Pasteurization question

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TattooedViking9

The Viking Vintner
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Jun 22, 2012
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I have 3 gallons of peach wine that has reached the proper sweetness and ABV. I want to pasteurize it because I don't have any of the chemicals for that. Can I just heat it in a pot on the stove to pasteurize it, and if so, what temp and duration is necessary? Thank you for any help. I'm pretty stumped on this one. lol :drunk:
 
Unless you can vacuum pasteurize I would recommend against that, heating wine is not a good idea. I would go online and order what you need to stabilize and backsweeten it
 
You'll most likely boil out the alcohol if you heat it up.

If you have 12% alcohol, .65% acid, it'll preserve itself. The metabisulfite is an anti-oxidant.

If you are going to consume it quickly, sterilize your bottles and enjoy.
 
So is there NO way to stop the fermentation without Potassium sorbate and such? It has gotten to where we want it much faster than we had anticipated, and we do not have access to those chemicals.( $ )
 
TattooedViking9 said:
So is there NO way to stop the fermentation without Potassium sorbate and such? It has gotten to where we want it much faster than we had anticipated, and we do not have access to those chemicals.( $ )

It usually not possible to stop an active fermentation.

You can try to get it down to 32 deg F and then rack off the sediment. (cold stabilizing)

Also, you can keep adding sugar and eventually the alcohol will kill off the yeast. Then sweeten to taste.
 
TattooedViking, you're in the middle of wine country up there in Cottonwood. Surely there is somewhere local you can get sorbate and pot-met. The sorbate you can skip if you've got time (and wines take lots of time to devolope into great) but you really should be using either pot-met or Campden as a preservative against oxyidation, the PA should be high enough to kill off anything else.

If you really need the sorbate and cold crashing isn't an option, PM me and I'll mail some up to get you through this batch.
 
Yeah, attempting to stop an active fermentation is extremely difficult, sorbate will not likely cut it. The standard procedure is to let it finish fermenting, stabilize, then backsweeten.
 
I want to thank you all for the advice. I put it in the fridge and let the yeast go dormant. I then racked it off the lees and took a small sample into a coffee cup and let it sit on the counter to check for renewed ferment. Nothing after almost a day. And the sample in the glass started to clear VERY nicely. So I removed the jug from the fridge and am letting the rest of it clear, racking when necessary. I think the cold stabilization worked.

And, BTW, there are LHBS stores in Prescott and Flagstaff, but none here in Cottonwood. There was one in the next town over, but they switched marketing to cigars and 'smoking' supplies about a year ago. I will be sure to add those chemicals to my next order. haha

:mug:Thanks Again!:tank:
 
Once your yeast warm up you will start fermenting in the bottle...in all likelihood. Other alternative, keep them cold at all times. As you said, yeast are dormant after you cold crashed (not dead). There is a sticky either on this forum or winemakingtalk.com that will walk you thru easy pasteurization.
 
You were correct. It started to ferment again when it reached room temp. So I put it back in the fridge to settle again. And I will probably just drink this cold. As I accidentally froze some of the water in the jug while it was in the freezer. I racked what I could into another jug where it sits now. It tastes better now, I must say. ;)
 
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