elementary questions

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?

Reply to
RomeoMike
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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.

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.

Reply to
ralconte

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.

Reply to
Droopy

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

Reply to
William Frazier

Reply to
RomeoMike

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.

Reply to
Droopy

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

Reply to
William Frazier

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