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...

NNed

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
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...

NNed

(Ned) wrote:

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...

NNed

If you install an external controller you can regulate the temperature
of the freezer in whatever range you desire.

Ross.

Ross,
Others have effectively answered your freezer inquiry, so I will give
my opinion on the fining/filter issue. The proper use of fining materials
many times will enhance a wine and not strip it. Other times (such as
excessively Tannic wines fined with Gelatin) stripping is desired to give
you a more balanced wine. But if not used properly some certainly can strip
wines of flavor,color and character. On the issue of filtering I filter and
other times I dont. Once again if done properly it generally will not harm
the wine in any way, and will make it more asthetically pleasing by
polishing it. Either last year, or the year before I attended a seminar in
Missouri that dealt specifically with filtering or not (commercial
applications). The consensus and results of blind tasting showed that no one
could reliably tell the difference between the filtered/non. For commercial
applications the extra "insurance" that filtering provides in my opinion,
and the lecturer's was definitely worth it and outweighed any arguments
against it.
That having been said- on a home wine making scale filtering is a
luxury that is not needed, and if done improperly can have devastating
consequences. I have had a lot of good wines that were never filter, so dont
take everything you hear as the end all. HTH
John Dixon

"Ross Reid" wrote in message
s.com...
(Ned) wrote:

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...

NNed

If you install an external controller you can regulate the temperature
of the freezer in whatever range you desire.

Ross.

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...

NN

Ned wrote:

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...

I think what people are talking about is an external device.

--
charles

"Once ... in the wilds of Afghanistan, I lost my corkscrew, and we were
forced to live on nothing but food and water for days."
- W.C. Fields

"Ned" wrote:
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...

Ned,

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...

Ned

"Ned" wrote:
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.

NNed

"Negodki" wrote in message ...
"Ned" wrote:
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.]

"Ned" wrote:
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...

"Negodki" wrote:
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.]

"Ned" wrote:
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:
http://home.att.net/~lumeisenman/contents.html. Search each chapter for
"cold stabiliz", and read all of chapter 15.

2) Go to the following link:
http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=e...fts.winemaking,
where the rcw archives are available. Search (within rcw) for "cold
stabiliz" and read the various links.