Attempt Making Champagne

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cmgxsolutions

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Will this work to make champagne?

Mixing store bought:

Pinot Noir
Pinor Meunier
Chardonay

Sweetening to taste then add a champagne yeast starter... bottle in beer bottles and pasteurise when desired co2 is reached.

It seems too easy... is their a chemical in store bought wine that would prevent fermentation from starting again? Or is their something I am missing?

Thanks
Dan
 
Will it work? Absolutly. Will it taste like champagne? Not as positive, but it will be a "sparkling wine" without a doubt.

Most large wineries that make sparkling wines simply :

1-create the wine
2-filter it until all yeast and sediment are cleared
3-use CO2 to 'force carb' the wine to make it bubbly

Try mixing the three wines in different ratios, and testing them. Remember that the carbination will give it a bit of a 'bite'.

Good luck!
 
Some store bought wines do indeed have sorbate in them, to prevent re-fermentation.

That, and it is very hard to get yeast started in a +12% ABV, as alcohol is toxic to yeast.
 
What if I take a sample and figure how much sugar i need to add to get the desired sweetness and then make a juice/sugar starter put in champagne yeast... throw it on a stirplate for 2 days then dump it in the mix and bottle. Would that work?
 
When I need to restart a fermentation I would follow a large starter that acclimates the yeast to the toxic environment. Here is the starter ingredients/process:

2 cups water
1/2 cup honey
1/4 tsp yeast nutrients
10 raisins chopped up fine
5g of lalvin yeast ec-1118

Mix the starter must really well and just sprinkle yeast on top and do not stir. Cover with paper towel and rubberband and wait two hours.

Now take 1/2 cup of wine must after you have sweetened it and add to the starter. Slightly stir the starter and wait another 2 hours.

Repeat the last step 3 more times.

10 hours should have past and you should have 4 1/2 cups of starter. That pitched into the wine must should knock it out.

Good luck & have fun.
 
What if I take a sample and figure how much sugar i need to add to get the desired sweetness and then make a juice/sugar starter put in champagne yeast... throw it on a stirplate for 2 days then dump it in the mix and bottle. Would that work?

Yes... except that the sweetness will go away as the yeast chew up all the sugars. Champagne is usually 'dry' for this reason. To both have sweetness and carbination you need to force carb, or use a non-fermentable sweetener.
 
why not trying making champagne with juice and sugar and champagne yeast?
 
I was going to pasteurized once the level of carbonation is reached to kill the yeast and maintain sweetness. The reason i am trying to avoid juice is because need to get a few different varieties which would be expensive and take a long time to do from juice.
 
I was going to pasteurized once the level of carbonation is reached to kill the yeast and maintain sweetness. The reason i am trying to avoid juice is because need to get a few different varieties which would be expensive and take a long time to do from juice.

Ok, good thought. Especially if you are only doing a few bottles. Hope the experiment works.
 
I've done "champagne" a couple of times by fermenting grape juice and then prime and bottle as you would to make beer. It's come out pretty good. 1 oz of sugar per gallon makes it pleasantly sparkly.

Do you pasteurize after you bottle?
 
I am a noob and have never done it before. I am interested in making a sweet champagne so I think it would need to be pasteurized to prevent bottle bombs, right?
 
To leave residual sugar behind you need to prevent the yeast from getting to it in one way or another. Pasturization can allow you to kill off the yeast in an already carbonated bottle, there are several members who do it on a regular basis.

You need to keep in mind that samples are your friend with that method. Samples that can be opened to guage sweetness and carbonation level. That can mean several bottles and I know you were only planning on making a small ammount. Just keep that in mind!

Also, please be VERY careful when heating a bottle with a Campagne level of carbonation...
 
I was going to make them in beer bottles so waste will be minimum. What is better pasteurization on stove top or oven?
 
Not sure, but i'd guess stovetop. Its not a method I use for my brews. I prefer to either force carb or just leave it as a dry sparkling.
 
How much carbonation is needed? I was just going to carbonate it the same way I carbonate beer then put the bottles in the oven at 190 for 60 mins to pasteurize...
 
Champagne typically is carbonated to 4 atmospheres, or about twice as much as a beer. Its not a bad thought to only carb up to about 2 to 2 1/2 atmospheres like a beer. That would be safer!

As for non-fermentable sugars. There are some wine conditioners available at your LHBS, or I have read of some folks using Splenda like products.
 
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