Foamy wine

[Skinard]

Hey guys,

Anybody know what this foam is? I am doing a WE island mist kit and am degassing. There was a bit of foam in the carboy before I degassed, and now there is more than when I started and it does not seem to be dissipating. I used starsan (for the first time) to sanitize. I followed to spec. There was a little foam in the carboy when I started, but I trusted the "don't fear the foam" meme. Never had this happen before.

 

[Skinard]

I should mention that I racked it over a week ago into the carboy from the primary.

Now that I am sitting here thinking about it, it did get racked a little later than the instructions said it should. The sg was about .996 when I racked it. It is now .990. I have read that the yeast eats starsan, but could my sg have been too low and the yeast not active enough thereby leaving residual starsan? If thats the case then now what? I have added sorbate but not yet the fpack.

 

[salcoco]

the foam if you are degassing is actually co2 being released from the wine. it should dissipate over time. sg numbers look good. don't wait to long between f-pack and sorbate addition.

 

[Skinard]

Seems strange for c02. Normally it dissipates pretty quickly, but this stuff is hanging around. You don't think it is starsan related?... I did add the fpack.

 

[Doug’s wines]

I use starsan and have encountered foamy wine before where it won't go away no matter what I try. I have tried to isolate the issue and believe it is starsan related and occurs when the dilution of the starsan ised isn't diluted enough. I have gone to doing a light rinse after using starsan and don't want To use it anymore for wine (only beer which is supposed to foam so it will go unnoticed). Btw there's no aroma or taste impact just a complete inability to get the wine to stop foaming when trying to degas so maybe you don't have to "fear the foam" I just don't want foamy wine....

I've have posted this before and been told I was wrong, but a) there’s no other rationale explanation and b) if you put startsan in wine and stir / shake it foams....

 

[Skinard]

I use starsan and have encountered foamy wine before where it won't go away no matter what I try.


I am tending towards agreeing. I am no expert by far, but have done around a dozen batches of different wine and this is the first time using starsan and the first time getting foam. I used precisely what the directions said and drained it as good ad it would but had some foam left in the carboy before racking. I am thinking that I will likely rinse the foam from now on if I use it at all.