I recently racked several small batches of wine and had a few
questions.

1. When I added capmpden tablets I didnt do my research regarding
using them and just crushed them and added them to the must. Now I
have some floating chunks of campden tablet that wont dissolve. Will
these eventually dissolve or do I have to filter it out? Next time
they'll be dissolved properly in water before being added, live and
learn.

2. Is head space really that big an issue for reddish wines that will
not age longer than 3 months? On one carboy I have a mere 3-4 inches
and the other a good 6 inches. When I racked into these carboys I
filled them with CO2 and again purged them once ready to let them sit.

Thanks

"Rude *******" > wrote in message
...
>I recently racked several small batches of wine and had a few
> questions.
>
> 1. When I added capmpden tablets I didnt do my research regarding
> using them and just crushed them and added them to the must. Now I
> have some floating chunks of campden tablet that wont dissolve. Will
> these eventually dissolve or do I have to filter it out? Next time
> they'll be dissolved properly in water before being added, live and
> learn.

I am not sure they will ever really disolve properly. If not, don't worry
about them, they should be easy to filter out with any kind of filter at
next racking. They will not hurt anything.

>
> 2. Is head space really that big an issue for reddish wines that will
> not age longer than 3 months? On one carboy I have a mere 3-4 inches
> and the other a good 6 inches. When I racked into these carboys I
> filled them with CO2 and again purged them once ready to let them sit.
>

The danger of head space comes from the O2 in the air. If you really purged
them with CO2 then it will not be a problem.

Ray

"Ray Calvert" > wrote in message
om...
>
> "Rude *******" > wrote in message
> ...
>>I recently racked several small batches of wine and had a few
>> questions.
>>
>> 1. When I added capmpden tablets I didnt do my research regarding
>> using them and just crushed them and added them to the must. Now I
>> have some floating chunks of campden tablet that wont dissolve. Will
>> these eventually dissolve or do I have to filter it out? Next time
>> they'll be dissolved properly in water before being added, live and
>> learn.

Use potassium metabisulfite instead. Make a 20% solution and use it fresh.

>> 2. Is head space really that big an issue for reddish wines that will
>> not age longer than 3 months? On one carboy I have a mere 3-4 inches
>> and the other a good 6 inches. When I racked into these carboys I
>> filled them with CO2 and again purged them once ready to let them sit.
>>
>
> The danger of head space comes from the O2 in the air. If you really
> purged them with CO2 then it will not be a problem.

That's true as long as you purged _all_ the air AND sealed the containers
_completely_ airtight. The problem is, CO2 is soluble in wine. After
gassing, the CO2 dissolves in the wine, creating a partial vacuum in the
container. The vacuum can suck air in past an imperfect seal, thus enabling
spoilage organisms to grow on the exposed surface.

Topping up prevents such problems. Don't neglect to sulfite the wine too.

Tom S

"Tom S" > wrote in message news:d0%Hd.13700
> That's true as long as you purged _all_ the air AND sealed the containers
> _completely_ airtight. The problem is, CO2 is soluble in wine. After
> gassing, the CO2 dissolves in the wine, creating a partial vacuum in the
> container. The vacuum can suck air in past an imperfect seal, thus
enabling
> spoilage organisms to grow on the exposed surface.

Wouldn't the wine already be at it's CO2 saturation from the fermentation
process?

Bob