Will brass affect the taste of wine? Is air in the headspace of a
secondary fermenter, if there is a lot of it, bad for the wine?

RomeoMike wrote:
> Will brass affect the taste of wine?

I can only guess, but I'd think so. I'd never heard of a historic
brass container for wine, so people must have known something. Brass
may not rust, but it has many different metals in it besides copper.
Some grades may even be toxic for long term wine exposure.

>Is air in the headspace of a
> secondary fermenter, if there is a lot of it, bad for the wine?

If you sulfite properly so that vinegar bacteria can't grow, then too
much of an airspace could give a wine too much of a "sherry-like"
character. Which may not match whatever flavors in the wine you're
going for.

RomeoMike wrote:
> Will brass affect the taste of wine? Is air in the headspace of a
> secondary fermenter, if there is a lot of it, bad for the wine?


Yes, that acid in wine can react with the copper in wine brining it
into solution, copper is a toxic metal.

How fast that happens (ie is it safe for short term use like drinking
cups?) I do not know.

Romeo Mike wrote "air in the headspace...if there is a lot of it, bad for
the wine?"

Romeo - YES! The air will oxidize wine...regardless of wine pH and proper
SO2 level, exposure to air will ruin your wine. Leave no more than an 1/2
to 1 inch space between the wine and air lock stopper.

BTW, if you hold your beer in a secondary keeping the same small headspace
will result in better and less oxidized beer.

Bill Frazier
Olathe, Kansas USA

With beer I can inject CO2 in the deadspace. Can I do the same with wine
to avoid oxidation?

William Frazier wrote:
> Romeo Mike wrote "air in the headspace...if there is a lot of it, bad for
> the wine?"
>
> Romeo - YES! The air will oxidize wine...regardless of wine pH and proper
> SO2 level, exposure to air will ruin your wine. Leave no more than an 1/2
> to 1 inch space between the wine and air lock stopper.
>
> BTW, if you hold your beer in a secondary keeping the same small headspace
> will result in better and less oxidized beer.
>
> Bill Frazier
> Olathe, Kansas USA
>
>
>

RomeoMike wrote:
> With beer I can inject CO2 in the deadspace. Can I do the same with wine
> to avoid oxidation?


Depends. If the wine is in a sealed container where the cas cannot
escape then yes.

If it is under an airlock, you may be ale to get away with it. gases
can exchange through an airlock...the greater the gas volume under
airlock, the more o2 can get into the wine.

The exchange of gasses through an airlock is fairly slow though.

"RomeoMike" > wrote in message
...
> With beer I can inject CO2 in the deadspace. Can I do the same with wine
> to avoid oxidation?

Romeo - I would say no. If you inject CO2 into the headspace you can't be
confident you displace all the O2 that's present. I've lost a batch or two
of wine because of oxidation so I don't take chances any more. It's fairly
easy to keep headspace to a minimum by using smaller containers or topping
up with similar wine. Why take the chance.

The only way I know to assure no O2 in the headspace is to use a keg. Fill
full with water. Use CO2 to empty the keg. Now the keg is full of CO2 and
you can add your wine or beer without fear of O2 contamination. I guess you
could do the same with a carboy...fill with water, siphon off water while
gasing the headspace with CO2 but it's not as fool proof as with a keg.

I use the same technique with wine and beer. Just so no to oxidation.

Bill Frazier
Olathe, Kansas USA