Interested in wine kegging

Optimus Prime · Jan 8, 2020

Hello all. I'm in Plano, TX. I currently brew beer, and have gotten my wife interested in doing some wine...we need to get the wine started so it can be aging while we then move on to cheese!

My interest lies in using kegs...I don't have the space (no desire) to store 30 bottles of wine, especially if I want to make 3 or 4 batches to try blending. I'm not opposed to picking up a nitrogen tank and regulator...

My first research in the forum is around good practices...would anyone be willing to me their best practices for using oak chips...is a short soak, then remove before kegging? Would it be good to transfer the oak to the keg? Does wine truly not age in kegs?

Also - oxygen...with beer, we avoid it at all costs after initial fermentation...it seems like with wine, we might want some to assist aging.

Also for oxygen...I've got a tank and I provide the yeast oxygen prior to beer fermentation...is this also a good practice for wine fermentation?

Thanks for your thoughts...

mainshipfred · Jan 8, 2020

With the proper set up I don't see any reason why you couldn't keg your wine but before you keg it you want to make sure it's a finished wine. Oak chip in the keg is probably a no-no. I never heard of a wine not aging in kegs and like beer wine yeast wants oxygen during fermentation and not so much afterward.

beano · Jan 10, 2020

Welcome to WMT.

Chuck E · Jan 10, 2020

I pull all the "spears" out of my Sanke kegs, and use them for storage and aging. The wine in the kegs is pretty clear. I think you could put the spear back in and draw the wine out that way. I would recommend using an inert gas to supply the pressure. Compressed air or CO2 would be very bad.

GreenEnvy22 · Jan 10, 2020

You'll want to use nitrogen for the keg, as co2 will be absorbed into the wine over time, making it fizzy.

I'm going to be doing this in a few months. I built a keezer/kegerator that holds four 5-gallon corny kegs, and then room for a smaller 3 gallon. I'll put the wine in the 3 gallon. I'll just need to setup a nitrogen tank and regulator to go with it.
Have a CO2 tank and regulator now for my beer/cider.