alum. kegs

If the keg is stainless steel, that's not a problem at all. If it's aluminum like the title of your post suggests, yes, that's a bad idea.

Very bad.

Wine is acidic. Aluminum dissolves fairly readily in acids -- ask any cook about the wisdom of cooking anything with tomatos in an aluminum pan. A significant amount of aluminum will enter the wine, more than enough to ruin the taste, and very possibly enough to be a threat to health.

I bulk-age my wines 6 to 18 months in glass before bottling. I try to bottle at least a year in advance of consumption. I'm happy with my results. YMMV.

Your 6 months of aging, or however long you choose to do it, should occur in glass, stainless steel, or an oak barrel. Not in plastic, not in aluminum, not in any metal except stainless steel.

Im sorry. You are right, they are stainless steel. Years ago I got it stuck in my head that they were alumn. and it stuck for whatever reason. I get corrected on that all the time.

Thanks again, Joe

Hi Joe;

After fining I bulk age my wine in stainless beer kegs and, after a year or so, decant the wine directly from the keg the same as you would beer. Works just fine and eliminates the labour of bottling that much wine. Some say that it ages better in bottles but I don't have the experience or palate to tell the difference.

Beer kegs are pressurized with CO2 or a mixture of CO2 and nitrogen. I pressurize/decant the wine kegs with nitrogen through used hardware I bought from a beverage company that supplies hotels and bars.

Roger