Hello all,
I have years of experience with brewing cider, fruit wines, mead, and beer, but this is the first time I am doing a grape wine kit. It is a shiraz blend. I got the kit as a means of obtaining the balanced juice, but I am not following the instructions and time table to brew it in 4 weeks. So I didn't add the clarifying agents and oak chips to the primary as the instructions said.
I am brewing it in my steel conical fermenter because that has the capacity for primary for a 6 gallon batch. When I brew cider or fruit wine in my conical, I normally dump the trub/lees out of the bottom valve and then leave it in the conical for secondary. I have never had problems with oxidation when doing this. I have always assumed that a CO2 blanket remained on top of the must, protecting it, even though I let some air in the top when dumping.
My plan for this batch was to dump the lees out of the bottom valve once primary is done and then add the oak chips to the conical. Then after 2 weeks, I would rack the wine off of the oak into a carboy. But when I told this plan to the worker at my local wine making store, he told me that the wine would oxidize if I let even that small amount of air into the conical.
Does grape wine oxidize faster than other fruit wines? Would people here recommend that I rack it to a carboy for oaking? Or maybe add the oak chips to the conical but not dump the lees yet? I was hoping to avoid racking it twice in just 2 weeks, both onto and then off of the oak.
Thanks in advance for any and all advice!
I have years of experience with brewing cider, fruit wines, mead, and beer, but this is the first time I am doing a grape wine kit. It is a shiraz blend. I got the kit as a means of obtaining the balanced juice, but I am not following the instructions and time table to brew it in 4 weeks. So I didn't add the clarifying agents and oak chips to the primary as the instructions said.
I am brewing it in my steel conical fermenter because that has the capacity for primary for a 6 gallon batch. When I brew cider or fruit wine in my conical, I normally dump the trub/lees out of the bottom valve and then leave it in the conical for secondary. I have never had problems with oxidation when doing this. I have always assumed that a CO2 blanket remained on top of the must, protecting it, even though I let some air in the top when dumping.
My plan for this batch was to dump the lees out of the bottom valve once primary is done and then add the oak chips to the conical. Then after 2 weeks, I would rack the wine off of the oak into a carboy. But when I told this plan to the worker at my local wine making store, he told me that the wine would oxidize if I let even that small amount of air into the conical.
Does grape wine oxidize faster than other fruit wines? Would people here recommend that I rack it to a carboy for oaking? Or maybe add the oak chips to the conical but not dump the lees yet? I was hoping to avoid racking it twice in just 2 weeks, both onto and then off of the oak.
Thanks in advance for any and all advice!
