Oak Dust Overload?

[cmcca27966]

I love this learning experience...Honestly!!! It is just more fun with each passing day.
Someone has to explain to me what happened..I added 2 teaspoons of oak dust to my 5 Gallon Carboy(secondary fermentation) I did not stir it because I did not want to disturb it or add additional air. It was bubbling at 10 per minute.
About 3 mins after adding the oak dust and placing the airlock back my airlock starts going nuts bubbling and foam starts bubbling out.
It's now under control but can someone tell me what just happened?
I figured I would share this to give some of you folks a laugh if nothing else...Wine looks and smells great and SG starting was 1.110 and as of yesterday was 1.020

 

[jimmyjames23]

The oak dust creates a chemical reaction that causes foaming. I leaned that one the hard way too. Now I put the dust in a clean carboy, add 1/3 the volume of must one day and the rest the next.

 

[cmcca27966]

Thanks so much for the answer. I wish the video camera was going when I did this it would have been hilarious. I was like What the? and talking to myself!!

 

[Deezil]

Not so much a chemical reaction, as it is an increase in surface area... The oak, being dust, has a larger surface area than say - that same amount of dusk, in spiral or cube form..

It's the same theory as dropping a mentos in a coke bottle

The surface area allows the CO2 to have a massive amount of gathering/dispersion points, all at one time... This release of CO2 causes the foam and following mess

Removing a small amount of wine before adding, will help keep the mess to a minimum... It's a bigger issue prior to degassing than it is afterwards

 

[jimmyjames23]

Thanks so much for the answer. I wish the video camera was going when I did this it would have been hilarious. I was like What the? and talking to myself!!

Nothing like cleaning purple sticky sawdust off a wall/floor/ceiling eh?

 

[cmcca27966]

No its an experience!!!

 

[WVMountaineerJack]

Nucleation points is what you experienced, if you stirred your wine before adding the dust to degass the wine before adding the powder you might not have the valcano, if it had that much gas in it stirring it a bit wont oxidize it at all. WVMJ

 

[Wade E]

Although stirring it may also have created a volcano at this point depending on how hard you stir. Be careful when its time to Degas a wine especially if you are using a drill mounted stirrer or you will get the same effect.