Homebrew Champagne question

[Fierymac]

Hi All,

I tried my first wine recipe recently - well Champagne actually, and now i need advice because i dont have the background knowledge to back up my first attempt!!

I made elderflower champagne from scratch which has been very succesful - except, my flip-top "grolsch" style bottles have a significant layer of sediment in the bottom which is easily disturbed when pouring.

I initially left fermentation go on in a bucket with the elderflower mix until it was completely stopped and then bottled it with a tea-spoon of sugar in each bottle. I sampled one bottle and found the fizz was just right - but the sediment a serious problem!

I'm wondering whether i can open all the bottles, filter them again, and rebottle with another tea-spoon of sugar. Will this work to create the fizz again - or is it a one off reaction? The sample bottle was a little dry for my liking, so a little extra sweetness won't be an issue.

All help & suggestions gratefully received.

 

[JohnT]

I would say that depends on the alcohol level. As the APV goes up, you will find it harder and harder to get yeast to kick back off.

Why not try regular champagne bottles?. I riddle them until the yeast is at the bottom, then stick them (upside down) into a chest freezer for about 1 or 2 hours. I watch them for the point where the neck begins to freeze. I then upright the bottle, and remove the bottle cap. The pressure then drives the frozen plug of dead yeast out. I then seal with a plastic champagne cork and wire.

This method is not fool proof, but works most of the time. The end result is a bottle of champagne that will pour clear.

 

[Wade E]

What abv did you bring this up to and what yeast did you use? Im thinking you should just deal with this as is anx do it right next time with riddling and degorging as John suggested. Its more work but the end result is way way better!!!!

 

[Fierymac]

Thanks guys - I'll try and answer some of the questions for starters;

I didnt use proper champagne bottles basically because the suggestion in the recipe i followed was the swing cap style to allow any excess pressure to escape rather than have bottle grenades!

I'm liking the upside down freezer idea though - except I havent got a chest freezer so i cant store them upside down now that i think on it!

I have NO idea what the APV is - again this was a first attempt with a very simple recipe - and that is what i followed - i don't even know if it is alcoholic, or whether ive got fizzy cordial to be honest!

The elderflower content has the natural yeast enzymes although I did put in literally a pinch of bread yeast to kick it off - which worked. I know its probably not the right thing to do - but I had bread yeast in the cupboad, and didnt have brewers yeast.

I can filter every glass through coffee filters during pouring but it'll spoil the visual effect - if i'm prepared to take the risk of opening, "re-sugaring" and rebottling with one bottle as a test batch - any suggestions as to how much sugar i should add if it's harder to kick start again?

 

[Wade E]

You dont need a chest freezer. You store them at room temp while upside for a few monthe to let all the sediment gather after they have sat on their sides for about a month fermenting. While upside you should give each botlle a twist and s good tap down to help the sediment compact into the plastic champagne stoppers as they have a recess in them just for this. Then you stick 3 or bottles in your freezer at a time upside down to just let the very neck freeze which takes about 45 minutes anx pop one at a time using your thumb to cover them to prevent losing any excess volume. Uou should keep 1 bottle very cold to fill all the other bottles after doinb thid and immediately top up very carefully and recap right after popping and degorging. Its important that you only do 3 pr 4 max at a time ad any more than that will make the process of freezing them slower making the bottles freeze freeze evenly and not just the tops like you want. I dont have a chest freezer either, just a fridge with freezer above and it worked just fine! Hope that helps.

 

[southlake333]

Hi All,

I tried my first wine recipe recently - well Champagne actually, and now i need advice because i dont have the background knowledge to back up my first attempt!!

I made elderflower champagne from scratch which has been very succesful - except, my flip-top "grolsch" style bottles have a significant layer of sediment in the bottom which is easily disturbed when pouring.

I initially left fermentation go on in a bucket with the elderflower mix until it was completely stopped and then bottled it with a tea-spoon of sugar in each bottle. I sampled one bottle and found the fizz was just right - but the sediment a serious problem!

I'm wondering whether i can open all the bottles, filter them again, and rebottle with another tea-spoon of sugar. Will this work to create the fizz again - or is it a one off reaction? The sample bottle was a little dry for my liking, so a little extra sweetness won't be an issue.

All help & suggestions gratefully received.

I think the one important thing you are missing here is that the sediment is the RESULT of carbonation. See, that sugar you added fed the yeast. Those yeast ate the sugar, reproduced, created CO2, then died and fell to the bottom of the bottle. So if you open the bottles, filter and add more sugar, you're just starting the process over again. You will always end up with that sediment. That being said, the riddling/freezing process mentioned in the above posts is the best way to remove the sediment after carbonation has occurred. I personally just pour carefully but I use champagne bottles.

 

[Fierymac]

I think the one important thing you are missing here is that the sediment is the RESULT of carbonation. See, that sugar you added fed the yeast. Those yeast ate the sugar, reproduced, created CO2, then died and fell to the bottom of the bottle. So if you open the bottles, filter and add more sugar, you're just starting the process over again. You will always end up with that sediment. That being said, the riddling/freezing process mentioned in the above posts is the best way to remove the sediment after carbonation has occurred. I personally just pour carefully but I use champagne bottles.

Ahhh - light bulb moment - you're right, I was missing the point of where the sediment originated from. The "mix" i bottled was cloudy and as it subsequently cleared I assumed it was sediment from that original mix.

Okay, so pouring carefully doesn't work for me, the sediment is too easily disturbed. I may be being a little slow here, but I'm still not quite following how I can get the sediment in the bottle neck to freeze if I can only lie a bottle on its side without a chest freezer. The first glass I tried before the sediment was disturbed too much was lovely and I don't want to have 3 of every 4 glasses tainted.

 

[Wade E]

You still should be aboe to stand bottles upside down in any normal freezer unless you have a dorm fridge. If thats the case you still even should be able to get the sediment in caps. Like I said sfter fermentation you need to leave these bottles upside down and tap them down every other day for like a month or more and this process compacts all the sediment into those champagne stoppers. Then you can gently move them into the freezer on as much oc an angle as you can trying to achieve upside fown until the neck freezes.

 

[southlake333]

This may help:

http://www.winemakingtalk.com/forum/f71/how-make-sparkling-wine-10519/