Cold crashing questions

[James0816]

Ok guys, my wine has hit 1.000. I racked out bucket into carboys and a few 750ml bottles. Put them in the fridge Friday afternoon.

What steps do I need to do to ensure ferment doesnt start back up? I still need to rack a few more times as it clears..

And one on 750 bottle its only about 3/4 full. Will that bother anything at this stage?

Thanks kindly

 

[DoctorCAD]

How long did your wine sit total from yeast to bottle?

If it was less than 6 months, pour it back into the carboy and get it under airlock.

Any air exposure to the surface of the wine is bad after about 3 or 4 weeks.

 

[bernardsmith]

At a gravity of 1.000 there is some residual sugar remaining but if your wine has been stable at this gravity for a few weeks then while it is unlikely to restart it could - and Murphy's Law states that it will. Typically, there is really no need to "stabilize" a wine if you are not adding any sugar to backsweeten it but at 1.000 there is still SOME unferemented (fermentable?) sugar if this wine is made from fruit. I would add K-meta AND K-sorbate per directions. K-meta will inhibit any small colony of yeast from fermenting and the sorbate will prevent any of those yeast cells from budding (reproducing) and so creating a larger colony that the K-meta then cannot handle. BUT it's preferable to stabilize AFTER you have racked several times thus ensuring that the viable yeast colony is considerably reduced in size (that's one reason for multiple rackings) . If you have treated the wine like beer and have simply cold crashed the wine after active fermentation has ended then you have your entire yeast biomass sitting in your wine... But you say that you have subsequently bottled this wine ... so you may have reduced the yeast cell count somewhat... But stabilization is best done bulk and not in bottles...
That said, I agree with DoctorCAD regarding the half filled bottle, though, again, depending when you filled the bottle you MAY have included enough CO2 before corking or capping..

 

[James0816]

I havent bottled yet. I just used the 3g carboy and the 750 bottles formthe crash and clear right now. All have airlocks while sitting in the fridge.

I plan to rack into a bucket, add stabilizers and rack back into bottles with airlocks to finish clearing

 

[DoctorCAD]

When you take the bottles out of the cooler, they will probably start fermenting, since your SG is 1.000

 

[Seamonkey84]

Add your stabilizers while it’s still cold and the yeast are inactive, then give it at least 24hrs to work before you let it warm back up.

 

[James0816]

Add your stabilizers while it’s still cold and the yeast are inactive, then give it at least 24hrs to work before you let it warm back up.

so at this point, i can rack everything back into a bucket, add my k-meta and sorbate, rack back into carboy and the 750ml bottles as needed, add airlock and back in fridge for at least 24hrs.

Then I should be able rack as needed at room temp after that right?

 

[DoctorCAD]

Why would you put it back in the fridge?

 

[bmd2k1]

What yeast? What ABV ya at?

Depending on yeast -- there's always a chance you've reached the alcohol tolerance of the yeast.

My last batch of welch's vino via D47.....hit 13% and pooped out. (Typically it's 14% for that yeast.) Anyhow...was shelf stable and added zero chemicals b4 bottling. Has been an awesome batch [emoji111]

Cheers [emoji111]

 

[Yooper]

so at this point, i can rack everything back into a bucket, add my k-meta and sorbate, rack back into carboy and the 750ml bottles as needed, add airlock and back in fridge for at least 24hrs.

Then I should be able rack as needed at room temp after that right?

If you want to keep it at 1.000, you can try that- but you may oxidize it if you rack it twice. If you have totally clear wine in the fridge, you can rack it into the carboy onto the k-meta and sorbate. If you have bottles that don't fit in the carboy, you may just want to pull them out and let them finish fermenting.

If the wine is not totally, completely, absolutely clear- don't even attempt it. Instead, bring it back up to fermentation temperature and let it finish fermenting!

 

[Seamonkey84]

so at this point, i can rack everything back into a bucket, add my k-meta and sorbate, rack back into carboy and the 750ml bottles as needed, add airlock and back in fridge for at least 24hrs.

Then I should be able rack as needed at room temp after that right?

Just add the stabilizers right into the carboy in the fridge, no need to rack back and forth.
https://www.mainbrew.com/stabilizing_prior_to_bottling-ExtraPages.html

 

[James0816]

The recipe that I'm following called for it to ferment down to 1.000. Here are the last steps:

1. When ferment reaches S.G 1.040 (3-5 days) squeeze juice lightly from bag. Siphon off wine sediment into glass secondary, attach airlock.
2. When ferment reaches 1.000 (about 3 weeks) siphon off any sediment into clean secondary. Reattach lock.
3. To aid clearing siphon again in 2 months and again before bottling*.

To sweeten wine, at bottling add 1/2 tsp Stabilizer, then stir in 1/4-1/2 lb dissolved sugar per gallon.

And now that I read this yet again, I may have just interpreted it wrong. I think I was supposed to just rack at 1.000 and not crash at this point.

Did I mess it up? If I pull from fridge now will it start back up at temp? Woops.

 

[Yooper]

Yes, you did, sorry. You're now at number 2. You put it into secondary, but NOT the fridge!

 

[Yooper]

Just add the stabilizers right into the carboy in the fridge, no need to rack back and forth.
https://www.mainbrew.com/stabilizing_prior_to_bottling-ExtraPages.html

That's incorrect. The stabilizers work by inhibiting yeast reproducing. Since the wine isn't even done fermenting, there isn't much yeast reproduction needed for fermentation. All the stabilizers will do at this point is either nothing (and you'd have to re-add later, possible having a flavor impact since sorbate does impart a taste), or worse, create stressed yeast and an off-flavor called geraniol.

Stabilizing should never be done with sediment or visible yeast present, and only in finished fermentations that are totally clear. You can crash cool to drop out the yeast when the fermentation slows, and then rack off of the sediment if the wine is completely clear and no longer fermenting at that point, but it may require several rackings and that's why there would be two rackings if the wine was not finished and only at 1.000.

 

[James0816]

Yes, you did, sorry. You're now at number 2. You put it into secondary, but NOT the fridge!

Chit. So if I rack into a new carboy, will it resume or will I need to pitch more yeast?

 

[Seamonkey84]

That's incorrect. The stabilizers work by inhibiting yeast reproducing. Since the wine isn't even done fermenting, there isn't much yeast reproduction needed for fermentation. All the stabilizers will do at this point is either nothing (and you'd have to re-add later, possible having a flavor impact since sorbate does impart a taste), or worse, create stressed yeast and an off-flavor called geraniol.

Even if it was stabilized and racked while still cold and settled? I thought There wouldn’t be enough yeast in the cleared part to restart the ferment since the Sorbate has been added. I’m still new to this, just doing as much reading as I can online. The article didn’t say to rack off of the lees before stabilizing, just to keep it near freezing to stop the activity and to let the Sorbate and sulfite work.

 

[Yooper]

Even if it was stabilized and racked while still cold and settled? I thought There wouldn’t be enough yeast in the cleared part to restart the ferment since the Sorbate has been added. I’m still new to this, just doing as much reading as I can online. The article didn’t say to rack off of the lees before stabilizing, just to keep it near freezing to stop the activity and to let the Sorbate and sulfite work.

Right- and that's the problem. Sorbate and sulfite don't kill yeast- they simply inhibit yeast reproduction. If you've got some yeast on the bottom of the vessel and/or the wine isn't totally and completely clear, the yeast don't need to reproduce to ferment, so once you warm it up, it will ferment again.

People do try to do this, and it sometimes works if you rack off of the lees, crash again, and rack off of any remaining lees. Then sometimes you can add the sorbate and campden/sulfite then and sweeten. Not always, but usually it works if you ensure that any dormant or active yeast is removed as much as possible. Sometimes fermentation may restart, though, and sometimes it stresses the yeast and you'll get an off-flavor called geraniol. Geraniol is like it sounds- a smell and flavor like geraniums. It comes from the sorbate and yeast reaction, and it's unpleasant. Generally, it's just so much easier to wait until fermentation ends before attempting anything like this. Even then, you have to rack off of any lees, all the time, or fermentation will likely restart once you sweeten the wine. If you're not sweetening, and fermentation is finished, you can usually package without sorbate.

 

[Seamonkey84]

I agree, best practice and more reliable to let it go completely dry or stall out on its own for a while before stabilizing, but not impossible to do. I personally haven’t used stabilizers (beyond the sulfites before pitching yeast) since I have friends with a laundry list of sensitivities and allergies. I have my batches be sweet by exceeding the abv of my yeast and then let make sure it’s stabile and clear for weeks at room temp before bottling.

 

[jonereb]

Here's how I do it. Someone correct me if I'm wrong. I go from bucket to carboy and rack when sediment is settling to the bottom -- about a week or so. Then I rack to another carboy as needed -- usually 4 or 5 more times over a 6 month period, topping each time. Finally, I rack one more time with inhibitors. After a day or two of observation, I cold crash in my kitchen fridge because I don't have a better option. I cold crash for at least two weeks, then rack again, careful to leave behind the crystals that have formed. Then I wait for the wine to return to room temperature, and then rack to bottles and hand-cork. Right, wrong, or indifferent, it seems to work.

 

[Yooper]

Here's how I do it. Someone correct me if I'm wrong. I go from bucket to carboy and rack when sediment is settling to the bottom -- about a week or so. Then I rack to another carboy as needed -- usually 4 or 5 more times over a 6 month period, topping each time. Finally, I rack one more time with inhibitors. After a day or two of observation, I cold crash in my kitchen fridge because I don't have a better option. I cold crash for at least two weeks, then rack again, careful to leave behind the crystals that have formed. Then I wait for the wine to return to room temperature, and then rack to bottles and hand-cork. Right, wrong, or indifferent, it seems to work.

After the first racking, you only need to rack when sediment is about 1/4" thick or more, or every 60 days if there are ANY lees at all so you're probably way overdoing the racking.

Once you're not having any lees drop at all in a new carboy in at least 60 days, you're ready to add the sorbate and sulfite if using, and then bottle. If you want to cold stabilize, you can do that in the carboy of course. If wine diamonds form at that time, you can rack off of them into the bottling bucket. Don't return it to room temperature (why would you even need to?), just bottle it once it's totally and completely clear and ready to bottle.

 

[jonereb]

I like to age the wine for 2 years, so I figure I might as well leave it in the carboy and rack as needed. And yes, I leave it in the carboy while cold crashing. Why let it return to room temp? Because I like to bottle, cork, and apply labels at the same time. Cold wine creates condensation which doesn't work well with my cheap paper labels.