wine question

[herocomplex]

I'm brewing my first wine and I've been told that bottling in a smaller bottle will speed the aging time (ex. a half-size wine bottle will age twice as fast). Is there any truth to this? If so, is there any problem with bottling wine in beer bottles?

Thanks all, keep the bottoms up!

[BillyBock]

Hi, Hero.

I don't believe that's correct.

Beer and wine are left to bulk age in their vessels until it's time to package them. There are benefits to using a larger yeast cake to accomplish the aging--there are a lot of bio-chemical things going on in there which you wouldn't get to the same degree if you were using a smaller yeast cake in a bottle. These reactions happen more quickly and more completely with a larger yeast bed. The only thing that would speed up is the time it takes for the yeast to settle to the bottom of the bottle as they would have a shorter distance to fall than in a fermenter. But by itself, flocculation is not aging.

Let your wine ferment and settle then transfer it over to a carboy and tuck it away to age (2 or 3 months?). This also gives it time to de-gas; remember wine is flat, unless your're making champagne.

Brew on!

v/r
Bill

[Dogger Dan]

Yes it is correct although I wont say 50 percent quicker because you are using a 50 percent smalller bottle.

Because the volume is less, it reacts quicker. Point to note, it will go south quicker to.

Dogger