Tiny bubbles in wine glass
 

A few batches of my blackberry wine have lots of tiny bubbles that
cling to wine glass.
I've added meta at crushing , and 2 campden per 5 gal carboy at 2nd
and 3rd racking .
plus wine sorbate at bottling . I did'nt notice these bubbles in while
the wine was in the bottles
but after un corking and poring into glasses they appear . My friends
say the wine taste great
but they don't hold glass up to the light to see the bubbles . --
Help !

Tiny bubbles in wine glass
 

I've never made blackberry wine before, but it kinda sounds like "petiance."
If grapes were involved, I'd say that it's an incomplete malolactic
fermentation. In that case, it might just disipate in the bottle over time,
or not. If anyone out there has experience w/ Bberry wines, I yield to their
experience... In my limited experience, once it's in the bottle, there's
not a whole lot to be done; next batch, google blackberry wines & malolactic
fermentation and, if appropriate, add a store bought malo culture during
fermentation.
It sounds like you've proceeded with appropriate chemical measures to
ensure a stable product. But, what I've done at times when I've noticed
shortcomings in my product ( like you indicate,) is to wait until someone
raises the issue, then dazzle them with my limited "expert" assesment
followed by an assurance as to HOW I'll take steps to avoid that problem in
the future... In the quest for a superior bottle, you may well be ( a lot of
us are) your harshest critic. HTH, regards, bob


"Frederick" > wrote in message
...
>A few batches of my blackberry wine have lots of tiny bubbles that
> cling to wine glass.
> I've added meta at crushing , and 2 campden per 5 gal carboy at 2nd
> and 3rd racking .
> plus wine sorbate at bottling . I did'nt notice these bubbles in while
> the wine was in the bottles
> but after un corking and poring into glasses they appear . My friends
> say the wine taste great
> but they don't hold glass up to the light to see the bubbles . --
> Help !

Tiny bubbles in wine glass
 

It is very possible that the wine has undergone spontaneous malo-
lactic fermentation. A good bacteria converts the malic acid into
lactic acid, which has a slightly higher pH and lower acidity than the
malic acid. This serendipitous occurance should soften the acidity of
the wine, increase the mouthfeel and make it effervescent as it ages.
Keep the bottles cool in the summer or you may begin to lose some
corks prematurely. Enjoy it.

Tiny bubbles in wine glass
 

On Apr 7, 11:19 am, Frederick > wrote:
> A few batches of my blackberry wine have lots of tiny bubbles that
> cling to wine glass.
> I've added meta at crushing , and 2 campden per 5 gal carboy at 2nd
> and 3rd racking .
> plus wine sorbate at bottling . I did'nt notice these bubbles in while
> the wine was in the bottles
> but after un corking and poring into glasses they appear . My friends
> say the wine taste great
> but they don't hold glass up to the light to see the bubbles . --
> Help !

degas ?? whats that ... my wine books don't mention that .

Tiny bubbles in wine glass
 

I would suspect that the bubbles are not from MLF since it is
difficult for natural MLF to occur when the wine has been properly
sulfited as it was in this case. Since you never heard of degassing
wine, it is most likely trapped CO2. I deal with this problem quite a
bit and work hard to get the gas out before bottling. A drill mounted
stirring rod works fairly well and I used that for several years. I
found that whipping the wine in the carboy with that for a few
minutes, then replacing the airlock, then tipping the carboy on edge
and swirling the carboy in a circular motion works pretty good to get
the gas out. You should perform this step multiple times (alowing the
carboy to settle in between for 15-30 minutes). It can be a problem
for a fully topped up carboy becuase the mechanical stirring tends to
create a vortex in the wine and it can spill out the top. If there is
a lot of CO2 in the wine, the rapid stirring can cause foaming that
erupts out of the carboy.

The best way to degass is with vacuum. I used a mechanics brake
bleeder tool a couple years ago but it was too time consuming and
difficult to create enough vacuum by hand pumping. I recently found a
great solution - an electric handheld vacuum sealer for food. I found
one at Ollies Discount for $12.99. It has a small rubber cone tip
that fits perfectly in the hole of the rubber bung in the carboy.
Simply remove the airlock, press the vacuum sealer tip into the hole
of the bung, press down and turn it on. The CO2 will come out of the
wine very easily and it only takes a minute or so. Then put the
airlock back in and do it again later, or the next day, etc. I
continue to do this over time until the vacuum does not cause any
bubbles to rise to the top of the carboy.

The only other way to degas is to bulk age the wine in a carboy for a
year or so before bottling - be sure to check your airlock
periodically. Hope this helps.

On Wed, 08 Apr 2009 19:15:54 +0200, Luc Volders >
wrote:

>When you make wine yeast consume sugar and convert it in
>part alcohol and part co2. Most CO2 will be vented off through
>the airlock. Some however will be dissolved in the wine just
>like Coca Cola has CO2 dissolved in it.
>
>So when a wine has not aged long enough, or was just racked once
>or twice or.....or.......or.......or........ there might be some CO2
>dissolved in the wine when it is bottled.
>
>Now when it is then poured into a glass the CO2 manifests as bubbles.
>
>So before bottling a wine, test for CO2 gas by bottling a mini bottle
>for about 3/4, shake vigorously and hear if any gas fizzes when you open the
>bottle.
>Then you know you will have to stir the wine with a sanitised rod to degass
>it.
>
>Mostly kit wines have this problem.
>Fruit wines do not often expose this problem.
>But I made some grape wines from fresh grapes myself that
>also needed degassing before bottling.
>
>Luc
>
>Frederick wrote:
>
>> On Apr 7, 11:19 am, Frederick > wrote:
>>> A few batches of my blackberry wine have lots of tiny bubbles that
>>> cling to wine glass.
>>> I've added meta at crushing , and 2 campden per 5 gal carboy at 2nd
>>> and 3rd racking .
>>> plus wine sorbate at bottling . I did'nt notice these bubbles in while
>>> the wine was in the bottles
>>> but after un corking and poring into glasses they appear . My friends
>>> say the wine taste great
>>> but they don't hold glass up to the light to see the bubbles . --
>>> Help !
>>
>> degas ?? whats that ... my wine books don't mention that .

Tiny bubbles in wine glass
 

On Apr 22, 1:18*pm, wrote:
> I would suspect that the bubbles are not from MLF since it is
> difficult for natural MLF to occur when the wine has been properly
> sulfited as it was in this case. *Since you never heard of degassing
> wine, it is most likely trapped CO2. *I deal with this problem quite a
> bit and work hard to get the gas out before bottling. *A drill mounted
> stirring rod works fairly well and I used that for several years. *I
> found that whipping the wine in the carboy with that for a few
> minutes, then replacing the airlock, then tipping the carboy on edge
> and swirling the carboy in a circular motion works pretty good to get
> the gas out. *You should perform this step multiple times (alowing the
> carboy to settle in between for 15-30 minutes). *It can be a problem
> for a fully topped up carboy becuase the mechanical stirring tends to
> create a vortex in the wine and it can spill out the top. *If there is
> a lot of CO2 in the wine, the rapid stirring can cause foaming that
> erupts out of the carboy.
>
> The best way to degass is with vacuum. *I used a mechanics brake
> bleeder tool a couple years ago but it was too time consuming and
> difficult to create enough vacuum by hand pumping. *I recently found a
> great solution - an electric handheld vacuum sealer for food. *I found
> one at Ollies Discount for $12.99. *It has a small rubber cone tip
> that fits perfectly in the hole of the rubber bung in the carboy.
> Simply remove the airlock, press the vacuum sealer tip into the hole
> of the bung, press down and turn it on. *The CO2 will come out of the
> wine very easily and it only takes a minute or so. *Then put the
> airlock back in and do it again later, or the next day, etc. *I
> continue to do this over time until the vacuum does not cause any
> bubbles to rise to the top of the carboy.
>
> The only other way to degas is to bulk age the wine in a carboy for a
> year or so before bottling - be sure to check your airlock
> periodically. *Hope this helps.
>
> On Wed, 08 Apr 2009 19:15:54 +0200, Luc Volders >
> wrote:
>
> >When you make wine yeast consume sugar and convert it in
> >part alcohol and part co2. Most CO2 will be vented off through
> >the airlock. Some however will be dissolved in the wine just
> >like Coca Cola has CO2 dissolved in it.
>
> >So when a wine has not aged long enough, or was just racked once
> >or twice or.....or.......or.......or........ there might be some CO2
> >dissolved in the wine when it is bottled.
>
> >Now when it is then poured into a glass the CO2 manifests as bubbles.
>
> >So before bottling a wine, test for CO2 gas by bottling a mini bottle
> >for about 3/4, shake vigorously and hear if any gas fizzes when you open the
> >bottle.
> >Then you know you will have to stir the wine with a sanitised rod to degass
> >it.
>
> >Mostly kit wines have this problem.
> >Fruit wines do not often expose this problem.
> >But I made some grape wines from fresh grapes myself that
> >also needed degassing before bottling.
>
> >Luc
>
> >Frederick wrote:
>
> >> On Apr 7, 11:19 am, Frederick > wrote:
> >>> A few batches of my blackberry wine have lots of tiny bubbles that
> >>> cling to wine glass.
> >>> I've added meta at crushing , and 2 campden per 5 gal carboy at 2nd
> >>> and 3rd racking .
> >>> plus wine sorbate at bottling . I did'nt notice these bubbles in while
> >>> the wine was in the bottles
> >>> but after un corking and poring into glasses they appear . My friends
> >>> say the wine taste great
> >>> but they don't hold glass up to the light to see the bubbles . --
> >>> Help !
>
> >> degas ?? whats that ... my wine books don't mention that .

Whether the bubbles are caused by sugar fermentation or MLF, it's
still CO2 that is causing the bubbles. I've experienced that it takes
many racking to get all the CO2 out of a wine. I've also poured wine
into a pot and heated it to about 80 degrees and stirred it good to
release the CO2 and it turned out great. Just like Coca Cola, when
wine gets warm it releases the gas easier.

Thank you you everyone for useful explanations - I had the same problem!