Wine on tap

[brewbush]

So I am planning a couple wines to put on tap. One will be a less expensive white/red kit that I will dispense with nitrogen

My other plan was to do the peach apricot island mist kit and put it on co2, and serve it carbonated.

Anyone ever do this? I assume I don't have to be as careful about complete degassing? Dissolved co2 will make the taste more "tart" so would you recommend any tweaks? I am planning to do kit as is and add fpac at end in full for max flavor. Also with these kits I add about 4 pounds extra sugar.

 

[Runningwolf]

I put a Blackberry kit wine in a kegerator several times. In my opinion it took the cheap kit from "0" to hero. Only issue was the kegerator was in my garage in the summer so when working outside it was an awesome refreshing drink that went to your head reall quick when you drank it for thirst reasons.

 

[JohnT]

I have made kegs of wine in the past. All were carbonated. I find that (when carbonated) the taste of the wine thins out a bit. I would not adjust the acid and just go with the wine you like.

Any chance that you could post a pic of your wine-tap setup??

 

[botigol]

I have the WE California Moscato on tap. The CO2 definitely adds a tart bite to the wine, but I wouldn't make adjustments for this. Everyone has enjoyed it so far!

 

[Redbird1]

Has anyone tried skeeter pee on tap?

 

[JohnT]

I did that once. Was pretty good. I like to salt the rim and serve over ice. Tasted much like a sparkling margarita.

 

[Redbird1]

I just came into several new cornies. I'll try it out this summer.

 

[brewbush]

This is my new project. Still have the bottom skirt to do which will be 1x6 red oak like the front, stained and poly'ed. It has 8 taps, up to 3 can be nitrogen and 5-8 can be CO2.

 

[Redbird1]

That's crazy. Looks fantastic!

What is the little box thing next to the CO2 tank? Condensation control?

 

[JohnT]

OK, so, will it be home made beer, champagne, and soda??

 

[Boatboy24]

This is my new project. Still have the bottom skirt to do which will be 1x6 red oak like the front, stained and poly'ed. It has 8 taps, up to 3 can be nitrogen and 5-8 can be CO2.

Do you have a walk-in on the other side of that wall?

 

[Mortalpawn]

Wine in kegs is ideal I think. You can either serve it on nitrogen or use CO2 and just keep the system at very low pressure to avoid carbonation.

 

[brewbush]

The small box is a rechargeable dehumidifier from amazon. Eva-dry E-333 Renewable Mini Dehumidifier.
Was initially going to place the tanks on the outside and use a bulkhead through the wood for the gas, that would have given me room for 10-12 kegs...however, my wife reminded me my eyes are larger then our livers and I supposed I could "settle" for 8.

What my plan is for the inside...

Beer for the most part,
have a dry irish stout ready to go on nitrogen. I make a variety of styles to fill up the other kegs =)

Cold brew coffee which I am starting this weekend will be going in a small 2.5 gallon keg - nitrogen

I am thinking of a sweeter red wine like my diablo rojo or a simple white wine kit for the other nitrogen.
Peach/Apricot wine kit on CO2.
I also did 10 gallons of cameo apple cider from a friends orchard. Not the greatest cider apple. Made great applesauce, but I backsweetened a bit and now just waiting for the sulfur smell to completely dissipate and should be great.


I picked the intertap brand faucets for all of them. They have a screw piece on the faucet that I can change out for a stout tap or a growler filler.

The whole thing just wheels around my basement....playing pool or watching a movie...beer/wine is always within reach.

 

[trolo]

Wow that's great!!! Do you need to do anything special to use nitrogen instead of co2? I have been thinking about trying and I have 30 gal of my closet red ( concord/Niagara) I was thinking about trying 5 gal.
Thanks
Tom

 

[Mortalpawn]

You only need a regulator fitted for nitrogen (the connectors on the tanks are different) and obviously gas and keg tubing plus ball-lock (or pin lock) connectors depending on the type of keg you are using. The intertap faucets are almost as good as the Perlicks but half the price.

 

[brewbush]

You only need a regulator fitted for nitrogen (the connectors on the tanks are different) and obviously gas and keg tubing plus ball-lock (or pin lock) connectors depending on the type of keg you are using. The intertap faucets are almost as good as the Perlicks but half the price.

Yep. I just went to a local Roberts oxygen and purchased the tank and gas from them. They refill by exchanging tanks so no need to purchase a brand new tank only to have to trade it in for a refill.

Bought a nitrogen regulator ( or if you have an extra CO2 regulator they make an adapter to attach to the Tank)

 

[JohnT]

The whole thing just wheels around my basement....playing pool or watching a movie...beer/wine is always within reach.

The ultimate recipe for a great man-cave! awesome!

 

[Mortalpawn]

I should have mentioned another option is a nitrogen-CO2 mix commonly used to serve Guinness. It is 75% nitrogen and 25% CO2 and is better for serving whites as it does not strip the dissolved CO2 from the wine over time. It is served using a nitrogen regulator and tank and available at most beverage gas suppliers.

I'm planning to switch to this next time I fill my tank as it is supposed to be better overall for wines at low pressure and not altering the gas balance of the original wine whether it be red or white.

 

[brewbush]

I should have mentioned another option is a nitrogen-CO2 mix commonly used to serve Guinness. It is 75% nitrogen and 25% CO2 and is better for serving whites as it does not strip the dissolved CO2 from the wine over time. It is served using a nitrogen regulator and tank and available at most beverage gas suppliers.

I'm planning to switch to this next time I fill my tank as it is supposed to be better overall for wines at low pressure and not altering the gas balance of the original wine whether it be red or white.

I had heard that as well. I can always occasionally give a spurt of CO2 from one of the other lines and just hook the Nitrogen back up afterwards. However I haven't found too much information regarding the length of time in a keg that would cause any noticeable decline in a wine that already had the majority of the dissolved CO2 removed.

It's an experiment for me.

 

[Mortalpawn]

I've been researching this and the nitrogen-CO2 mix to use can get complicated but the bottom line is if you use pure Nitrogen or pure Argon (another alternative) the problem is that over time it will tend to scrub some of the remaining CO2 out of the wine. Even after degassing, wine needs some dissolved CO2 to maintain the proper flavor balance.

The best option available for home wine makers is to run your system on a low pressure mixture of 75% nitrogen and 25% CO2 (aka Guinness mix) which will retain the bulk of the residual CO2 in the wine and have minimal effect on the flavor of the wine. The Guinness mix is available from most beverage gas suppliers.

The second best option is very low pressure CO2 (i.e. relieve the pressure valve after serving) as the CO2 which is heavier than air will blanket the wine and preserve it. For long term storage pure nitrogen or pure argon are not actually good choices due to the CO2 stripping over time. In fact nitrogen is used commercially to chemically strip wines of CO2 (i.e. degas them). They also use CO2 at very low pressure to blanket/protect fermented wine during aging.