Hello-

I am a long time beer brewer but a newbie to wine. My question is
about oxidation. After about two strong days of bubbles as I smell
the wine through the airlock there is a faint apple smell. Now this
may be a stupid question but does oxidized wine have a cidery smell
like beer or should I just relax and forget about because there is
little chance. I've stirred the wine twice and given the bucket a
couple of little shakes (4-5 seconds tops three times) in the last
three days. Its a reisling wine if that matters.

Cheers,
Jason

Jason,

Relax. You're just smelling the normal yeasty/fruity smell from an
aromatic wine like Riesling. If the wine is actively fermenting (and
most would use a closed container for whites, BTW) there's little
likelihood of it even absorbing enough O2 to matter. Besides, the yeast
would tend to gobble it up & stop producing alcohol for a bit.

I'm curious though. Why the shaking & stirring?

HTH Mike MTM

MikeMTM > wrote in message >...

I shook it after twenty four hours and that seemed to get the airlock
going, (although it would have built up enough pressure eventually.
After all the batches of beer I've done, I still find it hard to just
leave it alone. I will be leaving it be though now that I know
nothing is wrong.

One last question...In the directions there is a lot of "degassing".
Using a degasser a few times a day as its settling. Does this not
introduce a great deal of oxygen or is it not signifigant at that
point. I'll follow the directions exactly but I'm always curious on
why.

Thanks

> Jason,
>
> Relax. You're just smelling the normal yeasty/fruity smell from an
> aromatic wine like Riesling. If the wine is actively fermenting (and
> most would use a closed container for whites, BTW) there's little
> likelihood of it even absorbing enough O2 to matter. Besides, the yeast
> would tend to gobble it up & stop producing alcohol for a bit.
>
> I'm curious though. Why the shaking & stirring?
>
> HTH Mike MTM

John,
An important part of winemaking is learning to recognize problems so they
can be corrected or avoided. Oxidation is one of the biggest dangers in
winemaking and it is not always easily avoided. Consequently you really
should get to where you can recognize it.

I recommend that you get two bottles of a white wine you like. Open one and
drink all but one glass. (These experiments are rough but they really need
to be done.) Pour the last glass into a clear bottle if it is not in one
already. Lightly stopper it with a cotton ball. Set it aside until you
start noticing a browning of the wine. This is oxidation. It may take a
day or a week depending on how well protected it is with sulfite. Open the
saved bottle and smell and taste each. Then you will be able to recognize
oxidation in the future.

I know, it is hard to sacrifice a glass of wine but it is for a good cause.

Ray

"John" > wrote in message
om...
> Hello-
>
> I am a long time beer brewer but a newbie to wine. My question is
> about oxidation. After about two strong days of bubbles as I smell
> the wine through the airlock there is a faint apple smell. Now this
> may be a stupid question but does oxidized wine have a cidery smell
> like beer or should I just relax and forget about because there is
> little chance. I've stirred the wine twice and given the bucket a
> couple of little shakes (4-5 seconds tops three times) in the last
> three days. Its a reisling wine if that matters.
>
> Cheers,
> Jason

Jason,

Degassing when fermentation is over is a different matter, and many
people (including myself) view it as somewhat unnecessary if one is
patient enough. With your first batch, that's not likely, is it?
Given enough time in bulk aging & at room-ish temps, most wines degas
naturally pretty well. The reason kits recommend vigorous degassing is
to speed up the process so the maker gets quicker gratification. Again,
patience is enormously helpful in making a good wine, but it _can_ be
drunk at the end of 28 days or whatever. But it's much better after 6 or
12 months.

As to the process of degassing with a stirrer, If you're using a
drill-mounted type, be careful to keep it well submerged in the wine and
run it at high speed, but don't let the vortex draw air down & create
air bubbles. As you surmise, this does add unnecessary oxygen. The
spinning arm types seem to work best when they "cavitate" through the
wine and liberate the CO2 by low pressure. When you do degas, do it at
room temp, as the gas is less soluble at higher temperature.

Hope it turns out well Mike MTM

John wrote:
>
> One last question...In the directions there is a lot of "degassing".
> Using a degasser a few times a day as its settling. Does this not
> introduce a great deal of oxygen or is it not signifigant at that
> point. I'll follow the directions exactly but I'm always curious on
> why.

One way to help avoid too much oxygen would be to degas in a container with
a narrow neck and stir under Nitrogen (or even better, but expensive, Argon)
gas cover.

Rob L

(in the winery, for early bottled wines we sparge with N2 gas to pull the
CO2 down.)


"MikeMTM" > wrote in message
...
> Jason,
>
> Degassing when fermentation is over is a different matter, and many
> people (including myself) view it as somewhat unnecessary if one is
> patient enough. With your first batch, that's not likely, is it?
> Given enough time in bulk aging & at room-ish temps, most wines degas
> naturally pretty well. The reason kits recommend vigorous degassing is
> to speed up the process so the maker gets quicker gratification. Again,
> patience is enormously helpful in making a good wine, but it _can_ be
> drunk at the end of 28 days or whatever. But it's much better after 6 or
> 12 months.
>
> As to the process of degassing with a stirrer, If you're using a
> drill-mounted type, be careful to keep it well submerged in the wine and
> run it at high speed, but don't let the vortex draw air down & create
> air bubbles. As you surmise, this does add unnecessary oxygen. The
> spinning arm types seem to work best when they "cavitate" through the
> wine and liberate the CO2 by low pressure. When you do degas, do it at
> room temp, as the gas is less soluble at higher temperature.
>
> Hope it turns out well Mike MTM
>
> John wrote:
> >
> > One last question...In the directions there is a lot of "degassing".
> > Using a degasser a few times a day as its settling. Does this not
> > introduce a great deal of oxygen or is it not signifigant at that
> > point. I'll follow the directions exactly but I'm always curious on
> > why.
>
>