I've got an apparently acetified wine in a barrel right now. Is this something that will ruin the barrel permanently, or can I clean thoroughly once I "flush" this batch?
- posted
18 years ago
I've got an apparently acetified wine in a barrel right now. Is this something that will ruin the barrel permanently, or can I clean thoroughly once I "flush" this batch?
I think that barrel is done for.
If you are certain that it is infected with acetobacter, there's not much you can do about it--it is in the wood and will begin to grow and spoil your wine every time you put it in there.
Someone feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.
I hear they make nice planters.
I believe you are correct.
And Vinegar barrels
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As an afterthought: A Ph meter might be had for $150 or less AO apparatus for measuring free SO2 can be had for $500 A chart for showing the amount of free SO2 needed for a given pH - free
How much do new barrels cost?
These seem like reasonable alternative cost compared to pitching infected barrels - besides that - your wine will age longer and taste better.
If anyone is considering moving to barrels, these might be worthwhile investments to keep in mind.
It's possible to kludge one of those together a _lot_ cheaper than that. The whole works, chemicals included shouldn't run more than ~$50.
Tom S
The price I mentioned was the price listed in a winemakers supply company catalog and included a vacuum pump instead of hooking up to a sink. I am sure that anyone knowledgeable enough of some chemistry and one who has access to some glassware can probably kludge one together. Could you send some plans for a kludged setup. I am interested. I have been sending samples off for testing free SO2 and was considering buying a setup. I have been paying $12 per sample which isn't bad but I would test more often if I had my own setup.
I think you helped make the point that if one is going to move up from carboys to barrels, then a little bit of extra expense budgeting upfront prior to purchasing barrel(s) could save a LOT of money, time and effort. Barrels are expensive not to mention the possibility of the contents of a whole barrel going down the drain because of not monitoring pH, SO2 and keeping the barrels topped up. After I started using a barrel, I was amazed at how rapidly the free SO2 can drop off in barreled wine.
After retiring, I worked part time at a small commercial winery. I saw a number of barrels that were discarded because of VA or Brett simply because the winemaker did not keep track of pH and SO2.
Paul, The cheapest source of decent lab glassware I know of is
Joe
Thanks Joe I sent you my addres via direct mail to you. I checked with Presque Isle and all the equipment and chemicals came to about $400 and that did not include a pump. You still had to run a line to a sink for the vacuum.
The folks at Barrel Builders, in California, calim that Proxy Clean can be used to treat infected barrels. I duuno though--it's on ehting t otry this if it's one barrel out of 30--it's another to risk your entire year's production.
I've tried it, and seemed to like the results, but the infected wine was not that infected.
Dave
**************************************************************************** Dave Breeden snipped-for-privacy@lightlink.comI appreciate the feedback. This was my first barrel and unfortunately I decided to put a wine from last year that I had issues with into it first. It wasn't so much the SO2 addition that was the problem as the pouring of finished wine from tank to carboy and back. Not ideal. Lesson learned. Additionally it was a high pH wine which made it all the more suceptible(sp?).
I will soon be ridding myself of the 500L tank in favor of carboys which are much more manageable for someone working out of their garage without a pump.
Cheers! Here's to the 2005 wines that are progressing nicely...
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