Bubbles in bottle?

It sounds like the wine was dry, to be sure you need to check residual sugar; I'm just guessing based on 0.992 S.G.

It could be malolactic fermentation. Did you sulphite and if so how much did you use? You need to be in the 30 to 50 PPM range typically, but the amount needed is based on the actual pH of the wine. Sulphite inhibits MLF. Regards, Joe

One thing that I did in the bottling process may be a contributor. Based on advise I gleaned from this board, I used glycerin in a water/sodium meta-bisulfite solution to soak my corks. Even though I don't know the exact chemical structure of glycerin, I have found that it contains calories and probably has sugar in there somewhere. Could the glycerin be causing the problem?

I added Camden tablets at the rate of 1/gallon about 4 weeks prior to bottling. I also did a final rinse of the bottles in a Camden table/water solution and did not re-rinse with water which would leave a little residual sulfite in the bottles. I do not know the Ph of the wine because I did not check it. This was a complete kit wine and the instructions did not say anything about checking/adjusting for ph.

I looked again last night and not all of the bottles have these bubbles. I would say about 1/2 do and 1/2 don't. Some to a greater extent than others.

Do I need to do something now? Should I just wait and see?

I don't think I will use glycerin on the corks anymore.

Upon further research, I have found that the Glycerin is probably not the problem. I found a source that acknowledges glycerin fermentation does exist but also that glycerin is a natural byproduct of sugar fermentation and occurs naturally in wine. Also found this source that suggests glycerin is actually added to some wines to add sweetness, smoothness and body:

Clear plastic "air lock" normally filled with water and potassium metabisulfite (to keep bugs and such out of the wine) is filled instead with a 1/1 mixture of USP glycerin and distilled water containing 50.7 mg/ml of SO2(-) [8.8g K2S2O5* added to a solution of 50 ml distilled. water + 50 ml glycerin] Using 1 ml of the same mixture is a convenient way to add about 51 mg (51 ppm) of SO2(-) to a liter of mash or wine for purposes of sterilization and antioxidation. The glycerin minimizes solution evaporation from the air lock during and after fermentation. USP grade glycerin is edible. Some glycerin is naturally present in the wine and more is often added before bottling to "smooth" the wine, add body, and add sweetness. Addition of 1 ml of this mixture adds only 0.5 ml of glycerin/liter or about .05%.

I think I am just not going to worry about it for now and wait and see what happens.

Thanks, Michael

It is hard to say what's going on. If you shake your bottle, you'll get bubbles. I've never worried about bubbles on the top, if the rest of the wine is clear. What I would worry about is seeing bubbles rise in the wine from the bottom of the bottle to the top - this means the yeast started again. What you have then, is bottle bombs. This you need to take care of, because the corks can pop out, then comes the wine, and you'll have a mess. When this happened to me, it was just a mess and nothing exploded, but I have heard other stories about big, big messes. Hope this helps. Darlene

I don't know what you are seeing but I would suggest you pick one of the offending bottles and open it. If fermentation of any type is going on, it will be carbonated and you will know it. Let us know if it was carbonated and in any case how it tastes.

Ray

fermentation

Ray,

I opened a bottle that had the most bubbles. There was no pressure built up. It did not taste fizzy. It tasted great. Now I am left with two theories. One is that the bubbles formed during the bottling process. I find this unlikely because a. I would have noticed it; b. I used a stem valve which reduces the bubbles; c. Most of the bottles sat for a couple of hours in the bottle before corking because I had a problem with my corker.

The other theory I have is that the bottles went from 70 F to 50 F which may cause some compression of the cork which may have squeezed out some air that was in the cork.

Anyway, I am not going to worry about it at this point.

Thanks all, Michael

Sounds like your worry was over nothing. But, if they taste great, I would suggest you continue to open a bottle every now and then to make sure they are still good. Well before the last one is gone start a new batch so you can continue the test. ;o) Ray

Glycerin is a wetting agent, or in other words it helps make water "soapy. I wonder if it may be bubbles that never popped from the filling/moving the bottle, as opposed to some being created due to a fermentation of some sort. Anyway, if it tastes good, there aren't any corks flying across the room, and no weird "scummy" growths at the bottom of the bottle, sounds like you're OK to me.

Rob