Wine in a corny?

[The-Engineer-That-Brews]

Just looking at a 20L batch of white wine and thinking of all the hassle and spoilage risk of bottling.
Wondering idly about the pros and cons of putting it in a Corny instead... not under pressure (although that could be fun): just keeping it under a blanket of CO2 and temporarily adding a bit of pressure to dispense it.

• no cleaning, sterilising or corking to do
• ability to serve a glass at a time
• better temp control (in the kegerator) versus bottles in the cellar garage

but...

• no shiny bottle to put on the dinner table
• harder to give a bottle to friends (but could fill one 'on demand' from the keg?)

On the whole the advantages seem to outweigh the disadvantages - or am I missing something?

 

[Chippy_Tea]

 

[The Baron]

I have done it with white wine and added co2 to give it a Prosecco feel to it

 

[The-Engineer-That-Brews]

I have done it with white wine and added co2 to give it a Prosecco feel to it

At a party at a friend's house (years ago) we decided to see if you could make 'red wine champagne' in the SodaStream machine.
Let's just say it didn't end well...

 

[Chippy_Tea]

I would love to do this as i hate bottling but have no means of cooling the keg.

 

[The-Engineer-That-Brews]

I would love to do this as i hate bottling but have no means of cooling the keg.

Worth keeping your eyes peeled for an old fridge - 'freecycle' or 'gumtree' etc...

 

[The Baron]

At a party at a friend's house (years ago) we decided to see if you could make 'red wine champagne' in the SodaStream machine.
Let's just say it didn't end well...

Hi TETB I did it in a corny set up so no such issues

 

[The-Engineer-That-Brews]

Yep that’s exactly what I was thinking of. Interesting he was advised he’d have to use nitrogen…

 

[The-Engineer-That-Brews]

Hi TETB I did it in a corny set up so no such issues

When we took the bottle out of the SodaStream machine, it went everywhere

 

[The-Engineer-That-Brews]

This article discussing the pros and cons of different gasses with wine: Using Inert Gases in Winemaking - WineMakerMag.com, makes a seemingly valid point:

Carbon dioxide is unique among gases in its chemical behavior as well. While considered “inert” for some winemaking purposes, it actually undergoes a transformation in water (or wine). As CO2dissolves in water, some water molecules dissociate and interact with the gas molecules:​

CO2 + H2O → H+ + HCO3–​

As you will note, the reaction products include the presence hydrogen ion, H+. That, of course, is the marker for an acid solution and carbon dioxide is sometimes called carbonic acid when dissolved in water.​

It is the reverse of this reaction, ions combining to form molecular CO2, that allows for the relatively slow bubbling of a carbonated beverage. By comparison, a completely inert gas such as nitrogen or argon will quickly bubble out of solution, leaving it flat. For some wine applications (as in sparkling wine), a high concentration of CO2 is desirable. Sometimes a moderate level of dissolved CO2 will provide a pleasant “lift” or brightness to the wine, even to the point of very light carbonation known as “petillant” or “crackling.” For still wines, however, only modest levels of CO2 are desirable and most of the gas from fermentation escapes in the months of aging prior to bottling. If you use carbon dioxide as your cellar “inert gas,” you may reintroduce an undesirably high level of dissolved CO2.​

 

[Agentgonzo]

When we took the bottle out of the SodaStream machine, it went everywhere

I did the same with fizzy mead. Bad idea

 

[Nicks90]

Just what I was thinking, the co2 blanket will be obsorbed by the wine and make it acidic and partially fizzy.
I suppose you could get around that by pouring it in to a caraff when serving and giving it a swizel with a cocktail spoon.
That will degass it and make it ready for pouring in to your glass.

 

[peebee]

Don't use CO2. You'll need about 0.85 "volumes" of CO2 dissolved just to be able to keep the CO2 pressure on the wine at atmospheric pressure. A Corny keg? You'll need more pressure than that just to stop the lid seal from popping. And you'll need large diaphragm regulators to maintain a steady positive pressure whatever the weather (I'm always going on about LPG regulators to maintain a "cask" like carbonation on HB beer).

You might get away with nitrogen. It is fairly reluctant to dissolve in water at cold temperatures and low pressure, but some will dissolve eventually, and I don't know if that will affect the wine. KeyKegs or the like might be the thing?

 

[Chippy_Tea]

Have you considered bag in a box?

 

[Brewmastermk]

I’m about to try doing this with red wine. I already have n2 for my stout so will use that as less carbon dioxide absorbed. On rare occasion I do need a bottle I’ll just fill one. I’d struggle with white as I don’t have a chiller, but I could bottle one at a time and put it in the fridge…

 

[HLA91]

Moley used to keg his WOW I beleive, or was it his Fruity Pink WOW? Anyhow it can be done and definitely takes the bottling hassle out of the equation.

 

[DocAnna]

Tried this myself to make a prosecco type wine and it really didn't work. The carbonation wouldn't hold seemingly no matter what pressure I used and would foam all over no matter how much narrow tubing I put between keg and tap. It also didn't work so well with the idea of going in to the garage for a glass of wine. In hindsight, decanting still wine into a carafe would have had a place but the minor benefit over bottling just didn't seem worth it.

 

[Tess Tickle's Brewery]

Glad you mentioned Anna, as I had exactly the same trouble with a sparkling one I made. I thought it was my fermenter king jr leaking, but I think my issues mirrored yours.