ACE Rototanks for Wine/Cider

[JonClayton]

Does anyone have experience with using full drain ACE Roto conical tanks for wine/cider? I am considering using a few of the 85 gallon tanks as primary fermenters before racking off to a less oxygen permeable flex tank for secondary and maturation. My concern obviously is oxidation during primary, but I tend to believe that the co2 production combined with the relatively short time in primary may be enough to prevent oxidation.

For some red wines I plan to experiment with some of the more permeable lightweight flex tanks to mimic the microoxidation achieved with traditional barrel use.

Thoughts?

 

[gregbathurst]

HDPE tanks are pretty standard for cider and also commonly used for wine. The important parameters are the thickness and the volume of the tanks. HDPE allows some o2 permeability but the thicker walls let less o2 in, so are better. Bigger volume means lower surface area/volume ratio so the effective o2 infiltration is less. 65 gallons is moderately big so means not too much oxidation. You are pretty safe in the 6-12 months time frame. I have used glass and HDPE for my wine and though I know commercial wineries allow some oxidation for red wines, I think you preserve more flavour in glass. If you use HDPE I think it is better to leave your wine or cider on the lees, because the yeast lees help to soak up some of the dissolved oxygen and protect your cider. I haven't had any problems with autolysis. Micro-ox is favoured by the big commercial/industrial winemakers to accelerate conditioning of red wine, but I don't think it improves quality (just my experience).