Wine storage,I’m brewing some wine at my home its been 5 days and the reaction has slowed(not stopped) but it looks purple with a tint of brown as opposed to pure purple when i started. why is this, is this normal.
second should i go ahead and transfer the wine to smaller bottles for storage now because fermentation has slowed? if not when will i know its done.
im doing it the cheap way, my lock is pretty much 4 small holes in a milk cap(it works, don’t tell me it doesn’t)
anne-marie a // Sep 7, 2010 at 8:03 pm
I made wine. You need to rack the wine after it’s done bubbling. You should have plastic wrap covering the container it is fermenting in. Racking wine is transferring it via siphon to another container leaving the sediment in the previous container. You need do do this several times to clarify the wine. Also keep checking the level of sugar and add the other chemicals you need.
Matt B // Sep 7, 2010 at 8:03 pm
well you shouldnt add semen to wine…try again and itll be alot thinner
emineman67 // Sep 7, 2010 at 8:03 pm
it doesn’t always work sounds like it spoiled
liquidluv4d // Sep 7, 2010 at 8:03 pm
you’re not even close to ready for bottling yet. i good rule of thumb is to rack it once you have less than one bubble per minute through your airlock. it’s gonna look different because of lighting and additives etc… let it sit in the fermentation vessel for at least a week then rack it into another container for secondary fermentation. then rack it once more (after another week or so) to remove the sediment from the liquid. i’d highly recommend buying some books about winemaking. there are hundreds of great how to books out there and also tons of free advice and directions online. even if your wine is bad this time it’s not a total lose because that’s one mistake you won’t make again next time. my best advice is to keep with it and don’t give and keep a notebook full of really accurate notes. helps ya learn and it’s really frustrating when you lose a whole batch because of a mistake you made twice.
themrmike // Sep 7, 2010 at 8:03 pm
you may have made a batch of vinegar but i suspect that that is just some of the byproducts of fermentation and settling. however if you did not have an air trap you may have a malicious growth it wont hurt the wine it will just eat the available sugar and reduce the potency of the wine. go back and re read the process. tmm
darth42 // Sep 7, 2010 at 8:03 pm
Of course it looks odd; wine isn’t brewed.
EtOHRx // Sep 7, 2010 at 8:03 pm
I suspect you are not making a quality wine but rather a closet-wine hidden from your parents.
You should rack to a secondary/aging vessel after your specific gravity drops by 85% or more. You know it is ready by taking hydrometer readings. Age it for several months prior to bottling.
For the technical answer:
http://www.fst.vt.edu/extension/enology/downloads/TanninsColor2006.pdf
http://www.uark.edu/depts/ifse/grapeprog/articles/ahs105-90wg.pdf
http://www.okyanusbilgiambari.com/Bilim/Okyanus-BrowingInFoods.pdf
The short story is both pH and enzyme browning reactions.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Browning_(chemical_process)
http://www.geocities.com/lumeisenman/chapt6.html
SULFUR DIOXIDE
Sulfur dioxide is a colorless gas formed from one sulfur and two oxygen atoms (SO2). It is foul smelling and noxious. The distinctive smell left by a burnt match comes from sulfur in the match reacting with oxygen in the air and producing sulfur dioxide. Sulfur dioxide gas reacts with water and forms sulfurous acid, and the sulfurous acid can be further oxidized into sulfuric acid.
Benefits
Sulfur dioxide has several desirable attributes when added to wine in very small quantities. Enzymes in the grapes that cause browning are deactivated by sulfur dioxide. Sulfur dioxide helps protect wine from excessive oxidation. Sulfur dioxide can reduce the oxidized smell of old wine by reacting with acetaldehyde. Sulfur dioxide is very useful in controlling the growth of bacteria and yeast.
Man has been adding sulfur dioxide to wine for more than a thousand years. A large body of knowledge exists on the use of sulfur dioxide in wine and in many other food products. The benefits of using sulfur dioxide in wine are well documented, and its positive effects are indisputable. Several characteristics of sulfur dioxide in wine are briefly discussed below.
Deactivates Enzymes
Grape juice is in contact with the surrounding air during the crushing and pressing operations, and the juice reacts with oxygen in the air and becomes oxidized. Oxidation causes the juice to darken, and the juice gradually turns brown. Browning is greatly accelerated by the presence of naturally occurring enzymes in the grapes. Polyphenoloxidase is the name of the this enzyme, and it is the same enzyme that causes freshly cut apples to turn an unpleasant brown color. Some grape varieties brown easily, while other grape varieties have little browning tendencies. The differences in susceptibility can be accounted for by the amount of Polyphenoloxidase enzyme that occurs in different grape varieties.
Enzymes responsible for browning are very sensitive to free sulfur dioxide, and the enzymes are deactivated when sulfur dioxide is added to the juice. The quantity of sulfur dioxide needed is very small, so sulfur dioxide is a powerful tool for reducing enzymatic browning in white and blush wines.
ETC., ETC.,