I racked my Norton grape wine into a carboy today and noticed crystals in the bottom of the fermenter. I'm glad I found this video and to know they're harmless. You are the best! I've learned so much from your quality videos. My number one go-to for all things wine!

@TheHomeWinemakingChannel

4 ай бұрын

Thank you!!

Great video and amazing content. I like the way how you explain things with greater attention to detail. Keep up the good work!

Thanks for the helpful video. Plus, the quality of your videos are top notch - the sounds and video are really crisp. Kudos to your A/V skills!

Well done. Nicely explained.

This has helped me greatly in trying to make rochelle salts for electricity generation thank you

Thank you for the video! I hate having bottles with wine diamonds and having to explain what it is before giving the wine away! These days I put my carboys of wine into a temperature controlled chest freezer, a week at several degrees below freezing really does a good job! I use a Johnson controller. Even wit reds that I'm going to age for a considerable time I want those crystals out so they don't coat the inner surface of my barrels! Take care Klaus

Great content mate!

Go on Amazon and find one of those wine filters for push in the end of your wine bottle, then decant the whole bottle into a decanter. If you like pour it back into the bottle if your gonna drink it that day. The filters work pretty decent and the "wine diamonds" are generally pretty big and don't clog it too badly.

Hey man interesting video. This actually happened to me once and did some research based on why this occurred. I was also wondering have you ever made home made wine and added dark fruits such as blackberries, plums, etc. I’ll be making a Cabernet Sauv. in a week and wanted to add some dark fruits as well as spices. Any recommendations? I do like my wine dry and bold.

Prost , just subscribed after finding your channel , we home brew beer make meads and wine , grow some hops,

I own a wine making establishment and we have been experiencing these crystals in customer’s wine. I don’t have the option for refrigerating to the temperatures you mention to help aide in solving the tartaric Crystal issue but listening to you near the end of the video in regards to bottling around 3 months or later, if I understand that correctly, would that eliminate crystals getting into my customer’s bottles at bottling time? Thanks! Great info you share here.

Thanks for talking about this. Your channel has been a great help in our process! You said this is very noticeable in Concord. Do you know if this is a noticeable issue in Muscadine? -we’re getting ready to bottle some young (this year/Sept.) Muscadine and Scuppernong...

@TheHomeWinemakingChannel

5 жыл бұрын

Thanks for commenting! Probably not quite as much as a concord. Concords usually have a pretty low pH and high TA when picked. Pretty much all of those labrusca family wines are tartrate blasters. It never hurts to chill it for a bit if you are not sure. Even if you can chill it cooler than the temp that you plan to store it at, you will be much better off. My basement gets cool in the winter, so a lot of the potassium bitartrate settles out on its own if I wait to bottle until the spring.

Thanks for the informative video! You mentioned wines bottled at 1-1.5 years are less likely to have this occur. Getting ready to begin my first wine making attempt from frozen must. I’m partial to Bordeaux varietals which generally have longer bulk aging timeframes. Would you still recommend cold stabilizing prior to bottling? I live in Florida where optimal temps are hard to achieve for this ... I am building a temp controlled room to store/make wine but 60-62F is still about the best I will be able to achieve on a consistent basis. I guess I can always get a chest freezer with Inkbird temp controller. But, ironically, I chose the room build option as a way to keep from having to do things like chest freezers.

@TheHomeWinemakingChannel

5 жыл бұрын

If you can get it down to about 50 for a month or so you should be fine. Especially if the room you are storing it in then stays above the coldest temp that you have stabilized it to. For me, once I get a full years seasonal cycle my reds are good. I little potassium bitartrate usually falls out over the winter and then it is pretty stable. If it is a frozen must then it may actually be a little more stable from the freezing/storing process. Or not... I'm not sure, because the acids may become a little less soluble once the must loses sugar and gains alcohol and thins out/drops in density.

Do I have to worry about this happening with wine kit wine

in a red wine when are you going to perform a cold stabilization? when the primary and secondary fermentation is done? or before bottling?

@TheHomeWinemakingChannel

3 жыл бұрын

Yes, you are normally going to let the wine get a little cool over the winter after malolactic fermentation has completed. If you can find somewhere like a cool garage or basement corner that gets to about 50 or 55F you will get it stable enough over a month or so. Since red wine is not stored or served at cold temperatures the risk of crystals forming in bottle is very low. A white wine I will normally stabilize at about 27 or 30F since it is often refrigerated for a while before ever drinking. If you haven't stabilized to a temperature below what the wine will see you run a little risk of instability in bottle. If you blend after stabilizing, the wine chemistry will be different so it is worth chilling after any final blending if possible. If you do get some potassium bitartrate in the bottle it is really not a big deal though. It is very common even in store bought bottles.

How much time do you wait after cold stabilization to bottle your wine? Do you typically bottle right after stabilizing?

@TheHomeWinemakingChannel

5 жыл бұрын

You can bottle right after. If you are doing any sweetening or blending, you will want to rack it off the crystals before doing any mixing. I'd also recommend letting it warm up the temperature that you plan to serve it at before doing any final tweeks.

So if you have the wine stabilizing in the garage how do I bottle it without disturbing the particles again

@TheHomeWinemakingChannel

4 жыл бұрын

You can rack off the crystals if you need to do any blending or sweetening, then bottle. Or bottle straight from the carboy with crystals and use a racking cane with the little cup on the end to divert the flow off the bottom slightly. Sometimes you will get some crystals building up on the the sides. If you see that, swirl the wine a little and let them settle to the bottom before bottling. It's really not a big deal if some were to get in the bottle. You can always keep the racking cane high til the last couple bottles and reserve those last couple for yourself, knowing u could get a little dusting on the bottom.

Are you familiar with the D1118 yeast,the reason I am asking is that my fermentations last only about 5 days and they stop,,,the D1118 has a Tolerance of 15-19% alcohol and is tough on foreign bacteria,,,I always sanitize all my equipment,the right fermentation temperature and keep it in a dark place,I have an air lock to insure a safe environment,so the only thing I am thinking to insure a longer fermentation time is a higher tollerant yeast,,what's your opinion on my issue and what else would you recommend, tnx

@TheHomeWinemakingChannel

5 жыл бұрын

Is the wine stalling before all the sugar is gone or is it just fermenting fast? I am not familiar with D1118 but I am familiar with EC-1118 which is a very fast fermenter. 5 days is not unusual for EC-1118 to eat up all the sugar. To slow it down, you can keep it cool. You can feed it less (less yeast nutrient). If it is stalling, you can try leaving the airlock off and stirring up once or twice a day. The yeast likes a little oxygen and will use it up before it can cause any negative effects to the wine. If the wine is stalling, the hydrometer will read above 1.000 when it finishes. If it is just fermenting fast it will read somewhere between .993 and .996 usually.

@chrislion6777

5 жыл бұрын

@@TheHomeWinemakingChannel ,,,, I've been using Lalvin D47,the company shipped me the wrong yeast,I had requested EC1118 (sorry i meant ec not d1118,) so I decided to keep the D47 which according to the mfg is a good choice,I don't use yeast nutrient,and since my hydrometer broke a day before I couldnt measure the sugar content I m not able to do the hydrometer test,after four days not too much yeast activity so I removed the air lock and there was some minor activity but next day all yeast activity was done,so the reason I contacted you is to determine if the EC 1118 with it's high alcohol tolerance of 15-19% would enable the yeast to survive longer-term in the higher alcohol content of the wine than the D47,thank you for your help

@TheHomeWinemakingChannel

5 жыл бұрын

If the juice still tastes sweet it isn't done fermenting. If it is sour or bitter it is more than likely done. The D47 has a little lower tolerance but will survive just as long if the wine is below about 14%. D47 can be a nutrient hog though. I have found it to create a good bit of hydrogen sulfide (rotten egg smell) if you don't treat it nice. I have also heard good things about D47 but have found the 1118 to be a little safer. If I want to ferment slow I like the lower H2S producing strains like D21 or anything from Renaissance. The only thing worse than oxidation is reduction which creates anything from burning rubber to garlic to cabbage smells and flavors. Reduction usually rears its head as hydrogen sulfide which can be prevented with the right yeast choice and encouraging a healthy fermentation with temp/nutrient/oxygen management.

@chrislion6777

5 жыл бұрын

@@TheHomeWinemakingChannel ,,,,it's definitely not sweet ,has the typical wine flavor except I m guessing the alcohol content is below the 10% level,that's only my guess based only of the variety of wines I have tried previously,so I feel something went wrong coz according to the mfg I should be getting closer to the 12-14 % limit,,another possibility could the Yeast post production or storage get weaker in it's environment due to temperature variations,just trying to find out if the EC 1118 could give my wine a higher A% of 15-19% since I like my wines with a stronger kick than 10% or below,,,thanks again for your help,,,btw I never add any sulfites to the mash,,I like my wines sulfite free,the natural way

@TheHomeWinemakingChannel

5 жыл бұрын

I would get a new hydrometer. I keep a spare since they are easy to break. If it just tastes a little weak it is more likely an issue with the must not having enough sugar in the first place which is not uncommon. It is not game over though. You can always blend with a higher alcohol wine or you could add a little more sugar and encourage it to re-ferment. I wouldn't judge the taste young too much against expectations. Usually they can taste a little fruitier, with harsher tannins and alcohol. A little thinner in terms of mouth feel since the tannins have not yet polymerized with each other. Oak will really contribute a lot which you won't get right after fermentation.

Hai sir