Ambient Light Question

[Ebonheart]

I'm finishing up an old storage room for my winemaking and homebrewing area (it gets all the equipment and fermenters in one room and minimizes the clutter and wife frowning). It has 4 windows and a windowed door. I've purchased and installed blackout blinds on the windows and door, so the only light coming in is the light leaking in from the edges of the blackout blinds (the blinds sit about a 1/4 inch from the window). So, even on a bright day, it's essentially twilight in there without the lights on.

Is this ok for wine storage, since I don't have any direct light exposure? It's my first batch, essentially, so it's East Coast Juice, nothing that will be sitting for more than 6 months in glass carboys. Would it help any to make capes that sit around the carboy, or is that something that they sell?

 

[jamesngalveston]

Hummm...I think you are ok to go, heck my wine making room is bright enough to see a fruit fly as it hoovers over my wine buckets....

 

[Turock]

If you're old enough to remember that most of our mothers canned fruits and then the jars were stored in a fruit cellar with the windows blacked out, then you'll know the benefit of eliminating light on your white wines. Even strawberry goes thru some color change with constant light on it. All our whites are stored in a photography dark room. Red wines do OK without light protection. But you might even want to protect Rose wines.

You don't seem to have any wines in long-term storage, the way we do. Long- term storage really needs protection from constant light. For those who don't have a dedicated dark room for this, putting a thick T-shirt over the carboy gives some degree of light protection.

It sounds like the setup you have is very good--a small amt. of light is not a problem.

 

[jamesngalveston]

Turock, I regard you as one of the best wine makers on this forum, and I have use your methods, (bentonite, superferment) on every batch.

Most of the old timers kept everthing canned in dark places because it kept them cool.
I have a freind that owns one of the largest liqour stores in Galveston, and maybe has on hand 20,000 bottles of wine.
They are in the daylight, are incadescent 24 7....he has wines that range from 6 to 3000 as well as high price ports,whiskeys, etc.
I would think that with that kind of investment he would be worried about light...yet he is not.
I am not arguing with you , just pointing out...maybe the dark storage is left over from the old days of making,storing,stabilizing,sweetning, wine.

 

[Ebonheart]

Just to be safe, I found a website that had carboy cozies for $8 so I bought a few, just to be safe. Thanks for the advice!

 

[BernardSmith]

They say - and I have not tested this myself - that light can make hops taste skunky. I say this only because you mention using the space for brewing

 

[reefman]

Just to be safe, I found a website that had carboy cozies for $8 so I bought a few, just to be safe. Thanks for the advice!

Lon (Skeeter Pee website) has directions for making carboy covers from old sweaters and sweat shirts. I have made 3 so far, and cover all my carboys.

http://skeeterpee.com/?page_id=119

 

[Enologo]

I've been using old pillow cases. Fold in half length wise, cut off a small section of the corner at the fold, unfold and now you have a hole in the center for the air lock.

 

[Turock]

Thank you James for your vote of confidence in me!!!

I can tell you for sure that white wines go thru SOME color change when they are subjected to alot of light. It makes their color become more golden. As I said--we have a lot of wine in long-term storage so feel it's important to protect the color. If you have wines in carboys for the normal time of one year, then bottle, you probably don't have a lot to worry about.