker

barbiek

Similar threads

Join the conversation!

Join today and get all the highlights of this community direct to your inbox. It's FREE!