Sparkling Wine Pressure Chamber

[Irithind]

I have never actually tried making sparkling wine but was always interested. Is it possible to make it using a pressure chamber of sorts? By that, I mean a container that is strong enough to withstand higher pressures with a safety valve in case it gets too pressurized. For the secondary fermentation, of course.
I don't particularly want to deal with a more traditional method, as I don't know if I will have the time or, in fact, the skill to do the freeze-clarifying stuff.

 

[DuncB]

I fermented an elderflower sparkling wine in a bucket first then racked into a 30 litre key keg. I then spunded nhisup to 35 psi to get about 4 vols. Fined it in the keg and then counter pressure bottled it. Worked very well.

 

[Irithind]

Ok, I think I may be way too newbie to get all of that tbh. I mean... I got the just, but could you explain the process a bit more accessibly to somebody who doesn't know too much?

 

[Maylar]

The "pressure chamber" you speak of is called a keg. They can be used to carbonate any beverage including wine. They are an investment however, you need the keg and a CO2 tank and some plumbing to make it all work. There's a separate sub forum in the beer section where people discuss kegs.

Otherwise, wine can be carbonated in the bottle with a process called bottle conditioning. Basically you add a controlled amount of fermentable sugar to a capped bottle (think beer or champagne) and it will ferment and create CO2. The down side to that is that you can't stabilize and back sweeten your wine first.

 

[Irithind]

I know the basics of the traditional method but I just can't really deal with clarifying it by freezing the yeast out. I also don't want to add the CO2 artificially. I'm wondering about the possibility of fermenting the wine that way in a container. I was originally thinking of something akin to the Charmat method. I checked the methods again to brush up on the names and realized that the Transfer method sounds almost exactly like what I'd want. How would I go about doing that with a keg?

 

[whoaru99]

If you want "natural" carbonation then conceptually it's the same as bottle conditioning albeit a bigger bottle, so to speak. Of course, just like a smaller bottle, the container needs to be something that can handle the pressure.

 

[Irithind]

Thank you! I will try it whenever I get a chance.
Also: I do realize "natural" means absolutely nothing, it's kinda more about the satisfaction of making it myself, I guess? I'm kinda weird, just wanna have control over most stuff and make it fully myself, even if it would be easier otherwise.

 

[sibelman]

just wanna have control

Use whatever method works best for you, of course. I have to say that using CO2 to carbonate my beers has given me much greater control over the level of carbonation than adding priming malt/sugar at bottling ever did. But they both usually work fine.

 

[Irithind]

Yeah, it just kinda feels like cheating. I feel like it wouldn't be as satisfying that way.

 

[sibelman]

Okay, vive le méthode champenoise!