Dry Ice: a possibilty for filling head space?

Hey all,

I have been wondering about ways to minimize headspace in my carboys after primary and my last blueberry wine suffered because I didn't remove the oxygen from the headspace. After looking around, I see quite a number of people using c02 machines or various pumps to remove the problem.

Would it be possible to use dry ice or should I stick to using Camden tablets when racking?

Thanks,
Nessus

nessus said:

Would it be possible to use dry ice or should I stick to using Camden tablets when racking?

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Both. You should use tablets at every racking. I have put a small chunk, like a cubic inch, in many of my beers and wines for this purpose and not jad any issues.

I don't think there's a safe way to use dry ice for this application. The extreme cold of the product, will most likely do more harm to the wine than too much headspace. I would look into getting vessels, for aging especially, that you can purge of atmospheric air, and then seal.

Instead of adding co2 from time to time, it's more common to just rack to the appropriate sized vessel, or to top up appropriately.

Interesting idea. Will it work to fill the headspace? I'd say yes absolutly. Is it better than just pumping some co2 into the top of the carboy? Maybe. Could the extreme temp change affect your wine? Maybe.

I hate to be vague, but its a new concept for me!

Thanks for the replies everyone. I am on a tight budget and currently only have a couple 5 gal carboys and about 10 1 gal carboys. Should I break up the wine to age in the smaller carboys after primary?

How drastic of an effect would the dry ice have on the wine?

nessus said:

Thanks for the replies everyone. I am on a tight budget and currently only have a couple 5 gal carboys and about 10 1 gal carboys. Should I break up the wine to age in the smaller carboys after primary?

How drastic of an effect would the dry ice have on the wine?

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If the carboy didn't explode, it might not hurt the wine.

I'd rack all of the wine to the smaller containers.

All you need is a small chunk. It is very dense CO2, and sublimates very quickly.

Because it is so quick, it should not harm your wine. If this is a concern for you, you could sublimate in a small amount of sterile water and rack into that and under the gas.

Always make sure it is in liquid and not just sitting on bare glass or plastic. Otherwise cracking a vessel is definitely possible.

This has worked for me...although I yield to the experience of yooper and williamslayer.

http://www.winemakermag.com/stories...ng-dry-ice-to-control-the-temperature-of-must an article I found.

I'm going to do a test run of dry ice today. I think the biggest hazard is not controlling the gas escape and causing a Carboy bomb.

I'll let you know how it goes.

ColoHox said:

All you need is a small chunk. It is very dense CO2, and sublimates very quickly.

Because it is so quick, it should not harm your wine. If this is a concern for you, you could sublimate in a small amount of sterile water and rack into that and under the gas.

Always make sure it is in liquid and not just sitting on bare glass or plastic. Otherwise cracking a vessel is definitely possible.

This has worked for me...although I yield to the experience of yooper and williamslayer.

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No experience with THIS particular toy!

nessus said:

http://www.winemakermag.com/stories/wizard/article/5-Mr%20Wizard/1027-would-you-recommend-using-dry-ice-to-control-the-temperature-of-must an article I found.

I'm going to do a test run of dry ice today. I think the biggest hazard is not controlling the gas escape and causing a Carboy bomb.

I'll let you know how it goes.

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Nessus, that's great that you found this article! Note how the wizzard mainly keeps the pellets out of contact with the wine. I hope this works out for your situation, and don't forget the airlock to keep that CO2 in!

Yooper said:

Instead of adding co2 from time to time, it's more common to just rack to the appropriate sized vessel, or to top up appropriately.

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Yep, Make more wine, or get a second, smaller, fermentor. When I read the thread title I was thinking of ways to hook up a cooler (maybe my mash-tun, it already has a hose adaptor) with a tee fitting.

One thing - I would worry about the expansion of CO2 into your living space. It isn't poisonous, but you could suffocate.

My wife won't let me buy dry ice.

Dynachrome said:

One thing - I would worry about the expansion of CO2 into your living space. It isn't poisonous, but you could suffocate.

My wife won't let me buy dry ice.

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Suffocate from dry ice cubes!? You could keep a cooler full of dry ice in your living room and be just fine.

I took a pie pan and shaped it so the outer edge was slightly lower than the center. I cut a hole in the center that was slightly smaller than the Carboy hole. I sanitized with bleach and then shaved about an inch of c02 into small slivers and moved them to the edge of the pan. I added some distilled water that I had heated( just enough to speed up the sublimation, no water got into the Carboy. I then put foil over the top to stop gas from escaping from the top and it was shooting out of the bottom. Then, I just waited for it to do its magic.

I am still relatively new to the whole home brewing world, so please pardon the silly questions.

I had always been told to bulk age everything, and not to divide a stock into other containers unless I was bottling. Wouldn't the separation cause changes between each container?

Thanks for all the advice!

Glad the dry ice worked out for you. It's cool to see the gas flow into the carboy and settle on top of the beer.

I usually bulk age. On many occasions, like when I have needed one of my large fermenters for the next large batch, I will split a batch into 2 smaller carboys. As long as they are kept in similar conditions, fermentation is done, and head space is not an issue (problem already solved), there shouldnt really be any difference between the splits.

nessus said:

I took a pie pan and shaped it so the outer edge was slightly lower than the center. I cut a hole in the center that was slightly smaller than the Carboy hole. I sanitized with bleach and then shaved about an inch of c02 into small slivers and moved them to the edge of the pan. I added some distilled water that I had heated( just enough to speed up the sublimation, no water got into the Carboy. I then put foil over the top to stop gas from escaping from the top and it was shooting out of the bottom. Then, I just waited for it to do its magic.

I am still relatively new to the whole home brewing world, so please pardon the silly questions.

I had always been told to bulk age everything, and not to divide a stock into other containers unless I was bottling. Wouldn't the separation cause changes between each container?

Thanks for all the advice!

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That must haved looked SO cool.

Both bulk aging and bottle aging have advantages. The smaller the container or the more oxygen the wine is exposed to, the faster it will age. Caution though! Exposure to too much oxygen can cause infection or staling. If you bulk age your wine is more temp stable, and far easier to make adjustments to, but all your eggs are in one basket.