Instant Aging

[mattmath]

Glycerin is a natural part of the winemaking process. It gives
the wine some body and provides the "legs" you see after tilting a
glass. It is also sweet and provides a warming sensation.
Recently I discovered that adding between 1-2 fl.oz. of glycerin /
gallon smoothed out a white wine to where it was drinkable at
bottling!

Recommend starting with 1 fl. oz, then adding 1/2 oz if necessary,
rather than dumping it in all at once. Available at a
pharmacy. It says for external use only; has a laxative effect if
you take too much.

I've only tried this on a white table wine.
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[Funky Fish]

I'm gonna have to disagree about adding glycerin as a "natural" part of winemaking. I've never added it to any of my wines. I've tried a couple that had it added, and one had a metallic taste. The majority of reviews I've read about adding glycerin are negative.


I guess I would first recommend not using glycerin and letting your wine age. If you are going to use it, use it sparingly and perform some benchtrials.


Finally, I will note that around here, the glycerin in pharmacies is marked "For external use only," and none of the pharmacist will recommend it for internal use (most often because they don't know how it's been processed).

 

[kathy]

I have seen in wine magazines a small oblong piece of metal that looks like it is stainless steel. Simular to the piece of stainless steel that you use to wash with to get the fish smell out of your hands. The wine mag said that this product aged your wine almost immediately. Are you familar with this product? Does it work? kathy

 

[Wade E]

I highly dought it and I think we had a discussion about this awhile
back. I think you put this around the neck of the bottle and magnets
are supposed to do the work. I wouldnt waste my money on it but feel
free to try and post here if you do.

 

[grapeman]

You are right Wade. There was a discussion of "The Wine Clip" for instanly aging the wine. Here is the link to the post.
http://www.finevinewines.com/wiz/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=2564&amp;PN=1

 

[Wade E]

That be the one Appleman and thanks for finding it as I was in too much of a hurry before to dig in.

 

[smurfe]

You can buy the Glycerin right here for winemaking. I am sure it is safe for "internal" use. As to the results gained from use, can't answer that one.


http://www.finevinewines.com/ProdDetA.asp?PartNumber=6200A

 

[Coaster]

I use Glycerin in my airlock, it won't evaporate like a k-meta solution. Guess I could use Vodka too but I save that for drinking.

 

[Mike777]

In wine I don't know, but in spirits it is used for two purposes the first as a thickening agent, to add body and texture. (yes legs) The second, is rather bizzare, and that is to coat the mucus membranes in the mouth and throat. This coating stops the concentrated toxics from irritating surface blood vessels and providing a pathway for the alcohol directly into the bloodstream. It is never added to any cheap booze because thats what the folks that drink cheap booze are usualy after. The drinker at a high end cocktail party is looking for the exact opposite.

The main difference between say a $9 bottle of vodka and a $25 bottle of vodka is the filtering of these certain toxics and the addition of smoothing agents. Filtering the toxics is time consuming and expensive.

Many states require full disclosure of the contents of each bottle, so you would be very surprised at what you can learn from a state agent or knowledgable retailer. One more curve ball. Dollar ranges have absolutely nothing to do with chemical composition or quality, only marketing.

In top shelf taste tests of 9 brands, Chopin was a clear leader for vodka.

To answer the question, 1/2 or1/4 oz or less per 750ml can make a poor product much better for consumption, but it will only cover up what is bad. It will not instant age, break down tannins or allow fruit taste to mature. Only time can do this.

Hope that makes sense.

Edited by: Mike777

 

[peterCooper]

Nice response Mike.

I guess the question is
"What are you prepared to put into your wine as an additive?"
For myself, the answer is "Not much"

 

[Mike777]

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVQ-ePRHAt4" target="_blank">

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVQ-ePRHAt4</a>

Now I know for a fact wine will plug this thing up but you can see from the way people react the difference that filtering toxics makes. I don't advise doing this test at home since most people will projectile spray to get it out of their mouths. I know I can't drink unfiltered and unsmoothed spirits anymore. It seems like a lot of hassle until you try it yourself.

4 times through a filter like this and 3/4 to an ounce of
Glycerin will yeild the best spirit that you will ever taste in your life. They don't tell you it will strip some flavor off wiskeys and rums but not much. What people believe is flavor is actualy dangerous toxics. The best benifit however is, once processed it will no longer give hangovers. Hangovers come from toxics.
It will still dehydrate you terribly but a couple of glasses of water rebalance your system in about 10 min. As always, moderation in all of life is key.

Edit: Ok I remembered where I was going on this. Got busy for a while and couldn't follow up. Where the above information will help the most is when taking a port or fortified wine to shows. There are better filtering systems out there using stone carbon but are rather time consuming and have a learning curve to make them perform. Any time a spirit is used to fortify wines its important to understand that you are adding taste killers along with the alcohol. "Methanol, </font>acetone, ethyl acetate and similar aromatics, are formed during
fermentation" as well as other things. These are normaly present in wine in smaller quantities. When you add the commercial spirits that are unfiltered you are upsetting the careful balance that is in the wine, and some of these may even erode the flavors that have been built. It is because many smaller amounts are now concentrated in the stronger spirit making larger percentages by volume. This goes for any commercial spirit. If you filter kettle one or grey goose in a double blind taste you will never be able to drink either one again. Now carry this stone carbon filtered quality into a Port or sherry and you end up with a far superior fortified wine than any others that may be at the same show, regardless of the quality of the original wine before fortification. Even using EC1118 or others to go natural will not compete with the smoothness of the filtered/fortified ports.

There you have it. There is only one step further and that is to run a large and then small stone carbon in a double filter process.
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Edited by: Mike777

 

[scotty]

When and if you use a packaged liquid oak additive, it usually comes with an equal amount of glycerine.


I have read in many places where glycerine is added to wines. I doubt very much if it is harmfull in the recomended amounts that are found on the wine additive packaging. I thinkone suchproduct is called super smooth or some similar name..Edited by: scotty

 

[PeterZ]

"Methanol, </font>acetone, ethyl acetate and similar aromatics, are formed during
fermentation"
</font>

Mike,

That quote makes me really suspicious. Why? Because none of the compounds listed are aromatics. Aromatics are ringed carbon constructs, the simplest of which is benzene. Those compounds are alipahtics - straight or branched chain carbon based compounds.

Methanol = CH3OH
Acetone (dimethyl ketone) = CH3COCH3
Ethyl acetate = CH3COOCH2CH3

There are a plethora of organic chemicals in wine, and they determine its character, and their breakdown is part of the aging process. I am not aware of any material that will selectively remove methanol, acetone, ethyl acetate, and a host of other water soluble organics, and leave the ethanol behind. They can be separated in the lab, but only with very expensive equipment working on 20 microliter samples (high pressure liquid chromatrography - HPLC, and gas chromatorgraphy - GC).

My favorite insider chemist rant goes something like this:

IT'S TIME TO BAN DIHYDROGEN OXIDE! DHO is responsible for tens of thousands of deaths, and hundreds of thousands of burns every year. This chemical is one of the deadliest in America, and millions of tons are made every year! The carnage has to stop!!! [In case you missed it, dihydrogen oxide is water.]
Edited by: PeterZ

 

[Mike777]

Activated stone carbon is the proper material. Not a pure science by any means, unless the carbon filter is 5 or more feet at 40 mm or larger. Gert Strand has a pdf you can download for free that explains the process. In wine a larger percentage breaks down into smaller particles, over time, and more so when exposed to Oak, barrels, chips or cubes.

The process with stone carbon involves several sizes of micropore channels in each stone, as well as a process I dont understand very well that causes adhesion to the exterior of the stones.

The three chemicals mentioned are lower in grape wines and higher in fruit wines, but exist in most all yeast fermented products in differing levels. The explanation was pectin. Higher in apple cider than other drinks too.

I believe the Kangaroo is just a smaller carbon and filter sand sort of filter.

I hear what you are saying with the terminolgy, and aromatics. Its a loose translation from Swedish or Norwegan, so its only close words when you get it in english. I believe it to be a description of the differing smells during the begining of commercial spirits extraction and not so much american science terminology, relating to chemistry, or at least I doubt the converter will get close, when its a free one.

Edited by: Mike777