( almost ) boiling wine.

[zember311]

So I was doing some research, well I was heading out to work this morning at 5 am, only to find out the jeep would not start

all signs lead to a bad CPS, so when the morning traffic dies down I am gonna crawl under the jeep and do some tinkering, So needless to say I have the day off

.


I was site surfing, seeing how I have no Campden tablets yet, ( as mentioned and discussed in another post ) I got to thinking.


So I found out that ethanolhas a boiling point of 78 C or 172.4 F.


Also I found out that yeast will not survive in any enviorment up to 140 F.


Then I tinkered with the common nasties, Which a food saftey site mentions that the ( common ) nasties will not survive in 165 F.


So, I got to thinking.


If I took one of my small batches that is to my taste liking where I wouldn't want any further fermenting to affect the flavor over time, and placed it in a stock pot, slowly brought the temp up to about 170 and stirred it the entire time,


a) that will kill off any of the yeast, which would eliminate my need for any stablizers since the yeast could never reactivate.


b) secure that flavor and keep it there since no fermentation will ever accure.


c) kill off a great deal of any possible nasties and since everything was sterilized and kept as clean and air free as possible the entire time, then that should grant me a taste of saftey against the nasties.


d) not raising the temperature to the true ethanol boiling point will keep the % intact.


e) all that stirring would have to degas the wine.




Then pour it into a temperature adjusted jug ( after soaking the jugin hot water to avoid temperature shock to the glass when pouring the 170 wine into it.)


Like the old food canning, as the little amount of air in the jug goes from hot to cold it will create a vaccum in the sealed bottle to secure it, then cold rack it in the fridge, let all settle then bottle it and drink up ?


This may seem like over kill?., but it seems to cover all my nasties issues that could accure and also calms my idle hand syndrome

Has this been done by any of you ? or at least make sense ??

I should be at work today, I have too much time on my hands and way to much coffee in my blood.


Kyle

 

[PeterZ]

Kyle, I would try it with a small sample first. I think the heat may drive off many of the volatiles that give a wine its character. I think you would see a major change in the taste and the aroma of the wine.

 

[JWMINNESOTA]

I agree with Peter, except I wouldn't try even a small amount. Keep it topped up and airlock on, you wont have "nasties" in a fermented wine unless you expose it to air for awhile. Wait until you get some sulfite's (campden) They are very affordable, and well worth the wait. If boiling was a sound alternative we would all be doing it.

 

[zember311]

Thanks Peter,


I'll give it a shot, it's only a gallon of wine, low cost, low scale so it's not like it's a wasted money project. I'll note the flavor and such before heating it, then let it sit for a day or two in the fridge and see what the differences are.

 

[Dean]

a) that will kill off any of the yeast, which would eliminate my need for any stablizers since the yeast could never reactivate.
 
b) secure that flavor and keep it there since no fermentation will ever accure.
 
c) kill off a great deal of any possible nasties and since everything was sterilized and kept as clean and air free as possible the entire time, then that should grant me a taste of saftey against the nasties.
 
d) not raising the temperature to the true ethanol boiling point will keep the % intact.

The main problems I see with this logic, is that you would need to do all this in a "clean room", as the air is filled with yeast and other spoilage organisms. The wines alcohol and PH help to keep most nasties at bay, as well, some residual yeast! Some yeast, also excrete a chemical that keep other yeasts at bay. That's why as winemakers we innoculate with the yeast we want, so that all the wild yeasts around will not take hold.

Heat also changes a wine's flavor profile quite a bit. For a good example take a wine that has been stored in a cellar for 6 months, versus a wine that has been stored in a hot garage for 6 months. The garage wine will taste "cooked" (I have no other way to describe it), while the cellared wine will taste of fruit.

Dean

 

[Wade E]

You will be exposing to a lot of O2 also. Wait my friend!

 

[Travisty]

Also, in addition, heating it to within 2-3 degrees of the boiling temp ofethanol will still cause a decent loss in ABV I would think. Heat up a pot of water to 210 degrees F and see how quickly the water evaporates!


I think the only way you would be able to retain all the alcohol would be to heat it under a reflux condensor so that any evaporated volatiles would return to the must. And even then, do you have a good way to control your temps accurately? The boiling point of the ethanol will change depending on the ambient barometric pressure as well. Of course, if you were to do this under a reflux,it wouldn't be as big of a deal if it boiled a little bit.


And if you were to go as far as getting a refluxing set-up, you could also set it up to do the reflux under an inert gas to avoid oxidation too.


This is getting complicated! haha Maybe you should just wait for the K-Meta!

As far as the taste, I have no idea what it would do to the taste being the wine newbie that I am. I thought I read somewhere that the kit manufacturer's use heat to pasteurize their musts before they're sold though.

 

[JWMINNESOTA]

The method used to pasteurize the must is H.T.S.T., High Temperature Short Time.That is at least 161* F for 15 secs, then very rapidly cooled. Would not affect the must other than to control any unwanted bacterial growth. I don't think you could achieve that on a stove, or still.

 

[Travisty]

I wondered about that. That certainly makes sense! Thanks JW