Winemaking Talk - Winemaking Forum

Help Support Winemaking Talk - Winemaking Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

ronnym789

Junior
Joined
Jun 28, 2018
Messages
1
Reaction score
0
Good evening,

I had a question about storing organic wine. I'm new to wine-making so please correct me if I'm using the wrong terms. I've been searching the internet for answers on how to store wine without any preservatives (keeping the wine longer without going bad) and without sterilizing the wine (stopping yeast multiplication and/or killing it). I may have found some answers but there isn't much information out there.

If I am going to bottle the wine without fearing bottle bombs, I figure that I must pick one of the following options:
1. Ferment all the way until the wine is completely dry. If I do this, I can relatively safely store the wine in my basement. If I back sweeten, I must use a non-fermentable sugar.
2. If I back sweeten with some type of fermentable sugar, it must be placed in the fridge to make the yeast go dormant.
3. I can pasteurize the wine at the lowest temperature possible (~160F) to kill the yeast but it'll change the taste/texture of the wine itself.
4. If I cold crash the wine (near freezing temperatures), it'll kill some of the yeast in suspension. This will make it safer to choose the option of storing the wine without using a refrigerator.

Can anyone confirm if any of these options are viable? Is there any additional information or options that would be helpful in choosing the best option with the lowest risk? I understand that this is my choice and I'm responsible for whatever ends up happening regardless of your suggestions. I am sensitive to preservatives and chemical additives so I'm trying to do this without adding anything.

I currently have 1 gallon of (wild yeast) mulberry wine, 1 gallon of (wild yeast) mead, 1 gallon of mulberry and apple juice wine that's inoculated with Lalvin K1-1116 brewing at the moment. My kitchen is an experiment :).

Thanks!
 
You can choose a yeast that has a very low maximum Alcohol, then add enough sugar to exceed that. It isn't fail safe, but can work. You might also step feed sugar, until the yeast stops fermenting. You will need to research yeasts to see which ones have the lowest alcohol amount, I don't recall which one you want, off the top of my head.
 
Back
Top