help with carbonation

[muskie003]

have had three batches going since October. so now is generally about when id like to bottle. opened em up to add little kmeta before I bottled and had a little taste. good clarity, good aroma, VERY carbonated. also noticed the wine was up against the bottom of the stopper where it wasn't before. did I somehow go back into fermentation? thoughts? what can I do? thanks

 

[Julie]

You need to take hydrometer reading to ensure completion on fermentation. What was your starting reading and what was your ending reading? Also, if probably needs to be degassed

 

[Turock]

What kind of wine? It's only 6 months old, and some wines can still have CO2 on them. Draw a littlle wine off and away from the airlock so the CO2 can escape. We never like to bottle until the 1 year mark.

 

[muskie003]

thanks for the input. so I drew some wine off to get a back to a normal level and hoped for the best. just went to check on it now, been a week or so and now it is actually up into the airlock! I didn't take a hydrometer reading, but im fairly sure all fermentation was stopped. I suppose the only question is did I somehow fall back into it or do I just need to degas?
seems to be several methods, but am I getting the gist of it when I say I need to stick a whip of some kind into the carboy and attach to a drill and get the wine spinning and then reverse direction? never done it before so I could use some help. and I also read some posts on here about adding something to it after I degas...necessary or not?

 

[Julie]

You really need to take a hydrometer reading, without it you are driving blind!!!!! And what is this, what did you add to it, and done with it up to this point?

 

[muskie003]

3 carboys. all different reds (sangiovese, cab, zin). started in October with a starter solution. fermented and stopped. racked a few times since then and added kmeta each time. been sitting with no activity at all for quite some time. temperature has been a pretty steady 66F. no issues until a couple weeks ago when I noticed the wine up against the bottom of the stopper. took some out. had been ok then in the last two days had risen into the airlock. planning on racking and adding some kmeta tonight after the kids go to bed. will take a hydrometer reading then. since it is so gassy im debating whether I should transfer into a bucket and then back into another carboy or just go straight from one carboy to another. thoughts?

 

[cimbaliw]

Listen to Julie and check the SG. Up here in Michigan my basement has warmed from running an average of 50f through this rough winter to now averaging 60f. I assume your situation is similar.

There is no way to know if your wine is naturally degassing or re-fermenting. You won't know unless you check. Either outcome has different paths you would need to take.

 

[muskie003]

ok. so now I'm running out of answers. checked all three on the hydrometer and all three were just under 1.000 . now the real treat was that all three now had very very little carbonation and were quite good, despite being up into the airlock. and as I said before about two weeks ago they tasted like sparkling wine.
so my uneducated guess is that it was just degassing itself. that sound right to anyone? I racked it off and added 1/4tsp of kmeta.


this is only my second batch. my first I had a similar problem and I think I just bottled to soon (6 months). those ones were a little carbonated but fine as long as I decanted. I just opened one of those ones up to have while I was "working" and it is so bubbly its almost undrinkable. for those ones, do you think I can uncork, put back into a container and let it degas itself a little, then rebottle?

thanks for your help guys!

 

[Turock]

Grape wines aren't like making skeeter pee. You have just GOT to be patient--allow them to bulk age for one year and the CO2 will come out naturally. The level of wine can change up and down depending on how much CO2 is present and temp changes. Be sure the wine level is just up in the neck of the carboy, leaving 1 inch of space, or so. Do not manually degass these wines--it's just not necessary when they need that 1 year or so of bulk aging. And at a 1.000 SG, you may have some ferment still going on as it goes all the way to dry. There is still a tad bit of sugar left at that SG and this can also be the reason for the rising level.

The Cab especially needs lots of time. We bottle our Cab at the one year mark of bulk aging after the MLF and oaking, then we let the bottles age another year. You need to just let these wine sit--let them bulk age and just forget about them until they are one year old. The flavors will be much better by that time,too. Wines need to be left alone during bulk aging--don't play with them and obsess over them.

 

[Turock]

6 months is too early to bottle. I'd open them and get the wine in a carboy for another 6 months. Always bulk age for 1 year unless making early drinking wines. You just don't understand all the processes at work during bulk aging.

 

[JohnT]

+1 on what Turock said. I normally age for 18 to 24 months before I bottle.

 

[muskie003]

great advice. thanks a lot. I wont make that mistake again, its a learning process. I am going to uncork that last batch and let it sit a while longer too. thanks again

 

[Turock]

Yes--there is no problem with long-term bulk aging as long as you have the proper amount of free SO2 in the wine. We have some wines that are still in carboys for 4 or 5 years.