Cellar Craft 15 month aged - still gassy?!? Please Advise

[Jaggz]

Went to bottle our 15 month carboy aged Syrah and noticed a few "bubbles"...I shook the carboy vigorsly for a moment and this was the result?!? Mind you, this was degassed with drill mounted wand, and vacuum racked at least 5 times...is this still co2?

 

[seth8530]

It could be CO2 releasing from a change in pressure (temperature). It looks a little intense to be MLF... I would verify that your gravity is not moving. Also, if you plan on keeping this guy aging I would do something about that head space.

 

[Jaggz]

Well..I wasn't planning on bulk-aging in the carboy any longer...was hoping to bottle today to free up the carboy but I was concerned about bottling a gasy wine. I'm going to splash rack a couple more times...if need be I can top-up and bulk-age for a bit longer if it'll help. Thoughts?

 

[seth8530]

Honestly, I would give up on getting her in the bottle today. Be patient, gassy wine is bad for bottles. If it was me, I would bulk age until the gas went away. First, I would verify that you are not refermemting.

 

[Jaggz]

I gave up on it for now...reracked & topped up. Last week I added 1/4 tsp of k-meta...should that be good to stop refermenting?


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[seth8530]

Nope, Kmeta does not stop refermentation. Sorbate can be added in conjunction with Kmeta on a wine that is clear and has already stopped fermenting to prevent renewed fermention prior to adding sugar.

Have you added sugar to this wine after fermentation?

 

[Jaggz]

I haven't added any sugar...just the k-meta. Would there be obvious signs of fermentation? Before today, there were no signs of activity and the wine is quite clear. It has been filtered & splash racked perhaps 5 or six times now.


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[GreginND]

Looks like a lot of CO2 still in there. Did you do MLF? It could have started MLF spontaneously when your SO2 levels dropped over time. If that is the case you will want to check to see if MLF is complete. If not, you can either wait until your SO2 levels drop again and it finishes or keep your SO2 up and maybe add lysozyme to stabilize it from additional MLF.

 

[Jaggz]

Looks like a lot of CO2 still in there. Did you do MLF? It could have started MLF spontaneously when your SO2 levels dropped over time. If that is the case you will want to check to see if MLF is complete. If not, you can either wait until your SO2 levels drop again and it finishes or keep your SO2 up and maybe add lysozyme to stabilize it from additional MLF.

uh-oh, sounds like a lot of foreign territory talk to me

I didn't purposely do MLF (not even sure what that is)...my biggest concern that I am thinking of now, is there was a window of around 6-7 months where I didn't add any k-meta. The airlocks never were dry, always sealed...but I forgot about the k-meta part. Damn. I am super-stressing about this now. I hope I didn't waste the last year that it has been sitting.

I poured some in a glass and let it sit for about an 1/2 hour. It tastes "green"...and perhaps a little "chemical" taste to it. But no bubbles or tingling on the tongue.

 

[seth8530]

Looks like a lot of CO2 still in there. Did you do MLF? It could have started MLF spontaneously when your SO2 levels dropped over time. If that is the case you will want to check to see if MLF is complete. If not, you can either wait until your SO2 levels drop again and it finishes or keep your SO2 up and maybe add lysozyme to stabilize it from additional MLF.

That was one of my original thoughts as-well, but it that activity looks a little bit intense for MLF right? That being said, I do not think it can be ruled out.


One thing you might want to do is buy an MLF test kit to verify whether or not your wine is undergoing MLF. Their are quite a few articles on this forum about MLF so you are in the right place.

Something else you should verify is whether or not the gravity is moving any. It is entirely possible that this being caused by a change or fluctuation in temperature and pressure.

If I was you I would take it easy on the filtering and splash racking for now.

Also, dont worry, I can't think of too many cases where letting a wine sit and age out a bit did not help it. I honestly, let all my wines go for 12-18 months before I bottle.

 

[ColemanM]

It's a kit, I highly doubt it is going through malolactic fermentation. MLF. What was the temp you had the wine stored in? If it was under 65, even splash racking would not completely remove the trapped gas. Get this bad boy up to 70+ for a spell, then rack it. Also for the sake of the other posters, report your SG so we know where you are at. 15 months I can't believe you'd be over .994.


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[ibglowin]

Looks like this is a kit. If you have never had any Malo Lactic Bacteria in your winery area you have ~0% chance of it being MLF, especially if you have it Sulfited properly. Looks like it has a lot of gas. Did you keep it warm while you were degassing (70-74 degrees)? Like a cold Coke, Wine will hold onto CO2 if its cold, warm it up and it will lose CO2 fast.

 

[Boatboy24]

What is the temp of the wine? If it is too cool, it will not give up,the CO2 easily. If it's below 70, I'd warm it up and rack under vacuum again.

Do,you have any sediment? If it is fermenting, you'll have some yeast sediment on the bottom.

 

[Jaggz]

OK, since I do not have a cellar that is temperature controlled, I am stuck using the under the stairs coat closet as my cellar. Temperature ranges inside our home range from 78 degrees in the summer months to 62 degrees in the winter. This is definitely a kit wine, and I have never had any Malo Lactic Bacteria in my area....not on purpose anyhow. I just took an SG reading and it is 0.990 The wine is clear with no sediment in the carboy.

Here are two photos from the racking earlier today.

 

[seth8530]

Hmm, yup looks like you got some gassy wine then.

 

[Jaggz]

Hmm, yup looks like you got some gassy wine then.

I'm not sure why, but I feel quite relieved if this is the case!

 

[seth8530]

Yep, just make sure you keep the headspace up, give her some time and she will be just fine. Usually when wine goes bad you can tell, ie oxidation is obvious (normally) and infection taste bad( if its a bad infection) and looks off. Other than oxidation, and infection the only thing that can really go wrong is spillage.

 

[ibglowin]

War it up and keep it that way for a week or so. Use a Brew Belt or a Heating Pad on low. Wrap the carboy in a beach towel if need be to keep it warm. Monitor the temps closely until you are sure they are in the right area (70-74)