Anybody tried Fermenting wine under pressure?

[SmallSpacesBrewing]

Hi. I have been toying with the idea of making wine under pressure in my fermentsaurus. Why? You ask. Well because I've had great result on making beer this way, and the extra heat speeds up the process. The pressure allows me to ferment at higher temps without the biproducts from the yeast. There are many different studies, vids, threads etc on this for beer, but I can't find any on wine.

Any thoughts?

Thanks

 

[Chippy_Tea]

I think you may have to be the forum guinea pig as I cannot remember anyone posting about this.

 

[SmallSpacesBrewing]

Ok then. I will have to try it then. Always nice to be the first. My main concern is de-gassing the wine. Sediment should be easy enough to collect in the fermentsaurus. I'll do a trial wine kit first then, so I don't waste good fruit ( and work) on a bad batch. Any inputs are appreciated.

 

[Minimag1]

Actually, I like the idea, could serve wine on tap after transferring to keg from ferrmentasaurus, and the wife likes a bit of fizzy, only problem is tying up one of my kegs for 19 litres of wine

 

[SmallSpacesBrewing]

Actually, I like the idea, could serve wine on tap after transferring to keg from ferrmentasaurus, and the wife likes a bit of fizzy, only problem is tying up one of my kegs for 19 litres of wine

I was actually thinking about using the fermentsaurus for fermenting then serving. At low pressure, like 10 psi it shouldn't be fuzzy at all. I'm thinking about fermenting at say 25 degrees, since the pressure should level out anythkng bad from the yeast. I've read about people fermenting beer at 30 with us05 with no off flavours. Dont think I'll go that high with the wine though.

 

[SmallSpacesBrewing]

So I've started fermenting a rose wine kit under pressure at 28 degrees. We will see how it goes.

 

[simon12]

Never done anything like it but as you say I think degassing will be the main issue and if your serving with CO2 then even at 10psi it will be sparkling. If you can I suggest you degas then serve with nitrogen.

 

[SmallSpacesBrewing]

Never done anything like it but as you say I think degassing will be the main issue and if your serving with CO2 then even at 10psi it will be sparkling. If you can I suggest you degas then serve with nitrogen.

Haven't got anywhere to buy nitrogen here in Norway I can think of. I'm thinking that once it's cleared up I'm going to shake the bejeesus out of it. And let the pressure out. This many times a day for some days (real scientific measure of time). No plan really. I'll keep everybody updated.

 

[simon12]

Just to explain if you are serving from the fermenter at 6C and no pressure at all but just CO2 no air according to the calculator linked on this forum here https://www.brewersfriend.com/keg-carbonation-calculator/ you will still have a carbonation level/CO2 volume of 1.3 and with 10psi your around lager levels of carbonation. You just can't serve anything with CO2 uncarbonated even at zero pressure so you need to let in air and it goes off or use another gas like nitrogen.

 

[johncrobinson]

Might be best to use a champagne yeast.I have read reports that claim fermenting under pressure causes yeast stress but I dont think circa 10psi counts.If it works in a keg could be great for a petulant little wine.!!!
Good luck

 

[SmallSpacesBrewing]

Just to explain if you are serving from the fermenter at 6C and no pressure at all but just CO2 no air according to the calculator linked on this forum here https://www.brewersfriend.com/keg-carbonation-calculator/ you will still have a carbonation level/CO2 volume of 1.3 and with 10psi your around lager levels of carbonation. You just can't serve anything with CO2 uncarbonated even at zero pressure so you need to let in air and it goes off or use another gas like nitrogen.

I'm fermenting at 28 degrees under 10psi pressure. That shouldnt give me much carbonation. For serving I'm going to use a lot less. And I won't have it connected to the gas. I'm actually more interested in if the yeast will give off flavours fermenting at that temp. as I've seen videos and read that fermenting for example lagers under pressure at high temps doesn't. Also it will be interesting to see the time it will take to finish since the temperatures is higher.
This is purely out of curiosity and I'm using a cheap wine kit I've tried before. If it does end up with a bit of carbonation it probably won't be that bas since it's a rosé wine. If I don't sweeten it any I'm thinking it could come out something like a prosecco. In fact I might even carbonate it more when it's finished. We will see.
Fermenting under pressure has been very good for my beers. Its going wild right now. I had to adjust my bow tie Spunding Valve.

 

[johncrobinson]

28 degrees IS a bit to warm.Cool it if you can.

 

[johncrobinson]

Please do let us all know how you get on.!!
Pressurised fermentation Hmmmmm!

 

[SmallSpacesBrewing]

28 degrees IS a bit to warm.Cool it if you can.

I meant to write 26. And it's for science! Hahha

 

[SmallSpacesBrewing]

Might be best to use a champagne yeast.I have read reports that claim fermenting under pressure causes yeast stress but I dont think circa 10psi counts.If it works in a keg could be great for a petulant little wine.!!!
Good luck

You are right. To much pressure inhibits the yeast to work well. That said I made a beer with Kveik yeat at 28psi. It was awesome

 

[Tony Palmer]

Fermenting beer under pressure works well and has been in use commercially, reducing CO2 usage. Never tried for wine but 28 C is too high in my opinion, almost certain to cause taste issues.

 

[SmallSpacesBrewing]

Fermenting beer under pressure works well and has been in use commercially, reducing CO2 usage. Never tried for wine but 28 C is too high in my opinion, almost certain to cause taste issues.

That is part of the experiment. To check if the pressure does keep those tastes away. I meant to write 26. Which is also high. People using beer yeast have had success fermenting high under pressure. We will see. I'm totally getting used to the idea that this wine probably will be chucked. It's day 3 and it's slowed down now.

 

[SmallSpacesBrewing]

I'm really not a wine maker. It's been years. The degassing part has me worried

 

[SmallSpacesBrewing]

So a small update on this. I took a sample yesterday. It had dropped 80 points in 3 days. SG was 1020. I tasted the sample and I'm happy to report that as of now no of flavours to report. It tasted like sweet rose. No strong fenols or anything bad. Showing that the pressure did its job. I'm expecting it be finished tomorrow. I'll then stop the wine and start the clearing.

 

[SmallSpacesBrewing]

Took a sample today and its reached an SG of 995 making it done. So 4 days to complete the fermentation, now to stop it and add finnings. Still no of flavours to report. It just tastes like a cheap wine kit. Maybe a bit rounder. Not as sharp as I've experienced this kit to be before.