I am one month into several gallons of juice. Supposedly, these will take about
3 or 4 months. To make a long story short, last time I made wine from juice I
ended up aith a lot of tartaric crystals in my wine and was told cold
stabilization can take care of this. I am assuming, if the weather is just
right...I can put these carboys outside? it is fairly chilly here right now,
40's and 50's. Would a week outside do the trick. Obviously, it wont be a
constant temp...but much cooler then it is in the house...Thanks so much,
Marlene

MOhar871 wrote:

I am assuming, if the weather is just
right...I can put these carboys outside? it is fairly chilly here right now,
40's and 50's. Would a week outside do the trick. Obviously, it wont be a
constant temp...but much cooler then it is in the house...Thanks so much,

Cold stabilization can be done anytime in the process (from what I
understand) and I would hold out for colder weather. If it's below
freezing it might be advisable to put vodka in the airlocks so they
don't freeze. Do rack off when the wine is cold as the tartrates will go
back into solution when the wine warms up. HTH

--
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

MOhar871 wrote:
I am assuming, if the weather is just
right...I can put these carboys outside? it is fairly chilly here right
now,
40's and 50's. Would a week outside do the trick. Obviously, it wont be
a
constant temp...but much cooler then it is in the house...Thanks so
much,

Although some of the bitartrates may precipitate at 40-50oF, you need to get
the temperature down to 25-28oF for cold-stabilization. It may also take
longer than a week, perhaps even a month. If the outdoor temperature
fluctuates by more than 5-10oF, it won't help much. The bitartratres will
begin to precipitate as the temperature drops, and begin to re-enter
solution as soon as the temperature rises. I would suggest waiting until the
temperature is really cold outside, and (after the first night) covering the
carboys with some sort of insulating material which will reduce the
temperature fluctuations. You can certainly move it outdoors now, but don't
expect any significant stabilization until winter.

(MOhar871) wrote in message ...
I am one month into several gallons of juice. Supposedly, these will take about
3 or 4 months. To make a long story short, last time I made wine from juice I
ended up aith a lot of tartaric crystals in my wine and was told cold
stabilization can take care of this. I am assuming, if the weather is just
right...I can put these carboys outside? it is fairly chilly here right now,
40's and 50's. Would a week outside do the trick. Obviously, it wont be a
constant temp...but much cooler then it is in the house...Thanks so much,
Marlene

I live north of Buffalo (NY). When my wine is done fermenting and I'm
sure that all sugar has been consumed and that I've racked off a lot
of sediment, I bring my carboys up to the garage and leave them in
there for a month or so. Even when it's 10 degrees outside, the
garage is warm enough not to freeze the wine, but like the other
poster, I'd put vodka in the airlocks 'cause the water will freeze
sooner than the wine. I rack while it's still cold, so the crystals
don't dissolve, then bring back to the basement for some long-term
ageing.

If there's any sugar left in the wine, cold stabilization will only
deactivate the yeast cells, not kill them, and they may come back to
life when brought back to temp. and renew the fermentation. So...I
always make sure it's fermented to dryness before cold-stabilizing. I
know some people use K-sorbate to halt yeast activity, but I don't
like putting it in my wines.

Mark L.
Buffalo-Niagara USA

We had icy roads this morninghere in lovely Anchorage, Alaska... I
need to stabalize but I need to know at what temperature wine
freezes... I suspect our weather may tend to get a bit chilly to
leave it out too long.

Later,
A.J.

On 28 Oct 2003 16:17:54 -0800, (Mark L.) wrote:

(MOhar871) wrote in message ...
I am one month into several gallons of juice. Supposedly, these will take about
3 or 4 months. To make a long story short, last time I made wine from juice I
ended up aith a lot of tartaric crystals in my wine and was told cold
stabilization can take care of this. I am assuming, if the weather is just
right...I can put these carboys outside? it is fairly chilly here right now,
40's and 50's. Would a week outside do the trick. Obviously, it wont be a
constant temp...but much cooler then it is in the house...Thanks so much,
Marlene

I live north of Buffalo (NY). When my wine is done fermenting and I'm
sure that all sugar has been consumed and that I've racked off a lot
of sediment, I bring my carboys up to the garage and leave them in
there for a month or so. Even when it's 10 degrees outside, the
garage is warm enough not to freeze the wine, but like the other
poster, I'd put vodka in the airlocks 'cause the water will freeze
sooner than the wine. I rack while it's still cold, so the crystals
don't dissolve, then bring back to the basement for some long-term
ageing.

If there's any sugar left in the wine, cold stabilization will only
deactivate the yeast cells, not kill them, and they may come back to
life when brought back to temp. and renew the fermentation. So...I
always make sure it's fermented to dryness before cold-stabilizing. I
know some people use K-sorbate to halt yeast activity, but I don't
like putting it in my wines.

Mark L.
Buffalo-Niagara USA

Marlene,
I typically cold stabilize after I have hot stabilized with Bentonite.
Typically this would be 2-3 months after I start the wines. The process is
this: fine with Bentonite, wait a couple days for it to settle out a bit,
take it outside or put it under refrigeration. The time needed varies, but
as cold as it is in NY in Dec. Jan. a couple weeks gets it done.
Doing the cold stabilizing after Bentonite accomplishes a couple of
things. First it elimimates an extra racking/handling of the wine which is
especially important in the white wines. Secondly the cold stabilization
makes the Tatrate crystals form on top of the bentonite allowing you to rack
the wine off from the fine lees much easier. HTH
John Dixon
"MOhar871" wrote in message
...
I am one month into several gallons of juice. Supposedly, these will take
about
3 or 4 months. To make a long story short, last time I made wine from
juice I
ended up aith a lot of tartaric crystals in my wine and was told cold
stabilization can take care of this. I am assuming, if the weather is just
right...I can put these carboys outside? it is fairly chilly here right
now,
40's and 50's. Would a week outside do the trick. Obviously, it wont be a
constant temp...but much cooler then it is in the house...Thanks so much,
Marlene

"A.J. Rawls" wrote:

We had icy roads this morninghere in lovely Anchorage, Alaska... I
need to stabalize but I need to know at what temperature wine
freezes... I suspect our weather may tend to get a bit chilly to
leave it out too long.

It depends how much alcohol there is in the wine. Water freezes at 0ºC
(32ºF), 10% abv wine freezes at -6ºC (21.2ºF) , 20% abv wine freezes
at -13ºC (8.6ºF). I understand that (-3.9) - (-2.2) ºC (25-28ºF) is the best
temperature for cold stabilization.

Now, here's an old mountain man's trick: Bury it in snow! The snow will act
as a blanket and keep it much warmer than the air temperature. Don't forget
to mark the spot, so you can find it again before summer time.

Contrary to earlier advice, I would not rack your wine while cold. Tartrate
crystals do not readily redissolve once they have settled out, and racking
your wine while cold exponentially increases the oxygen pickup. In our
commercial winery we always allow the wine to warm back up to 15degC or so
before moving it.

If you want to improve your cold stabilisation, I would suggest adding
around 1g/L of cream of tartar once the wine is cold (the kitchen name for
potassium bitartrate), then stirring it gently (it actually works best when
you stir vigorously, but make sure you avoid oxygen pickup!). Make sure you
add the bitartrate through a fine sieve, as the finer the particles, the
better it works.

Cheers,

Andrew

"Mark L." wrote in message
om...
(MOhar871) wrote in message
...
I am one month into several gallons of juice. Supposedly, these will
take about
3 or 4 months. To make a long story short, last time I made wine from
juice I
ended up aith a lot of tartaric crystals in my wine and was told cold
stabilization can take care of this. I am assuming, if the weather is
just
right...I can put these carboys outside? it is fairly chilly here right
now,
40's and 50's. Would a week outside do the trick. Obviously, it wont be
a
constant temp...but much cooler then it is in the house...Thanks so
much,
Marlene

I live north of Buffalo (NY). When my wine is done fermenting and I'm
sure that all sugar has been consumed and that I've racked off a lot
of sediment, I bring my carboys up to the garage and leave them in
there for a month or so. Even when it's 10 degrees outside, the
garage is warm enough not to freeze the wine, but like the other
poster, I'd put vodka in the airlocks 'cause the water will freeze
sooner than the wine. I rack while it's still cold, so the crystals
don't dissolve, then bring back to the basement for some long-term
ageing.

If there's any sugar left in the wine, cold stabilization will only
deactivate the yeast cells, not kill them, and they may come back to
life when brought back to temp. and renew the fermentation. So...I
always make sure it's fermented to dryness before cold-stabilizing. I
know some people use K-sorbate to halt yeast activity, but I don't
like putting it in my wines.

Mark L.
Buffalo-Niagara USA

"MOhar871" wrote in message
...
I am one month into several gallons of juice. Supposedly, these will take
about
3 or 4 months. To make a long story short, last time I made wine from
juice I
ended up aith a lot of tartaric crystals in my wine and was told cold
stabilization can take care of this. I am assuming, if the weather is just
right...I can put these carboys outside? it is fairly chilly here right
now,
40's and 50's. Would a week outside do the trick.

That's not really cold enough. A week or two at 30°F would do the trick
though.

BTW, some of the other posters have mentioned that you should rack the wine
from the crystals while it is still cold, because they will re-dissolve into
the wine once it warms again. That's not entirely true. There's a fair
amount of hysteresis in the system, so it's necessary to _heat_ the wine to
redissolve the KHT. It has to do with the heat of crystallization, which
must be returned to effect re-dissolution.

Tom S

i also live north of buffalo! what a coincidence!! i was thinking about the
garage also, i assume that even doing that in jan/feb would be ok, putting the
carboys in there with some insulation around them???

Andrew says:
"If you want to improve your cold stabilisation, I would suggest adding
around 1g/L of cream of tartar once the wine is cold (the kitchen name for
potassium bitartrate), then stirring it gently (it actually works best when
you stir vigorously, but make sure you avoid oxygen pickup!). Make sure you
add the bitartrate through a fine sieve, as the finer the particles, the
better it works."

How does this work to improve cold stabilization? Whats the action here?

Also, didn't know about the increased oxidizing at lower temps. Thanks for the tips.

Miker wrote:

Andrew says:
"If you want to improve your cold stabilisation, I would suggest adding
around 1g/L of cream of tartar once the wine is cold (the kitchen name for
potassium bitartrate), then stirring it gently (it actually works best when
you stir vigorously, but make sure you avoid oxygen pickup!). Make sure you
add the bitartrate through a fine sieve, as the finer the particles, the
better it works."

How does this work to improve cold stabilization? Whats the action here?

Also, didn't know about the increased oxidizing at lower temps. Thanks for the tips.

The cream of tartar provides a base for crystals to form on... I'm not
sure of the more detailed scientific explanation. Regarding the second
point, I didn't know that either!

--
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

I had no idea, THANKS!!! I'll do that.

Mark L.
Buffalo - Niagara USA



"Andrew L Drumm" wrote in message ...
Contrary to earlier advice, I would not rack your wine while cold. Tartrate
crystals do not readily redissolve once they have settled out, and racking
your wine while cold exponentially increases the oxygen pickup. In our
commercial winery we always allow the wine to warm back up to 15degC or so
before moving it.

(MOhar871) wrote in message ...
i also live north of buffalo! what a coincidence!! i was thinking about the
garage also, i assume that even doing that in jan/feb would be ok, putting the
carboys in there with some insulation around them???

Well, that depends on whether your garage is attached or not. I Leave
mine in the garage (attached) in Jan./Feb. with no problem, I don't
even bother insulating. However, at my old house. my garage was
separate from the house, so there was no source of heat coming from
anywhere...and you guessed it, I had Pinot Noir popsicle poking out of
the end of the carboy one day. Luckily, it was just slushy for the
most part, and I salvaged it. Give it a try! (BTW, I'm in
Williamsville).

Mark L.

On 10/29/03 2:39 PM, in article , "Charles
H" wrote:

Miker wrote:

Andrew says:
"If you want to improve your cold stabilisation, I would suggest adding
around 1g/L of cream of tartar once the wine is cold (the kitchen name for
potassium bitartrate), then stirring it gently (it actually works best when
you stir vigorously, but make sure you avoid oxygen pickup!). Make sure you
add the bitartrate through a fine sieve, as the finer the particles, the
better it works."

How does this work to improve cold stabilization? Whats the action here?

Also, didn't know about the increased oxidizing at lower temps. Thanks for
the tips.

The cream of tartar provides a base for crystals to form on... I'm not
sure of the more detailed scientific explanation. Regarding the second
point, I didn't know that either!

Exactly right. Crystal formation is actually a very difficult process.
Crystals begin to form and grow on defects in glass or on an already
crystalline particle of the substance. If you have a completely smooth
surface, crystals will not precipitate out. Thus, by adding some potassium
bitartrate, you are Seeding your wine to initiate crystallization of the
bitartrates. The second point perhaps has to do with having a high
concentration of fine particles for the crystals to grow on.

--
Greg Cook
http://homepage.mac.com/gregcook/Wine

(remove spamblocker from my email)