Gas

[space]

What kind of gas should I use when I have a significant area exposed to oxygen? I've heard co2 is no good as it tends to infiltrate the wine. I've been told argon and nitrogen ( I think) are a good mix and will not settle into the wine. Does anyone have any recommendations or a how-to for gassing/degassing open areas? Also, what do commercial wineries use to adjust sugar content? I'm assuming syrup? Thanks for any suggestions.

 

[PeterZ]

Nitrogen will work fine. Argon is also fine, and may be more available if you are a welder or a chemist with an inductively coupled plasma (ICP) spectrophotometer.

 

[space]

Straight nitrogen? Any idea of how much to use and how to get it out?

 

[joeswine]

if your using nitrogen ,and if you have gages just a puff charge should do it, quick release of the gas and off,it will cap the wine i use it all the time when i need to................no other problems have occurred....................................

 

[space]

Thanks guys. How would I remove the nitrogen later on? Any ideas on the other questions?

 

[grapeman]

When you rack again it will move the wine not the nitrogen or other gas.

 

[smurfe]

I have always been confused about this. Most everyone uses CO2 and I now do as well since I have it around for beer. I always thought it would absorb into the wine but I have had no issues with this. Nitrogen would work as well.

 

[PeterZ]

The CO2 doesn't carbonate the wine because it is not under pressure. Since CO2 is about 1.5x as heavy as air, the blanket under the airlock is effective in keeping out the O2.

 

[rshosted]

Good info pete, thanks. I actually just started storing wine in corny kegs under a layer of Co2 with no pressure. I was unsure if it was absorbing into the wine or not.

I had planned to get argon or nitrogen. Just wasn't sure which was cheaper or more accessible.

Looks like maybe I'll just keep using the Co2
-Ryan

 

[PeterZ]

I believe argon is pretty readily available at welding supply houses, as I believe it is the inert gas (IG) in MIG and TIG welding. In a city as large as SLC, you should be able to get virtually any gas you want.

 

[space]

I appreciate the info. Does anyone know about sugar adjustments at commercial wineries? I've got a 50 gal batch going and it took forever to stir sugar in. They have to use something else in huge batches.

 

[PeterZ]

They probably use liquid sugar, available from sugar mills in tank trucks. When I lived in Houston one of my customers was Imperial Sugar in Sugarland, TX, just southwest of Houston. They used to supply tank trucks of sugar solution to the local Coke bottling plant.


In a cane sugar mill they crush the cane and mix it with water to extract the sugar. Then they drive off the water with heat and vacuum. To ship the sugar syrup, they just stop the process before the sugar crystallizes.

 

[grapeman]

I appreciate the info. Does anyone know about sugar adjustments at commercial wineries? I've got a 50 gal batch going and it took forever to stir sugar in. They have to use something else in huge batches.

I don't know what a commercial winery would use, but suspect what Peter says would be likely. For you with only a 50 gallon batch, making your own sugar solution would be easier than stirring in granulated suger. From your brix reading calculate how much sugar you would need to add to get to the desired SG. Find a good sized stainless steel pot and add an appropriate amount of water. Bring the heat up some and start adding sugar, stirring it in until dissolved and until you get all your sugar in it. Let it cool and then add to the must, checking brix or SG as you go after stirring it a bit.


What grape did you use that you needed to add a lot of sugar? Maybe less than ripe Concord or Niagara?

 

[Rube-a-Billy]

I'm fortunate enought to have an extra 5lb co2 tank that i'm using to top-up. i have been slowly adding the co2and guessing about how much would displace the entire open space in the carboy. and i have been doing it about every 2 weeks.
after reading this post it seems that i may be using soo much air. is it true based on an earlier post here that it only requires a small puff and the gas will displace blanket across the top of the wine. i'm thinking using less co2 would be the obvious cheaper but also a little bit greener. I'm tring to do my part.
i would appreciate any and all feeback from those that do use gas on how much they use and how frequently they are adding it.


rube

 

[space]

What grape did you use that you needed to add a lot of sugar? Maybe less than ripe Concord or Niagara?

Sorry for not replying sooner. I'm using muscadine grapes. My fruit wines seem to require large additions of sugar as well (1-2 lb/gal).
Edited by: space

 

[grapeman]

That explains it space. Native grapes just seem to develop a lot less sugar than wine grapes- not that you can't make great wine out of them, it just takes a bit of help (sugar).

 

[PeterZ]

Rube, CO2 is about 1.5x as heavy as air, so if you puff some into the carboy and close it up with an airlock the blanket of CO2 will stay over the wine.


Don't worry about the green aspect of it. That CO2 in the tank was frozen out of the air in a processing plant, so it came from the air to begin with.


I read an article a while back about French vintners worrying about all the CO2 released during fermentation, and whether this would contribute to global warming. Since 100% of the carbon in the sugar came from atmospheric CO2 (a plant's only source of carbon) wine making actually reduces atmospheric CO2, as some of the carbon stays in the alcohol.

 

[Wade E]

Very interesting post there Peter and I actually understood evrything you said! Either you dumbed it down for some of us or my brain is finally starting to retain some of this stuff!

 

[Jwhelan939]

LOL, Wade. I was thinking the same thing. I have a masters, but not in science. Peter your information is always great, but I generally need a dictionary nearby. This isvery interesting though. So there you go guys. In order to save the planet we need to make more wine !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[joeswine]

ILL DRINK TO THAT AND MAKE THE WORLD GRAPpER...