I need some more details after reading about usinf a freezer to help clear wines. I don't want to go through the expense and steps of fineing and filtering since I also heard how they strip FLAVOR. It's seems a natural alternative.
Can people share their details? For one, when I went to buy a small chest freezer I found they can't go higher than like 20 degrees but thought you had to keep the wine JUST freezing. So what temperatues? How long is average.
I have time and don't plan on drink these wines for a year or more, many of them fruit wines...
I bought a small chest freezer for chill-proofing wine. I bought a thermostat from keystone Home brew that the freezer plugs into. It has a wire that goes in the freezer while maintaining a seal. It lets you regulate temperature at whatever you want. Tim
Are you saying you HAVE to modify the freezer? See, I don't know the details of how to do this... temps, pitfalls, pros, in what cases it will or will not help the wine, etc...
No. You purchase and install a "controller", which
1) you plug into the wall outlet
2) you place the probe attached to the controller inside the freezer (it's made so that you can do this and still shut the door tightly).
3) you plug the freezer into the controller, rather than the wall outlet.
4) you set the freezer temperature control to any setting (it won't make any difference)
5) you set the controller temperature control to the desired setting.
6) you sit down with a nice glass of scrumpy, and worry about other things.
The controller will control the temperature by turning the power on and off, whereas the freezer would do so by turning the MOTOR on and off. You will lose the use of the little inside light (if your freezer has one) except when the power is on, and the freezer's automatic defrost cycle will no longer work, so you will have to defrost manually.
If I recall, they sell these controllers as an energy-saving device for refrigerators, and Home Depot had them for about $60
Alternately, you can purchase and install a cheap light-timer with multiple on-off settings, and turn the freezer on and off every so-many minutes, rather than based on a thermostat. You will have to experiment to determine the duration of the on and off cycles. Such a timer will cost $5-25 depending where you get it. Costco has electronic ones (this month, at least) for 2 for $15, which is a very good deal for an electronic model.
Well, 1 person who knows about the affects of freezer use on wine... anyone else? Is it that no one ever does this? From reading this group I thought it was common...
Five people responded to your query. What did we leave unanswered? [For what it's worth, not everyone checks the newsgroup every day, and not every newsgroup access program provides messages from previous days, and most people do not respond to questions that appear to have already been answered. So if you were seeking input from hundreds of people, it's unlikely to happen.]
Well, how it effects the wine. Does it work. Does it not. On what wines or kind of wines. Pros. Cons. Methods. Temperatures. And so on...
Most everyone talked about the freezer adaptaions needed... good... but little info. to help me selct should I but, and if I do, then what do I do... as mentioned before.
Cold stabilization (whether in a freezer, garage, porch, cellar, etc.) is almost essential for white and rose wines. It helps to clear the wine (by causing various suspended solids to precipitate) and stabilize the wine (by preventing further yeast activity).
The answer to your other questions can fill many books (and has already done so). Rather than trying to summarize, which would be extremely lengthy, I suggest that you:
1) Have a look at the following:
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Search each chapter for "cold stabiliz", and read all of chapter 15.
2) Go to the following link:
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where the rcw archives are available. Search (within rcw) for "cold stabiliz" and read the various links.
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