I was chatting with a guy at a local wine/beer making supply shop the other
day, and I mentioned to him that a mead I started 13 months ago, is still
fermenting. He said that if I wanted to stop the fermentation, that all I
needed to do was filter it. Not wanted to appear too uninformed, I just
smiled and agreed with him. But of course, I have very little idea what
he's talking about. I recall from a brewery tour, that some beer brewers
filter their beer to 3 microns to remove active yeast, but is that possible
at home for wine?
Do any of you all filter wine to end fermentation?
Thanks
Nate

On 6/6/04 10:54 PM, in article
et, "stilettorain"
> wrote:

> I was chatting with a guy at a local wine/beer making supply shop the other
> day, and I mentioned to him that a mead I started 13 months ago, is still
> fermenting. He said that if I wanted to stop the fermentation, that all I
> needed to do was filter it. Not wanted to appear too uninformed, I just
> smiled and agreed with him. But of course, I have very little idea what
> he's talking about. I recall from a brewery tour, that some beer brewers
> filter their beer to 3 microns to remove active yeast, but is that possible
> at home for wine?
> Do any of you all filter wine to end fermentation?
> Thanks
> Nate
>
>
>

You would need to filter with a very small (3 microns you mentioned is
right) pore size to remove the yeast. The equipment to get sterile
filtration would be impractical and too expensive for a home winemaker. Many
home winemakers use filters mainly to remove particulates and make a clearer
wine. They do not filter out all the yeast.

Now, as to your mead . . I too have had meads ferment for a very long time.
A couple were going on two years and still bubbling ever so slowly. This is
a problem with mead that I believe has to do with acid levels. Unfortunately
I never tested the acid on my slow batches.

If your alcohol level is high enough and you are happy with the sweetness
level, you can chill your wine in a fridge to stop the fermentation, then
carefully rack it cold and add potassium sorbate and potassium metabisulfite
to stabilize it and prevent renewed fermentation. This can be a bit tricky
to do. For my batches, my alcohol levels were too low, so I added some
everclear to bring the alcohol up and then stabilized it. That seems to have
worked well for me.


--
Greg Cook
http://homepage.mac.com/gregcook/Wine
http://homepage.mac.com/gregcook/aws

(remove spamblocker from my email)

"stilettorain" > wrote in message
ink.net...
> I was chatting with a guy at a local wine/beer making supply shop the
other
> day, and I mentioned to him that a mead I started 13 months ago, is
still
> fermenting. He said that if I wanted to stop the fermentation, that
all I
> needed to do was filter it. Not wanted to appear too uninformed, I
just
> smiled and agreed with him. But of course, I have very little idea
what
> he's talking about. I recall from a brewery tour, that some beer
brewers
> filter their beer to 3 microns to remove active yeast, but is that
possible
> at home for wine?
> Do any of you all filter wine to end fermentation?
> Thanks
> Nate

I'm quite new to this but I don't think filtering is a recommended way of
stopping a ferment. Filtering is I believe carried out once fermentation
has already stopped either naturally or by the addition of potassium
sorbate and sodium metabisulphite. Filtering then removes hazes and dead
yeast cells, leaving the wine brilliantly clear. I'm guessing if it can
remove dead yeast cells it can also remove live ones but I wouldn't
depend on it removing every last one. I'd stop the fermentation first as
described above, then filter.

Btw, I'm talking about filtering using something like the Vinbrite Mk3.

Greg, I think you made a mistake on the filter size for the removal of
yeast. You want to go below .5 microns (1/2 0f 1 micron) to remove yeast.
Typically you could use a .45 micron absolute filter to get this done, but
may will use the .2 micron absolute in the line right before the wine goes
in the bottle.
I will tell you that as a home winemaker I have used a standard .45
micron cartridge filter in line with my bottle filler to remove the yeast
and not have to use sulphites.(about $35. each) I certainly wouldn't
recommend this for commercial practice, but I have only had a couple bottles
of "sparklers" and haven't ever had one blow up on me. Not truly sterile,
but has been good enough for me for several hundred gallons of off dry
wines. HTH
John Dixon


"Greg Cook" > wrote in message
s.com...
> On 6/6/04 10:54 PM, in article
> et, "stilettorain"
> > wrote:
>
> > I was chatting with a guy at a local wine/beer making supply shop the
other
> > day, and I mentioned to him that a mead I started 13 months ago, is
still
> > fermenting. He said that if I wanted to stop the fermentation, that all
I
> > needed to do was filter it. Not wanted to appear too uninformed, I just
> > smiled and agreed with him. But of course, I have very little idea what
> > he's talking about. I recall from a brewery tour, that some beer
brewers
> > filter their beer to 3 microns to remove active yeast, but is that
possible
> > at home for wine?
> > Do any of you all filter wine to end fermentation?
> > Thanks
> > Nate
> >
> >
> >
>
> You would need to filter with a very small (3 microns you mentioned is
> right) pore size to remove the yeast. The equipment to get sterile
> filtration would be impractical and too expensive for a home winemaker.
Many
> home winemakers use filters mainly to remove particulates and make a
clearer
> wine. They do not filter out all the yeast.
>
> Now, as to your mead . . I too have had meads ferment for a very long
time.
> A couple were going on two years and still bubbling ever so slowly. This
is
> a problem with mead that I believe has to do with acid levels.
Unfortunately
> I never tested the acid on my slow batches.
>
> If your alcohol level is high enough and you are happy with the sweetness
> level, you can chill your wine in a fridge to stop the fermentation, then
> carefully rack it cold and add potassium sorbate and potassium
metabisulfite
> to stabilize it and prevent renewed fermentation. This can be a bit tricky
> to do. For my batches, my alcohol levels were too low, so I added some
> everclear to bring the alcohol up and then stabilized it. That seems to
have
> worked well for me.
>
>
> --
> Greg Cook
> http://homepage.mac.com/gregcook/Wine
> http://homepage.mac.com/gregcook/aws
>
> (remove spamblocker from my email)
>

stilettorain wrote "I recall from a brewery tour, that some beer brewers
> filter their beer to 3 microns to remove active yeast, but is that
possible
> at home for wine?"

Nate - You need a finer filter than 3 microns to remove yeast and it's buds.
I would use a 0.45 micron absolute membrane filter or one with even smaller
pore size. To stop fermentation in a wine with residule sugar first chill
it to freezing temperatures, then rack off the settled material. It's
important to use a yeast that is easily stopped by cold temperatures such as
Epernay 2. If the wine is very clear once it warms back up you can add K
sorbate to block further fermentation. If the wine still has some haze
following warm up you may need to repeat the chilling/racking step to remove
more yeast before stabilizing. If you have suitable equipment [several
hundred $] you can sterile filter the sweet wine, after chilling/racking,
instead of adding K. sorbate. But you need very good technique to avoid
contamination of the filtered wine with yeast cells floating around your
basement winery.

Bill Frazier
Olathe, Kansas USA

I don't think acid is the problem. In fact it is not really recommended
that you try to adjust acidity before mead is finished because of the
natural buffers in honey. This is different from other wines.

From my readings, it is my understanding that slow fermentation in meads is
generally caused by lack of nutrients. Many (but not all) honey's are very
deficient in nitrogen. It is generally thought that slow fermentation is
not a particularly good thing for honey and it would be better to speed it
up. It is really helpful to know the type of honey being used to know how
much nutrient to add.

Ray

"J Dixon" > wrote in message
...
> Greg, I think you made a mistake on the filter size for the removal of
> yeast. You want to go below .5 microns (1/2 0f 1 micron) to remove yeast.
> Typically you could use a .45 micron absolute filter to get this done, but
> may will use the .2 micron absolute in the line right before the wine goes
> in the bottle.
> I will tell you that as a home winemaker I have used a standard .45
> micron cartridge filter in line with my bottle filler to remove the yeast
> and not have to use sulphites.(about $35. each) I certainly wouldn't
> recommend this for commercial practice, but I have only had a couple
bottles
> of "sparklers" and haven't ever had one blow up on me. Not truly sterile,
> but has been good enough for me for several hundred gallons of off dry
> wines. HTH
> John Dixon
>
>
> "Greg Cook" > wrote in message
> s.com...
> > On 6/6/04 10:54 PM, in article
> > et, "stilettorain"
> > > wrote:
> >
> > > I was chatting with a guy at a local wine/beer making supply shop the
> other
> > > day, and I mentioned to him that a mead I started 13 months ago, is
> still
> > > fermenting. He said that if I wanted to stop the fermentation, that
all
> I
> > > needed to do was filter it. Not wanted to appear too uninformed, I
just
> > > smiled and agreed with him. But of course, I have very little idea
what
> > > he's talking about. I recall from a brewery tour, that some beer
> brewers
> > > filter their beer to 3 microns to remove active yeast, but is that
> possible
> > > at home for wine?
> > > Do any of you all filter wine to end fermentation?
> > > Thanks
> > > Nate
> > >
> > >
> > >
> >
> > You would need to filter with a very small (3 microns you mentioned is
> > right) pore size to remove the yeast. The equipment to get sterile
> > filtration would be impractical and too expensive for a home winemaker.
> Many
> > home winemakers use filters mainly to remove particulates and make a
> clearer
> > wine. They do not filter out all the yeast.
> >
> > Now, as to your mead . . I too have had meads ferment for a very long
> time.
> > A couple were going on two years and still bubbling ever so slowly. This
> is
> > a problem with mead that I believe has to do with acid levels.
> Unfortunately
> > I never tested the acid on my slow batches.
> >
> > If your alcohol level is high enough and you are happy with the
sweetness
> > level, you can chill your wine in a fridge to stop the fermentation,
then
> > carefully rack it cold and add potassium sorbate and potassium
> metabisulfite
> > to stabilize it and prevent renewed fermentation. This can be a bit
tricky
> > to do. For my batches, my alcohol levels were too low, so I added some
> > everclear to bring the alcohol up and then stabilized it. That seems to
> have
> > worked well for me.
> >
> >
> > --
> > Greg Cook
> > http://homepage.mac.com/gregcook/Wine
> > http://homepage.mac.com/gregcook/aws
> >
> > (remove spamblocker from my email)
> >
>
>

Or just use a yeast that is tolerant of low nutrient levels, like Lalvin
K1-V1116.
Steve
(Back to lurking now)
Ray wrote in message ...
>I don't think acid is the problem. In fact it is not really recommended
>that you try to adjust acidity before mead is finished because of the
>natural buffers in honey. This is different from other wines.
>
>From my readings, it is my understanding that slow fermentation in meads is
>generally caused by lack of nutrients. Many (but not all) honey's are very
>deficient in nitrogen. It is generally thought that slow fermentation is
>not a particularly good thing for honey and it would be better to speed it
>up. It is really helpful to know the type of honey being used to know how
>much nutrient to add.
>
>Ray
>
>"J Dixon" > wrote in message
...
>> Greg, I think you made a mistake on the filter size for the removal of
>> yeast. You want to go below .5 microns (1/2 0f 1 micron) to remove yeast.
>> Typically you could use a .45 micron absolute filter to get this done,
but
>> may will use the .2 micron absolute in the line right before the wine
goes
>> in the bottle.
>> I will tell you that as a home winemaker I have used a standard .45
>> micron cartridge filter in line with my bottle filler to remove the yeast
>> and not have to use sulphites.(about $35. each) I certainly wouldn't
>> recommend this for commercial practice, but I have only had a couple
>bottles
>> of "sparklers" and haven't ever had one blow up on me. Not truly sterile,
>> but has been good enough for me for several hundred gallons of off dry
>> wines. HTH
>> John Dixon
>>
>>
>> "Greg Cook" > wrote in message
>> s.com...
>> > On 6/6/04 10:54 PM, in article
>> > et, "stilettorain"
>> > > wrote:
>> >
>> > > I was chatting with a guy at a local wine/beer making supply shop the
>> other
>> > > day, and I mentioned to him that a mead I started 13 months ago, is
>> still
>> > > fermenting. He said that if I wanted to stop the fermentation, that
>all
>> I
>> > > needed to do was filter it. Not wanted to appear too uninformed, I
>just
>> > > smiled and agreed with him. But of course, I have very little idea
>what
>> > > he's talking about. I recall from a brewery tour, that some beer
>> brewers
>> > > filter their beer to 3 microns to remove active yeast, but is that
>> possible
>> > > at home for wine?
>> > > Do any of you all filter wine to end fermentation?
>> > > Thanks
>> > > Nate
>> > >
>> > >
>> > >
>> >
>> > You would need to filter with a very small (3 microns you mentioned is
>> > right) pore size to remove the yeast. The equipment to get sterile
>> > filtration would be impractical and too expensive for a home winemaker.
>> Many
>> > home winemakers use filters mainly to remove particulates and make a
>> clearer
>> > wine. They do not filter out all the yeast.
>> >
>> > Now, as to your mead . . I too have had meads ferment for a very long
>> time.
>> > A couple were going on two years and still bubbling ever so slowly.
This
>> is
>> > a problem with mead that I believe has to do with acid levels.
>> Unfortunately
>> > I never tested the acid on my slow batches.
>> >
>> > If your alcohol level is high enough and you are happy with the
>sweetness
>> > level, you can chill your wine in a fridge to stop the fermentation,
>then
>> > carefully rack it cold and add potassium sorbate and potassium
>> metabisulfite
>> > to stabilize it and prevent renewed fermentation. This can be a bit
>tricky
>> > to do. For my batches, my alcohol levels were too low, so I added some
>> > everclear to bring the alcohol up and then stabilized it. That seems to
>> have
>> > worked well for me.
>> >
>> >
>> > --
>> > Greg Cook
>> > http://homepage.mac.com/gregcook/Wine
>> > http://homepage.mac.com/gregcook/aws
>> >
>> > (remove spamblocker from my email)
>> >
>>
>>
>
>

Wow,
Thanks everybody. Some really good suggestions here. I'm thinking, the
cold stabilization idea may be the best for me. I may also bottle in 22 oz.
beer bottles so if I do have some blow outs, it's just a cap, not a glass
bottle that explodes.
Thanks again.
Nate


"William Frazier" > wrote in message
...
> stilettorain wrote "I recall from a brewery tour, that some beer brewers
> > filter their beer to 3 microns to remove active yeast, but is that
> possible
> > at home for wine?"
>
> Nate - You need a finer filter than 3 microns to remove yeast and it's
buds.
> I would use a 0.45 micron absolute membrane filter or one with even
smaller
> pore size. To stop fermentation in a wine with residule sugar first chill
> it to freezing temperatures, then rack off the settled material. It's
> important to use a yeast that is easily stopped by cold temperatures such
as
> Epernay 2. If the wine is very clear once it warms back up you can add K
> sorbate to block further fermentation. If the wine still has some haze
> following warm up you may need to repeat the chilling/racking step to
remove
> more yeast before stabilizing. If you have suitable equipment [several
> hundred $] you can sterile filter the sweet wine, after chilling/racking,
> instead of adding K. sorbate. But you need very good technique to avoid
> contamination of the filtered wine with yeast cells floating around your
> basement winery.
>
> Bill Frazier
> Olathe, Kansas USA
>
>

The bottle will blow before the cap!
Steve
stilettorain wrote in message ...
>Wow,
>Thanks everybody. Some really good suggestions here. I'm thinking, the
>cold stabilization idea may be the best for me. I may also bottle in 22
oz.
>beer bottles so if I do have some blow outs, it's just a cap, not a glass
>bottle that explodes.
>Thanks again.
>Nate
>
>
>"William Frazier" > wrote in message
...
>> stilettorain wrote "I recall from a brewery tour, that some beer brewers
>> > filter their beer to 3 microns to remove active yeast, but is that
>> possible
>> > at home for wine?"
>>
>> Nate - You need a finer filter than 3 microns to remove yeast and it's
>buds.
>> I would use a 0.45 micron absolute membrane filter or one with even
>smaller
>> pore size. To stop fermentation in a wine with residule sugar first
chill
>> it to freezing temperatures, then rack off the settled material. It's
>> important to use a yeast that is easily stopped by cold temperatures such
>as
>> Epernay 2. If the wine is very clear once it warms back up you can add K
>> sorbate to block further fermentation. If the wine still has some haze
>> following warm up you may need to repeat the chilling/racking step to
>remove
>> more yeast before stabilizing. If you have suitable equipment [several
>> hundred $] you can sterile filter the sweet wine, after chilling/racking,
>> instead of adding K. sorbate. But you need very good technique to avoid
>> contamination of the filtered wine with yeast cells floating around your
>> basement winery.
>>
>> Bill Frazier
>> Olathe, Kansas USA
>>
>>
>
>

On 6/7/04 12:31 PM, in article , "J
Dixon" > wrote:

> Greg, I think you made a mistake on the filter size for the removal of
> yeast. You want to go below .5 microns (1/2 0f 1 micron) to remove yeast.
> Typically you could use a .45 micron absolute filter to get this done, but
> may will use the .2 micron absolute in the line right before the wine goes
> in the bottle.

Yes, John. Thanks. I meant to say that, but somehow repeated the "3
microns" from the original poster's message.

--
Greg Cook
http://homepage.mac.com/gregcook/Wine
http://homepage.mac.com/gregcook/aws

(remove spamblocker from my email)

For whatever it's worth, I had several carboys of what appeared to be perfectly
clear white wine. Because I wanted to try out a new filter with 0.2 micron
cartridge, I put several of the carboys through it and the difference was
amazing. What initially appeared clear now absolutely sparkles.

Lee

"LG1111" > wrote in message
...
> For whatever it's worth, I had several carboys of what appeared to be
perfectly
> clear white wine. Because I wanted to try out a new filter with 0.2
micron
> cartridge, I put several of the carboys through it and the difference was
> amazing. What initially appeared clear now absolutely sparkles.
>
> Lee
Who cares, so long as it still works on the old grey matter! LOL!!!!!
Bob

Mite there be a loss in flavour when the wine is forced through
cardboard?


On Thu, 10 Jun 2004 14:24:01 GMT, "BOB" > wrote:

>
>"LG1111" > wrote in message
...
>> For whatever it's worth, I had several carboys of what appeared to be
>perfectly
>> clear white wine. Because I wanted to try out a new filter with 0.2
>micron
>> cartridge, I put several of the carboys through it and the difference was
>> amazing. What initially appeared clear now absolutely sparkles.
>>
>> Lee
> Who cares, so long as it still works on the old grey matter! LOL!!!!!
> Bob
>

>Mite there be a loss in flavour when the wine is forced through
>cardboard?

Honestly, not that I've noticed. It's obviously all subjective, as are all
senses. But when I say that the filtered wine sparkles, I'm not exaggerating,
and I think my visual sense is sharper than my olfactory sense, so for me, it's
a winner.

Lee