Bulk aging question

[JoeCal1952]

I know that introducing fruits to wines can result in some cloudiness, but the other ingredient we all have at our disposal will take care of that,,,,,, TIME. After I've done my post ferment experimenting and racked off the solids, it will sit for a year or so with racking's/k-meta treatment every 2-3 months. Solids WILL precipitate out. In this instance, another advantage of bulk aging, otherwise (unless you filter) you will have sediment in your bottles. There's a whole 'nuther school of thought about filtering too!!

I appreciate the input! I like the idea of TIME and rackings - I have tasted filtered wines and they just are stripped of their character, imo. I'll be on here from time to time letting ya'll know how things are going. As far as oak, peppercorns and coffee beans, I don't think they will have an effect on clouding in the secondary, but dried cherries will, I think - LOL!

 

[Kraffty]

A suggestion as alternative to dried cherries, that I've used a few times, is black cherry concentrate. I bought mine at the GNC health products store, it's 100% natural juice but incredibly concentrated. You can add an ounce or two to make it as subtle or strong as you like and I didn't have any clouding issues at all.

Mike

 

[JoeCal1952]

A suggestion as alternative to dried cherries, that I've used a few times, is black cherry concentrate. I bought mine at the GNC health products store, it's 100% natural juice but incredibly concentrated. You can add an ounce or two to make it as subtle or strong as you like and I didn't have any clouding issues at all.

Mike

Thanks Mike - I have a bottle of that I use every day just for health issues. I think that should have gone in the primary though? It is highly concentrated and I am wondering if it would restart a fermentation in the secondary? I don't know enough about it to know what it will do. I have a 6.5 gallon aging carboy and if that thing starts to "re-ferment" I don't know if it would spill over? Like I said. I don't know. What about all natural cherry extract which already has alcohol in it and definitely won't cloud anything??

 

[MarkTX]

Since they don't build basements in my area, I use the MBR closet for bulk aging. After discovering a loose stopper air lock on an "bulk aging" carboy I opted for used 5 gal SSteel corny kegs. This means finding an argon tank & regulator but once the keg is properly sealed / pressurized the wine is no longer affected by air, light, etc. Argon doesn't carbonate like CO2. Corny kegs are easy to lift, move, store and never break. I use a picnic tapper to fill a bottle every few months which pulls any sediment off the bottom & I get to drink it. The big drawback is 5 gallons of wine in a used corny keg doesn't look impressive like when it is bottled! My thoughts.

 

[JoeCal1952]

Since they don't build basements in my area, I use the MBR closet for bulk aging. After discovering a loose stopper air lock on an "bulk aging" carboy I opted for used 5 gal SSteel corny kegs. This means finding an argon tank & regulator but once the keg is properly sealed / pressurized the wine is no longer affected by air, light, etc. Argon doesn't carbonate like CO2. Corny kegs are easy to lift, move, store and never break. I use a picnic tapper to fill a bottle every few months which pulls any sediment off the bottom & I get to drink it. The big drawback is 5 gallons of wine in a used corny keg doesn't look impressive like when it is bottled! My thoughts.

Sounds like a good idea for you! Whatever works best!