oscillate_wildly
Junior
Hi everyone, I am sure these topics has been covered in detail, but there is so much info out there, I appreciate your patience with me asking again. This is my first time making wine. I am bottling 6 gals apple wine that I started last October. 3 gals are from pressed apples, the other 3 are from store juice with some crushed apples added in primary. That batch with store juice is probably not great but I will still bottle if it tastes ok. I want a still, slightly sweet wine but I will taste first to see. My questions to you lovely people are:
- Can I bottle right after degassing (I will re-rack first)?
- Is it better to degas in smaller 1 gal batches where I can rack up to the neck of the bottle to reduce surface area, or can I do the whole 3 gal in a bucket even though there will be a larger surface area? I.e. is surface area and oxygen exposure not big a deal when degassing as long as I don't go nuts with the stirring?
- If I am backsweetening with a non-fermentable (monk fruit sweetener), do I still need to add Campden tabs before bottling? I added some at primary and that's it
- Can I backsweeten with sugar or honey if I add Campden tabs or will that re-start fermentation? I am assuming the taste of sugar or honey will be nicer than the monk fruit sweetener
- I am reading that if the wine has been through malolactic fermentation that I should NOT add campden tabs. How on earth do I know if that has happened?! It's been in secondary for about 6 months
Thanks!
- Can I bottle right after degassing (I will re-rack first)?
- Is it better to degas in smaller 1 gal batches where I can rack up to the neck of the bottle to reduce surface area, or can I do the whole 3 gal in a bucket even though there will be a larger surface area? I.e. is surface area and oxygen exposure not big a deal when degassing as long as I don't go nuts with the stirring?
- If I am backsweetening with a non-fermentable (monk fruit sweetener), do I still need to add Campden tabs before bottling? I added some at primary and that's it
- Can I backsweeten with sugar or honey if I add Campden tabs or will that re-start fermentation? I am assuming the taste of sugar or honey will be nicer than the monk fruit sweetener
- I am reading that if the wine has been through malolactic fermentation that I should NOT add campden tabs. How on earth do I know if that has happened?! It's been in secondary for about 6 months
Thanks!