...and it keeps on bubbling

[cdguedes]

Hello everyone. New wine maker here. First wine kit. First post. WE Cabernet. So I started it back on 5/6. SG 1.084. One week later it was 0.996. I have racked it x2, and it is quite clear but still I am seeing one bubble about every 20 minutes (yes, I timed it ) So, is this normal to still see this three weeks in?

And thank you all for a great community here. I have learned a lot just reading through the posts.

cg

 

[sour_grapes]

Welcome to WMT!

Yes, this is not abnormal. It is just CO2 offgassing. I typically age wines for ~1 year, and let it degas naturally.

 

[David Violante]

Welcome! Glad to know you’re finding the information to help you along~ the folks here have a lot of great experience. Congrats on your first wine!

 

[winemaker81]

As Paul said, the wine will degas naturally over time. Even if you manually degas (as the instructions state), the wine may continue to emit CO2 for several weeks, but it typically done by the time a month has passed.

A suggestion -- don't be in a hurry to bottle. Kit instructions state you can bottle in 4 to 8 weeks (depending on the kit), and that is absolutely true. You can bottle on kit schedule.

I suggest bulk aging and not bottling before 4 months. This allows the wine time to fully clear and to undergo natural chemical changes as a whole. Plus it gives the wine a bit more time before you dive into it.

Bulk aging this wine for 12 months will not work for you. Why? Because the suspense will drive you insane! Your first few batches will go far quicker than you believe -- this is also a natural process.

Each time you taste the wine, both during process and after bottling, write down your impressions. At the end of a year, reads the notes from first to last. You'll be amazed how the wine changes.

 

[Rice_Guy]

Welcome to Wine Making Talk

As a contest judge I see home wine which has residual gas. I ignore it unless the flavor is carbonated. From a technical point of view, pulling gas out takes energy therefore you can speed the process by moving the batch to a location which is a few degrees warmer or pull a slight vacuum for a day. (example a household shop vacuum will pull -5 inches Hg)

 

[CDrew]

I bottled a blend of 2019 leftovers at 1 year old and it still had residual CO2! To this day it has just a slight spritz. I actually sort of like it even though it was not intentional. I've found that racking once or twice by the vacuum method takes care of the residual CO2 pretty well. But, ya, a bubble here and there at 3 weeks is totally normal/expected.

Welcome!

 

[cdguedes]

Thank you for your responses. I feel better about this now. @winemaker81 I an really, really trying to hold off for 4-6 months. As you already know, it's not easy.

 

[winemaker81]

Thank you for your responses. I feel better about this now. @winemaker81 I an really, really trying to hold off for 4-6 months. As you already know, it's not easy.

The answer is totally simple -- make more than you drink. While that sounds funny, it's literally true. You are always making wine for the future, especially if you make heavier reds that need 12+ months before they are ready to drink.

So the short answer is to make more wine. How much? Consider your normal wine consumption, increase that a bit as this is new and exciting, factor in a year's aging, and that's what you need to have in production. [Hint -- a 5 gallon carboy produces 25 bottles, and at 1 bottle/week is gone in less than 6 months.]

Everyone, including me, will tell you to age your wine. Some folks age their wine 1 to 3 years before consumption. But right now -- don't worry too much about that. Put a few bottles away to not open for 1 year after bottling, and enjoy the fruits of your labor. With time you'll learn on a personal level to give the wine more time.

And if you don't? It's your wine, enjoy it as you like!

 

[JBP]

Building on this - Winemaker81 is right that waiting for a year+ with your first few batches isn't really realistic for most new home winemakers. Not only will the suspense be a killer, but the challenge of continuing to grow/learn this new hobby requires continuing to explore. What worked for me was to split my early batches - half were put in a rack to consume "at will" and half put away (bottled or in a 3 gal carboy) in a dark corner to age appropriately. In a relatively short period of time (with continued winemaking), the "at will" half was aging for a year and eventually, everything (red) was aging for 2+ year with a nice stock of well-aged options. And we had plenty to enjoy from the beginning.

Of course, our standards have gone up and not sure we would still enjoy those early bottles.

 

[FlamingoEmporium]

I’ve got a least one bottle of my batches stashed away aging. I enjoy the process more than wanting to have something to drink. but One or two years from now when I try one of them and it tastes really great, I’m gonna wonder why I didn’t put more away.

 

[bstnh1]

I’ve got a least one bottle of my batches stashed away aging. I enjoy the process more than wanting to have something to drink. but One or two years from now when I try one of them and it tastes really great, I’m gonna wonder why I didn’t put more away.

Once you get your cellar inventory built up, aging a year or 2 is no problem. Most of my wines are aged 2 -4 years before we drink them. The problem is getting the inventory to the point where you have enough to drink without tapping into the relatively new ones. To do that you need to ramp up your production so it substantially outpaces your ability to drink it!

 

[heatherd]

Welcome to the hobby! I totally remember making my first kit and it was tough to wait. So I got a few more fermenters and carboys to make several batches at once while building up stock in the cellar. Now I try to age the reds in a carboy for 1-2 years and leave in the bottle 1+ years; that's ten years into winemaking though.

I'm making these kits now and they're fabulous: Finer Wine Kits | Label Peelers, Inc. They have fruit, rose, and white wine kits that can be consumed early while your cab is aging.

 

[winemaker81]

I'm making these kits now and they're fabulous: Finer Wine Kits | Label Peelers, Inc. They have fruit, rose, and white wine kits that can be consumed early while your cab is aging.

The Tavola reds without skin packs make a lighter bodied red that aged relatively quickly.

 

[cdguedes]

Thank you all for such supportive input. I now plan to split my efforts. I will be getting a couple of 3 gal carboys (have started two more kits) to age for longer and bottle the other 1/2. I figure this is a good compromise between being happy with my new hobby and being patient with my new hobby. I am lucky to have a 'close' shop that is only 40 minutes away where I can purchase these. (i live very close to BFE, not exactly there but I can see it from my back yard.) Look forward to seeing everyone on other posts.

 

[ChuckD]

you need to ramp up your production so it substantially outpaces your ability to drink it!

Try to not take this as a challenge!

 

[winemaker81]

Try to not take this as a challenge!

Why not???