Crystal in my bottle...?
 

I recently pulled out a bottle of carrot wine I had bottled last Sept. and
found a small thin crystal like thing at the bottom. About the size of a
dime and paper thin. Is this crystallized sugar? What causes this to
occur? Is it bad?
Thanks
Nate

Crystal in my bottle...?
 

Nate,

Not to worry. It's just "wine diamonds", or crystallized potassium
bitartrate. It's a natural product that forms when wines containing
tartaric acid have been cooled, or otherwise lowered the solubility of
the potassium bitartrate. The same stuff as Cream of Tartar in the
supermarket. It might be a bit unsightly, but is in no way bad. It's
formation may actually lower the acidity of the wine.

To prevent it from appearing in the bottle, all you need do is cold
stabilize the wine before bottling. To do that, just chill the wine to
about 30°F for a couple of weeks; longer at warmer temps. (This often
helps clearing the wine, too.)

--


Mike MTM, Cokesbury, New Jersey, USA

Crystal in my bottle...?
 

Thanks Mike!

"MikeMTM" > wrote in message
s.com...
>
> Nate,
>
> Not to worry. It's just "wine diamonds", or crystallized potassium
> bitartrate. It's a natural product that forms when wines containing
> tartaric acid have been cooled, or otherwise lowered the solubility of
> the potassium bitartrate. The same stuff as Cream of Tartar in the
> supermarket. It might be a bit unsightly, but is in no way bad. It's
> formation may actually lower the acidity of the wine.
>
> To prevent it from appearing in the bottle, all you need do is cold
> stabilize the wine before bottling. To do that, just chill the wine to
> about 30°F for a couple of weeks; longer at warmer temps. (This often
> helps clearing the wine, too.)
>
> --
>
>
> Mike MTM, Cokesbury, New Jersey, USA
>
>
>

Crystal in my bottle...?
 

On 5/22/04 8:14 PM, in article
, "MikeMTM"
> wrote:

>
> Nate,
>
> Not to worry. It's just "wine diamonds", or crystallized potassium
> bitartrate. It's a natural product that forms when wines containing
> tartaric acid have been cooled, or otherwise lowered the solubility of
> the potassium bitartrate. The same stuff as Cream of Tartar in the
> supermarket. It might be a bit unsightly, but is in no way bad. It's
> formation may actually lower the acidity of the wine.
>
> To prevent it from appearing in the bottle, all you need do is cold
> stabilize the wine before bottling. To do that, just chill the wine to
> about 30°F for a couple of weeks; longer at warmer temps. (This often
> helps clearing the wine, too.)

Well, it may be potassium bitartrate IF he added tartaric acid or acid blend
to his wine. I don't think carrots themselves have much in the way of
tartaric acid.

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

(remove spamblocker from my email)

Crystal in my bottle...?
 

Greg Cook wrote:


> Well, it may be potassium bitartrate IF he added tartaric acid or acid blend
> to his wine. I don't think carrots themselves have much in the way of
> tartaric acid.
>

Agreed. The thought occurred to me, too. It was a bit of a guess that he
added tartaric. Carrots have primarily malic, citric & isocitric acids,
but not much in total. I guess it's _possible_ that the ppt was malate,
etc., but it really doesn't matter much in terms of the Nate's original
concern.
--


Mike MTM, Cokesbury, New Jersey, USA

Crystal in my bottle...?
 

Indeed I did add some Acid Blend to it. I've since switched to using lemon
juice but my early batches I stuck with the acid blend.
Thanks again for your help and reassurances.
Nate






"MikeMTM" > wrote in message
s.com...
> Greg Cook wrote:
>
>
> > Well, it may be potassium bitartrate IF he added tartaric acid or acid
blend
> > to his wine. I don't think carrots themselves have much in the way of
> > tartaric acid.
> >
>
> Agreed. The thought occurred to me, too. It was a bit of a guess that he
> added tartaric. Carrots have primarily malic, citric & isocitric acids,
> but not much in total. I guess it's _possible_ that the ppt was malate,
> etc., but it really doesn't matter much in terms of the Nate's original
> concern.
> --
>
>
> Mike MTM, Cokesbury, New Jersey, USA
>
>
>