Gum Arabic

[Bmd2k1]

I'm curious to hear from those that use Gum Arabic in their wines.

- what wines typically
- what "blemishes" in your wines do you use this to help smooth out
- how much do you use & when are you adding it
- powdered vs liquid version
- anything else about Gum Arabic you care to share...

Also am interested in a Gum Arabic vs Glycerin convo...


Here's an article from WineMaker Mag that just came in on Gum Arabic

Cheers!

 

[Rice_Guy]

I have used gum Arabic for the purpose of reducing astringency. My impression was that it didn’t do much on astringency.
The form I have is a dry powder. It was easy to disperse. Dosage ____ , One nice thing about gum arabic is that in food systems it doesn’t gel making a pudding, ,,, we can put a lot in. ,,, For reducing astringency I didn’t feel it did anything.

 

[Rocky]

Wow! One really does learn something every day. I have never heard of Gum Arabic being used in winemaking. Interesting article. Thanks for posting.

 

[TurkeyHollow]

I'm curious to hear from those that use Gum Arabic in their wines.

- what wines typically
- what "blemishes" in your wines do you use this to help smooth out
- how much do you use & when are you adding it
- powdered vs liquid version
- anything else about Gum Arabic you care to share...

Also am interested in a Gum Arabic vs Glycerin convo...


Here's an article from WineMaker Mag that just came in on Gum Arabic

Cheers!

I previously read the same article and did a side-by-side comparison. Unless you do, you really can't appreciate the difference. I split a batch of last year's Chardonel that was intentionally left very acidic (pH 3.22, TA 1.1%, ABV 13.4). Half the batch was bottled as is and the other batch I added 30ml of a 20% solution of gum arabic just before bottling. After sitting in the bottle for about (6) weeks, I brought a bottle of each down to the LHBS to get some feedback. I was amazed by the difference. The acidity was still way too high but gum arabic seemed to take the edge off of it. Again, you need to taste them side-by-side - if you taste them a day apart, the differential is lost. My only regret is that I didn't split the batch into thirds and compare the glycerin as well.

 

[VinesnBines]

I previously read the same article and did a side-by-side comparison. Unless you do, you really can't appreciate the difference. I split a batch of last year's Chardonel that was intentionally left very acidic (pH 3.22, TA 1.1%, ABV 13.4). Half the batch was bottled as is and the other batch I added 30ml of a 20% solution of gum arabic just before bottling. After sitting in the bottle for about (6) weeks, I brought a bottle of each down to the LHBS to get some feedback. I was amazed by the difference. The acidity was still way too high but gum arabic seemed to take the edge off of it. Again, you need to taste them side-by-side - if you taste them a day apart, the differential is lost. My only regret is that I didn't split the batch into thirds and compare the glycerin as well.

How many gallons/liters for the 30ml? I'm ready to bottle a few things, in particular, six gallons of 2022 Vidal. I'll be splitting the batch for cold stabilization so I would like to try adding gum arabic, glycerin, and leaving some dry.

 

[TurkeyHollow]

How many gallons/liters for the 30ml? I'm ready to bottle a few things, in particular, six gallons of 2022 Vidal. I'll be splitting the batch for cold stabilization so I would like to try adding gum arabic, glycerin, and leaving some dry.

The 30ml was for 3 gal. It was a little heavy-handed because of the high acidity. I recommend doing a bench test with about 100ml samples and add in increments of .1ml (if you have pipettes small enough). Please post your comparison to the glycerin along with the specs on the wine being modified. I'm probably going to do this a couple more times with wines of varying TAs and I will also try with reds to see how it reacts with anthocyanins (if ambition allows). I know it affects pearlage in sparkling wines so maybe I'll test the effects on my Skeeter Pee since all my other wines are still.

 

[VinesnBines]

The 30ml was for 3 gal. It was a little heavy-handed because of the high acidity. I recommend doing a bench test with about 100ml samples and add in increments of .1ml (if you have pipettes small enough). Please post your comparison to the glycerin along with the specs on the wine being modified. I'm probably going to do this a couple more times with wines of varying TAs and I will also try with reds to see how it reacts with anthocyanins (if ambition allows). I know it affects pearlage in sparkling wines so maybe I'll test the effects on my Skeeter Pee since all my other wines are still.

I'll post my results. I tried gum arabic on a couple of harsh wines in the past but didn't do a side by side so I'm not sure how well it worked.

 

[bdahl]

I'm curious about these wines and your impressions after using Gum Arabic, 1 year later.
Have you decided to use it again in 2024? And if so, on which wines, why, and in what qty /ratio?
Cheers!

 

[mbleill]

I have been using liquid gum arabic for several years on all of my white wines. It enhances mouth feel. I also add glycerine. Both just before bottling. Gum arabic at the rate of 1 milliliter per liter. (23 ml for 6 gallons of wine) This is consistent with the referenced rticle written by Daniel Pambianchi. I also add glycerine at the rate of 2 milliliter per liter. (46 ml for 6 gallons of wine). I do not add GA or glycerine to my dry reds.