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I'm wondering about the best way to sanitize, store, and reuse wine bottles. With my carboys, I rinse out 3X with warm water and then sanitize with sodium metabisulfite. I drain the SM from the carboy but don't rinse it away while stored empty figuring the SM residue provide extra protection...

Thanks for the info! Super helpful. I read up a bit on cold stabilization and the source said to maintain 30F, but sounds like it doesn't have to be that precise.

These days it's anyone guess what the temps will be! :) I'm in Nova Scotia where it typically would be below freezing now, but is more in the 40s for the next week. Should be dropping below freezing before Christmas, though. So leave it out in the cold for a couple days?

I just performed a pH tend and it's between 0.7% and 0.8%, so on the high side. I only have a residential fridge, so cold stabilization would be tricky (please correct me if I'm wrong about that). What are my chemical options?

John, thanks for the detailed response. Lots of new info for me to read up on. I haven't tested the PH level. Will do so tonight and report back.

I don't have a barrel. Would adding cubes to my carboy suffice? If so, would the darkness of the cubes affect the citrus?

I've made a few batches of Argentia Ridge Chardonnay. It consistently comes out too citrusy for my taste. I've aged them on the lees, which seems to help, but it's still a bit too citrusy for me. The other flavors are nice, as is the mouthfeel. I just finished two batches and they're aging in...

@Trick. Thanks for the thoughts! I share your concerns about gross lees and may be in left field but aren't these kits from concentrated juice all fine lees? I thought gross lees were skins and other larger pieces of grapes?

I have an Argentia Ridge chardonnay 7L kit from Costco Canada that I plan to age on the lees. Racking off primary, do I stir up the lees so they all transfer or should I let some settle on the bottom and rack them off? My understanding is that they're all fine lees, so keep them all?

Thanks for the thoughts, John. It was a bit of a workout, but managed to get it to 20"+, so should be good?

Thanks Jim. So no need for additives?

Thanks for the thought, Bernard. If it's completely degassed, would whipping it still generate foam? I thought I read that fully degassed wine would generate any foam?

I bulked aged a kit of Cab Sauv (Costco Canada, Argentia Ridge) for 4 months in a fairly cool environment (~65F). I just tapped it and its quite fizzy. It's only my 8th kit, so read up on it and the consensus seem to be that it needs more degassing. I put my whip to it for 45 minutes, and it...

This is an old thread, but I have some very fizzy wine after bulk aging for 3 months. I bulk aged with a solid stopper though. Folks in this thread are bulk ageing with airlocks?

Got it. Thanks! I'm off to the winemaking shop...

Thank Kraffty. For my own clarification, it's at 12 weeks, not 20. Do you thoughts still apply?

I started a batch of Eclipse Sauv Blanc in mid march (12 weeks ago). Its an 8-week kit and got stuck about a couple weeks into fermentation at a SG of 1.01. It was stuck for maybe two weeks. I pitched some more yeast, but that didn't do anything. I went to the local seller and he gave me some...

Chris, here's the pic. Looks so clear I want to dive in!

Thanks C. I hear you, though I would like to hear whether ageing on the lees results in a faster clear.

OK, so it's been six weeks of my first ageing on the lees and it worked great. Much smoother than its sibling kit that was aged per instructions. Will be interesting to taste compare again in the coming months. One last question. My kit says wait 10 days for bottling after adding the Chitosan...