1st Attempt - Sparkling Sauvignon blanc

[cpedroson]

There is sediment on the bottom of the bottles.

I used these plastic caps https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0068RP2YI/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

I reused a mixture of Mionetto Prosecco DOC Treviso and Lamarca Prosecco bottles. That said, the two bottles I checked were odd brands that I can't remember. I will chill and try one of the bottle brands above to see if they had better seals.

 

[Redbird1]

There is sediment on the bottom of the bottles.

I used these plastic caps https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0068RP2YI/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

I reused a mixture of Mionetto Prosecco DOC Treviso and Lamarca Prosecco bottles. That said, the two bottles I checked were odd brands that I can't remember. I will chill and try one of the bottle brands above to see if they had better seals.

A quick check of the Amazon reviews shows a couple of instances of people not having the majority of their bottles carb up. There are a lot more positive than negative reviews though. Perhaps it is dependent upon the type of bottle used.

Did you use wire cages too? I don't know if that's recommended for plastic caps or not.

 

[salcoco]

European sparkling bottles have a larger opening than american bottles. I believe it is 29mm versus 24mm. using the caps displayed will cause the co2 to leak out. I would suggest browsing a on line supplier like Northern Brewer or More wine and identify the two type of plastic stoppers to get the right one for your bottles or stick only to american made bottles.

 

[cpedroson]

I did use wire cages made for these plastic caps. I turned the bottles over to check for leaks. While there was no liquid leak, there must have been a CO2 leak.

Grumble, Grumble... lesson learned. Measure Twice!

I'm in the middle of a Merlot, but I will likely try this process again in the coming months.

Thanks for all the feedback and support. It was much appreciated.

 

[phasee]

While there was no liquid leak, there must have been a CO2 leak.

Out of curiosity (as I would like to try this style of wine in the future), would starsan around the seal between bottle and cap have been a solution to checking for any type of leak, liquid or Co2?

 

[salcoco]

yes that is a good test but the best is to get the right size closures.

 

[Redbird1]

Out of curiosity (as I would like to try this style of wine in the future), would starsan around the seal between bottle and cap have been a solution to checking for any type of leak, liquid or Co2?

The CO2 builds slowly as the yeast consume the extra sugar. If there was a leak, I don't think it would ever build up enough pressure to show bubbles coming up off the Starsan. I've been wrong before though.

 

[Putterrr]

Need a bit of assistance. I wanted to try a sparkling type wine but did not have the right bottles so I just used 750ml bottles that sparkling drinks come in that have snap down lids. They obviously can't take the pressure of champagne so I only added 90 g of corn sugar for 11.5 L. I followed the recommendations in this thread of degassing/ clearing but not adding the sorbate or kmeta. There should have been enough yeast remaining to chew up the sugar i added but nothing is happening in 4 weeks. I always bottle 1 plastic bottle to monitor the carbonation but the squeeze test shows no pressure and no sediment in the bottom. None of the bottles have any sediment either.

I'm thinking i need to dump them back into a bucket, add a yeast slurry and then rebottle. Does anyone have suggestions on the amount in grams of EC1118 yeast that I should use?

thx

 

[Redbird1]

Need a bit of assistance. I wanted to try a sparkling type wine but did not have the right bottles so I just used 750ml bottles that sparkling drinks come in that have snap down lids. They obviously can't take the pressure of champagne so I only added 90 g of corn sugar for 11.5 L. I followed the recommendations in this thread of degassing/ clearing but not adding the sorbate or kmeta. There should have been enough yeast remaining to chew up the sugar i added but nothing is happening in 4 weeks. I always bottle 1 plastic bottle to monitor the carbonation but the squeeze test shows no pressure and no sediment in the bottom. None of the bottles have any sediment either.

I'm thinking i need to dump them back into a bucket, add a yeast slurry and then rebottle. Does anyone have suggestions on the amount in grams of EC1118 yeast that I should use?

thx

What temperature did you store them at? If it wasn't warm enough, the yeast wouldn't have gone to work on the sugar.

Did you add sorbate and/or kmeta? That would make it really difficult too.

 

[Johnd]

I'm thinking i need to dump them back into a bucket, add a yeast slurry and then rebottle. Does anyone have suggestions on the amount in grams of EC1118 yeast that I should use?

thx

One packet of yeast is good for 23 L, so half would do the trick. I see no harm in adding the entire packet though, it’ll multiply to the level needed. Make sure there’s not some other reason the yeast hasn’t taken off, pH, temps, and ABV are a good start for consideration.

 

[Redbird1]

What temperature did you store them at? If it wasn't warm enough, the yeast wouldn't have gone to work on the sugar.

Did you add sorbate and/or kmeta? That would make it really difficult too.

Oops. Should have paid more attention. I see now that you didn't use either. I am going to guess the temperature was too low then.

Edit to add: I would put them somewhere that is consistently 70 or higher for a couple weeks and check again.

 

[Putterrr]

wine is kept at room temp. no different then what my beer is at and it seems to have no issues . as for PH and ABV it is just 1/2 half of a 16L wine kit that I split so should be balanced. the only difference from beer is the clearing step as was described earlier in this post. I will move them closer to my wood stove for a week and see what happens. if nothing, i will try yeast after the holidays when things quiet down.

thx and cheers

 

[JohnT]

OK, so,

1 - what was the abv of the wine before you added sugar?
2 - what was the yeast that you used?

 

[Putterrr]

I dont take final readings anymore. i've done enough kits to be very confident that it finished dry. These kits (RJS Cru Select Argentina Style Trio) are usually in the 11-12% range. The original yeast was EC1118 which is standard for RJS. still nothing happening since moving the wine closer to the fire

cheers

 

[Redbird1]

Seems like 1118 wouldn't be stressed out at 12%. With no sediment showing, something is definitely messing with the yeast though. Perhaps the conditions in a red wine are different enough from a white wine to be causing a problem.

Sent from my SM-G930T using Wine Making mobile app

 

[JohnT]

I find that kicking it back off at 12 can be hard. What I do is keep a close eye on my hydrometer. The minute it goes under 1.0000, I add sugar and a stopper. Let the fermentation be continuious. Never fails.

 

[Redbird1]

I find that kicking it back off at 12 can be hard. What I do is keep a close eye on my hydrometer. The minute it goes under 1.0000, I add sugar and a stopper. Let the fermentation be continuious. Never fails.

I was confused at first, but are you saying that you get a starter going and use the method where you double the amount of wine added to the starter until you have the whole batch added? You then add the priming sugar once it hits 1.000 and then bottle?

That sounds like a pretty good plan. I'd use a little less priming sugar than what was calculated since there will still be some sugar in there when you add it.

Edit to add, you'd probably have to add a bit more sugar to the batch to get it back above 1.000 before you start since you need to be above that mark for this to work.

Edit 2: Steps would be

1. Add sugar to the whole batch to get above 1.000.
2. Get a starter going and then double the volume until all of the batch is added.
3. As soon as the batch hits 1.000 add slightly less than the calculated amount of priming sugar.
4. Bottle.
5. Place somewhere warm for a couple weeks to allow it carb up.
6. Drink delicious sparkling wine!