Foamy Wine

[peterM]

I have been making wine for a couple of years but am no expert. I have just made a 5 gallon Cabernet from a 3 week wine kit which refuses to lose its foamy head after stabilizing and subsequent fining. When fermentation stopped the wine still had a foamy top which would no subside. I racked it as normal before stabilizing which only made the foam worse. It settled to about half an inch but after 6 good degassing periods over the next 24 hours the head was still sitting on it. The gravity was 0.990 at finish. I decided to fine it regardless of the foamy top and the wine was beautifully clear after 72 hours. However the foam was still sitting there. As the wine was a three week kit and perfectly clear I decided to bottle it as I have done with all my other brews through a Boots filter to ensure no disturbed sediment affected my last bottles. Unfortunately, during bottling the wine produced froth in the bottles and it was only possible too half fill them.( I finally filled them by decanting the froth into a jug and topping up gently with other " deheaded " production.) I tried shaking the half filled bottles to see if there was any gas left, but it was minimal and could not be responsible for the froth. I have followed the same procedures on all my previous winemaking efforts and never had this froth problem before.
Can anyone suggest why this wine has ended up with a foamy head. I have taken a sample to the shop where I bought the kit, and both the vendor and I think it has an excellent taste even this early on bottling after 3 weeks, but he had no idea why the wine has a "beer" head which once there does not dissipate even after the glass sits overnight.
I have filled 28 bottles and stored them but I am worried something may be wrong with the wine even though it tastes OK.
Any thoughts appreciated.

Peter.

 

[robie]

I can't imagine what that might be other than some kind of soap or sanitizer.

What kind of cleaner did you use to clean the carboy and bottles?
Same question for the sanitizer used?

 

[winemaker_3352]

Welcome aboard!!!

Have tasted the foam/froth by itself - does it have a distinct smell or taste??

 

[peterM]

Winemaker3352:
Thanks for the reply. I haven't actually tasted the foam itself, but it definitely had no particular smell as I did sniff the several 500ml jugs full of it I collected whilst decanting the wine into bottles.

Robie,
Thanks too,

The steriliser I used for cleaning the carbuoy is called VWP cleaner steriliser. There are no ingredients listed other than " contains chlorine donor ". The bottles were rinsed with camden tablet solution as I normally do but not the above. This is the first time I have used the VWP cleaner ( bought by mistake thinking it was metabisulphite based). It did form a slightly soapy solution in the carbuoy during cleaning, but I rinsed out thoroughly prior to adding the ingredients. There was no obvious soap left in the container and certainly no smell of chlorine after the several rinses I gave it.
I also started a Chardonnay the same day in a different carbuoy and carried out the same procedure. This went perfectly and did not show any evidence of froth/foam like the Cabernet.
I think I will try to contact the makers of VWP and pose the problem to them. It would also reassure me that even with the foam ( if due to this product ) the wine is still safe to drink.

Peter

 

[robie]

I haven't a clue what this might be.

I don't know exactly what is meant by a "chlorine donor", but chlorine has no place whatsoever in the wine making room. Its presence, even in very minute amounts can result in cork taint (TCA). Other than to clean the floors in the wine room, I would just never use anything chlorine based.

 

[peterM]

Hi Robie,

Below is the reply I got from the manufacturer of the cleaner/sanitiser.

Thank you for your email concerning VWP Cleaner Steriliser.
VWP formula includes a number of cleaning elements and the active ingredient dichloroisocyanurate. Used at 1/2 teaspoon (2.5g) of powder dissolved in 1/2 gallon (2.25L) water, this low concentration of ingredients would be considerably reduced by the organic matter, bacteria etc. of the cleaning/sterilising action. The formula is also free rinsing i.e. Elements in the formula lift soiling from the surfaces and hold in suspension so preventing deposition and will be rinsed away with the remaining ingredients when rinsed with fresh water.
There will be no remaining ingredients of the formula when used as directed.
Certainly there cannot be any possibility, under any circumstances, of causing foaming in your wine, before, during or after fermantation.
VWP has been used to clean homebrew equipment for over 30 years and has cleansed many thousands of fermenting vessels and also used by commercial wine bottlers for plant circulation cleaning.

Foaming can usually be caused by incomplete fermentation or after fermentation is complete by malo-lactic fermentation which can cause effervescence. We understand that the fermentation of wine under optimum conditions is approximately three weeks, but for no apparent reason, it may continue for many weeks longer.

There are many explainations for foaming wine, but this cannot be caused by the VWP formulation.

Regards,

I therefore do not think the product has had anything to do with the frothy wine.

Peter.

 

[robie]

I guess what they are saying is there is nothing in their product that can cause foaming. That said, I am out of ideas, except maybe to contact the manufacturer of the kit. Copy and paste every entry from this thread and send it to them.

 

[Tom_S]

Yeah, I was thinking some kind of soap or cleaner too. The most foamy yeast I've ever used is Pasteur Red, but even the foam from that seemed to subside after about a week or so of fermentation, and certainly no foam after being racked into secondary.

 

[peterM]

I did indeed leave a sample with the vendor of the kit who said he would send it to his supplier ( manufacturer) for their opinion and hopefully analysis.
I think we should put the topic on hold until I get feedback from them and I will post whatever turns up on this link.
Thank you for your input on this.

Peter.