Storing extra wine for top up...

[FuzzeWuzze]

So i have a question, i have about 7 gallons of plum wine across two 3G carboys and a 1G jug. So i put the remaining about 1/2 gallon into another gallon jug with some campden. I was planning on using it to top up any of the other containers as i rack them.

Is this a bad idea? Should i get it into a smaller container? I figured with campden in there the off gasses from the sulfites would put a nice protective layer over the half full jug and i shouldnt have any oxidation issues...correct?

 

[pumpkinman2012]

You need to put it into a smaller container or it will spoil in as fast as a few days.

 

[Yooper]

You need to put it into a smaller container or it will spoil in as fast as a few days.

Agreed. It won't "spoil" in the sense of microorganisms growing, but it will oxidize quickly.

I have all sorts of sizes, like growlers (2 quarts), grolsch bottles (16 ounces), wine bottles (750 ml) and wine 1/2 bottles (375 ml), and beer bottles (12 ounces). They all take a small bung except for the growler which is a #6 bung. So top off wine is stored in one of them and used as needed.

 

[FuzzeWuzze]

Agreed. It won't "spoil" in the sense of microorganisms growing, but it will oxidize quickly.

I have all sorts of sizes, like growlers (2 quarts), grolsch bottles (16 ounces), wine bottles (750 ml) and wine 1/2 bottles (375 ml), and beer bottles (12 ounces). They all take a small bung except for the growler which is a #6 bung. So top off wine is stored in one of them and used as needed.

Even if campden is put in? I thought that helped prevent oxidization, and basically blanketed the wine like a CO2 blanket does for beer?

 

[Yooper]

Even if campden is put in? I thought that helped prevent oxidization, and basically blanketed the wine like a CO2 blanket does for beer?

Well, first of all, there is no 'c02 blanket' for beer either. It just doesn't exist. It's true that in active fermentation, much more c02 is being produced than anything else, so the c02 comes out of the wine (or beer) and does have a protective effect but once fermentation ends, the gasses seek equilibrium so there is no "blanket" of any one gas- gasses mix readily. That's why winemakers top up their wine, so the headspace is minimal to avoid oxidation. Long term aging of beer requires this too.

But what sulfite(campden) does is totally different than producing c02. It produces a sulfite gas, sulfur dioxide. What that does is bind with wine so that oxygen cannot bind with the wine, especially during racking. It dissipates, so this protective effect doesn't last plus it isn't going to protect the wine from huge amounts of headspace- otherwise, winemakers wouldn't take steps to reduce headspace once fermentation slowed. It helps with racking, but even then the winemaker doesn't want to aerate or splash the wine. Most often, the desired sulfite level is about 50 ppm or so.

 

[FuzzeWuzze]

Well, first of all, there is no 'c02 blanket' for beer either. It just doesn't exist. It's true that in active fermentation, much more c02 is being produced than anything else, so the c02 comes out of the wine (or beer) and does have a protective effect but once fermentation ends, the gasses seek equilibrium so there is no "blanket" of any one gas- gasses mix readily. That's why winemakers top up their wine, so the headspace is minimal to avoid oxidation. Long term aging of beer requires this too.

But what sulfite(campden) does is totally different than producing c02. It produces a sulfite gas, sulfur dioxide. What that does is bind with wine so that oxygen cannot bind with the wine, especially during racking. It dissipates, so this protective effect doesn't last plus it isn't going to protect the wine from huge amounts of headspace- otherwise, winemakers wouldn't take steps to reduce headspace once fermentation slowed. It helps with racking, but even then the winemaker doesn't want to aerate or splash the wine. Most often, the desired sulfite level is about 50 ppm or so.

Interesting, well its been over a week i wonder if its been too long. May just take e a taste tomorrow and see what it tastes like and maybe store some in an extra wine bottle or something.

 

[Yooper]

Interesting, well its been over a week i wonder if its been too long. May just take e a taste tomorrow and see what it tastes like and maybe store some in an extra wine bottle or something.

Yes, an extra wine bottle or a growler or something. They make stoppers that fit. The same one that fits a wine bottle fits a beer bottle even.

I have an assortment of sizes, from a 16 ounce grolsh bottle up to a one gallon jug. The #6 stopper fits a wine jug (Carlo Rossi has great jugs, but bad wine!) as well as a growler, and the smaller stoppers fit everything else but I don't remember the size.