Ice Diamonds experiment

[Runningwolf]

For what it's worth; I just pulled 7 gallons of Isabella/Blackberry wine out of my freezer after being in there for ten days. I immediately racked it off of the ice diamonds into a new carboy. I saved all of the diamonds and put them into a pan of 76* water and stirred. They did not dissolve. I then heated the water on the stove and continued stirring until the water reached 150*. Other than the water turning purple I still had all the sludge. As you can see below the crystals broke down from stirring but I cannot see if any dissolved at all.
Conclusion: There's certainly no hurry to rack off the crystals after cold stabilizing.

 

[Wade E]

Looks like quite a bit of diamonds for a 7 gallon batch! What was the Ta on this?

 

[Catfish]

Those look kinda tasty. Did you try one.

 

[Runningwolf]

Looks like quite a bit of diamonds for a 7 gallon batch! What was the Ta on this?

Wade that screen may be deceiving as its about 3-4" in diameter from the funnel. Either way I have never tested for acid and just starting this year as i set up my lab. The juice came from Walkers. I had it split up in two Better Bottles and there was a thin layer on the bottom of each one plus some crystals clinging to the ribs on the sides of the bottles.

 

[djrockinsteve]

My juices from Walkers were high in acid.

 

[grapeman]

I commonlycan get up to a half cup per carboy, especially in whites.

That is exactly the determination I came to Dan. No Rush! Others say to rack off immediately, but I can't see the reason. They do not go back into suspension or solution.

 

[Lurker]

I have always use a 30*fridge for about 2 or 3 weeks and racked it quickly before the diamonds melted. I guess that now I'll be in no hurry to rack. I do have a freezer available. How much headspace did you leave. I should not need much since the wine will contract? Was it in glass or plastic? My questions naturally mean that I want to copy your method. Wine that has been refrigerated is better.

 

[winemaker_3352]

Good to know - i always thought they would dissolve back into the wine.

 

[Runningwolf]

Richard, I usually split a 6.5 carboy up between to 5 gallon Better bottles with a shot of Argon. I just did a one gallon with only an inch of head space and no problem. The six gallon glass carboys will not fit in my freezer with airlocks on them. I am seriously thinking of just using them in the future with solid bungs so the fit (don't tell Wade). I will remove the bungs as soon as I bring them back out of the freezer as pressure starts building up immediately as the wine warms up.

 

[Catfish]

My garage is about 35-40 degrees throughout the winter. Can I put my carboys out there? They are all aging in 5 gallon carboys. Thing is, I don't plan to bottle at that 35-40 temp. I want to wait until around May to bottle. Will that slow warm up effect the wine?

 

[Lurker]

Dan, I usually make my final rack from carboy to 1 gal glass jugs. It'll be another month so I'll try it then. I'll let you know how it works out.

 

[Tom]

My garage is about 35-40 degrees throughout the winter. Can I put my carboys out there? They are all aging in 5 gallon carboys. Thing is, I don't plan to bottle at that 35-40 temp. I want to wait until around May to bottle. Will that slow warm up effect the wine?

Yes it will slow the aging process. What kind of wine you talking about?

 

[ibglowin]

Interesting experiment Dan!

I just brought in my fresh grape Cab Sauv from down South yesterday. It was pretty loaded with Tartaric acid crystals. It has been in the garage for 3 weeks and the carboy temp has ranged from 26 to 37 degrees. I racked it cold and it was crystal clear when I finished. 12 hours later after it warmed up to room temp it dumped another load.......

This is the 3rd time I have racked it now in 5 months! Every time I think it's done it dumps again !

 

[robie]

The six gallon glass carboys will not fit in my freezer with airlocks on them.

This might be a good use for the non-liquid air locks I've seen (in pictures only). I can't say for sure, but they look to be the same height as a typical solid bung. Maybe they would help your carboys fit in your freezer. I might be all wet, too, as the pictures may not be telling the whole story.

 

[Catfish]

Yes it will slow the aging process. What kind of wine you talking about?

Concord, Niagara, Catawba, Apple Cider, all from fresh local juice.

I thought the cold stabilizing actually sped up the aging process. Which makes it taste better in most instances.

Like the deal with freezing the wine for a few days. They say it taste better after it has been frozen. Like it has aged for a long time.

 

[Runningwolf]

Interesting experiment Dan!

I just brought in my fresh grape Cab Sauv from down South yesterday. It was pretty loaded with Tartaric acid crystals. It has been in the garage for 3 weeks and the carboy temp has ranged from 26 to 37 degrees. I racked it cold and it was crystal clear when I finished. 12 hours later after it warmed up to room temp it dumped another load.......

This is the 3rd time I have racked it now in 5 months! Every time I think it's done it dumps again !

Mike are you saying you keep dumping crystals or sediment each time? I just assumed once they dumped crystals the first time that was it. You know what it means to assume.

 

[ibglowin]

Yep,

Big ol layer of pink crystals on the bottom about 1/2 inch think! I was very surprised that they showed up again as I thought for sure this would be it. Looks like another racking down the road at some point.....

 

[Runningwolf]

Holy gay crystals Batman! What if you added potasium Bitartrates to it before CS. Do you think this would help to get them all out. What temp are you CS at.

 

[ibglowin]

No idea, first Rodeo with fresh grapes, and first time ever to add Acid but probably not the last when Fall comes back around and I pick up 4X more grapes than last year. I have several bottles of other commercial stuff in the cellar all made from grapes grown down South. Some have won Gold awards at San Francisco. I need to open a couple and do some pH, TA analysis so I can determine what the big boys in my State are doing with these grapes.

Two schools of thought right? Adjust them (bring em into line) or just let the wine be what it was naturally meant to be.

Since these were kept in the garage they were totally at Mother Natures mercy.

They were as cold as 26 degrees (wine temp in Carboy) and 37 degrees at the end when I pulled it out.

 

[Wannabe]

Can I ask what causes those crystals? I never knew such a thing existed! When do they show up?