Wine Kit - Did I mess it up?

[dog]

I'm doing my first wine kit, a Vintners Reserve "Liebfraumilch".

Today I did step 3, "Stabilizing and Clearing."

This was my first time using a drill attachment for degassing. I started on high speed and a bunch of CO2 came out at once, causing it to overflow and lose maybe a cup of wine. Since I had to continue degassing after this (after it had calmed down), I'm worried all the headspace CO2 got pushed out of the carboy when it overflowed and then maybe mixed oxygen into the wine when I continued to degass. Should I worry about oxidation from this?

Also, to top up my carboy, I added a cup or two of (boiled&cooled) water to make up for the lost wine to narrow the headspace. Would this make any noticable difference in a 23L batch's taste? The person I'm making this for isn't a wine connoisseur or anything, and frankly this kit is a bit stronger than what they usually drink anyway.

 

[aiptasia]

Well, there's not much you can do at this point. If there is any residual co2 still de-gassing in the wine, it should blanket the surface of the liquid as CO2 is heavier than ambient air. This will prevent further oxygen exposure. If you churned the wine into a froth, it's likely that you did force out a lot of CO2 rapidly and infuse it with a little air. As to how much and what oxidative effect it will have, that I wouldn't worry about. If you realized your mistake and stopped immediately, it's likely the damage is minimal if at all.

As to adding the make up water, yes it will thin the mix slightly. I'd be more worried about introducing an infection by doing that but hopefully the water remained sterile while it cooled.

 

[Yooper]

Next time, you'll remember to stir very slowly first and then turn on the drill- but for this time, no harm is done at all.

The recipe expects you to top up with water- that's built into the directions- so no worries there either.

 

[dog]

Alright, glad you both think the oxidation will be minimal. Thanks!

I'd be more worried about introducing an infection by doing that but hopefully the water remained sterile while it cooled.

As Yooper said I was supposed to add some water anyway (with the preservatives mixed in), just not as much as I ended up having to use because of this. So if it lead to an infection that would be happening anyway. I was more concerned about the thinning there. I cooled the water in an ice bath.

Next time, you'll remember to stir very slowly first and then turn on the drill

I'm kinda surprised the instructions didn't mention this, as they did suggest using the drill, heh.

 

[DoctorCAD]

Even if you had added 1 liter, it would only cause a 4% "thinning". You probably only added 1/4 of a liter, 1%. I doubt that even Robert Parker could detect that!

 

[dog]

Another question.

As I said I added stabilizing and clearing agents on the 20th. The instructions say to keep it around 22-24C (72-75F). It was pretty much exactly that for the entire fermentation.

But yesterday and today are kind of warm and the stick-on thermometer says it's 26-27C (78F).

Will this make any difference, assuming the temp goes down later today? The past day or so has been especially warm and I don't expect many more days this warm before bottling day (July 4).

I could move it to the cooler basement, but I may have to move it back again when it gets cooler outside, and would definitely have to move it back to bottle. Would this be harmful?

 

[novalou]

Another question.

As I said I added stabilizing and clearing agents on the 20th. The instructions say to keep it around 22-24C (72-75F). It was pretty much exactly that for the entire fermentation.

But yesterday and today are kind of warm and the stick-on thermometer says it's 26-27C (78F).

Will this make any difference, assuming the temp goes down later today? The past day or so has been especially warm and I don't expect many more days this warm before bottling day (July 4).

I could move it to the cooler basement, but I may have to move it back again when it gets cooler outside, and would definitely have to move it back to bottle. Would this be harmful?

The temperature is not so important as keeping the temperature stable. Keep it where temperature fluctuations are kept to a minimum.