Wine Additives

In many ways wine is easier to make than beer, but all of the additives can get confusing.  In a culture pushing towards preservative free foods and beverages, it is easy to be turned off by the word additives, but almost all of these items, with the exception of many of the clarifying agents, are naturally produced in wine to some degree. The home winemaker just needs to use them in a way to help them control the outcome of their wine and to keep it fresh and palatable over a long period of time... something that humans have been doing since ancient Greece. Here is a list of items to help you make your next batch of wine.

Preservatives

Kills unwanted bacteria and helps to protect your wine from oxidation. Used by the home wine maker to inhibit bacterial growth, stop fermentation at a desired point and even for sanitation, these are important chemicals, and while sulfides are also naturally occurring in wine, some people do have sulfite allergies.

Campden (potassium metabisulfite): Forms sulfur dioxide gas prevents microorganism growth and acts as an antioxidant.

Sodium Metabisulfite: Acts in the same way as Potassium metabisulfite, but adds sodium, which some people try to avoid in their diet. Tannin: This naturally occurring preservative is found in many plant materials including parts of the grape itself. Tannins lend a sharp bitterness that helps balance the sweetness from the grape juice and enriches the body.

Stabilizers

Sorbate: Although not a sulfite, it goes hand in hand. Sorbate is used to inhibit future cell growth and multiplication, but when Sorbate is used a sulfite needs to be added also, not only to kill current yeast/bacteria cells, but to prevent a compound called geraniol from forming which can give you off flavors and aromas.

Dimethyl Dicarbonate: The application of DMDC is particularly useful when wine needs to be sterilized but cannot be sterile filtered, pasteurized, or sulfured

Yeast Nutrient and Energizer

Diammonium Phosphate: A major element in most yeast nutrient mixtures:

Energizer: Vitamin mixture, almost pure vitamin B, Which is also found in yeast nutrients.

Enzymes

Used to break down fruit cell walls to increase juice production and clarify.

Pectic Enzymes: Used mainly in home wine making to clarify by removing pectin haze.

lysozyme: Slight flavor modification by changing malic acid into lactic acid

Oak

This is an additive in the sense that flavors can be leached out of oak barrels or cubes to add a level of complexity to the wine that it might not have otherwise. Oak Tannins are similar to grape tannin, but can react with people differently.

Oak Essence: To impart oakiness at any stage of production

Fining and Clarifying

These are additives, but they are “added” in an effort to attract unwanted particles from your wine and eventually fall out of suspension, leaving virtually all of the additive behind and out of the bottle. You could call the take-outatives. + indicates positively charged (attracts negative particles). - indicates negatively charged (attracts positive particles)

+ Albumin:  This is one of the proteins found in egg whites, and yes many wineries in Europe still use egg whites to fine wine today, although it is required that the bottle is labeled as such.

+ Casein (potassium caseinate):  Milk byproduct usually used as a substitute for gelatin it can reduce tannins from reds and brown color from whites.

+ Isinglass: - Made from the swim bladders of fish this fining agent is not very aggressive and best used as a final touch to wine that is already fairly clear.

+ Gelatine:  Like Bentonite this animal protein can be used before and after fermentation, This fining agent is popular in clearing out unwanted tannin (negatively charged) from red wines. Gelatine has the potential to create haze in relatively tannin free white wine.

- Bentonite:  Popular in North America this volcanic clay is super absorbent and fall out of suspention well. It can also be used before or after fermentation.

+ Sparkolloid:  Fossilized remains of algae this is a brand of clarifying agent that is a mix of polysaccharides and diatomaceous earth.

- Kieselsol:  Silicon Dioxide works well with positively charged agents and has the benefit of removing bitterness from white wines.

+ Chitosan:  This fining agent is gentle on the character of your wine, but should be used in addition to a negatively charged agent. Chitosan is the structural element of the exoskeleton of crustaceans.

+/- Super Kleer:  Promotes flocculation of suspended proteins & other matter, producing a clearer wine. Kiesosol & Chitosan formulation

Bocksin: Fixes Hydrogen Sulfide problems (rotten egg smell)

Acid Control

Acid helps determines the very nature of the wine itself. Color, flavor, intensity, aroma, and brightness, so controlling acid is critical in wine making, or at least wine recreation. An acid test kit may be used to determine the acidity and usage

+ Increases Acidity (lowers pH)

Tartaric Acid: Sour/Bitter flavor found in many plants, particularly grapes and bananas. High in antioxidants

Malic Acid: Contributes to the sourness of green apples and grapes. Part of an acid blend.

Citric Acid: A natural preservative used to add an acidic taste to foods and soft drinks.

Acid Blend: Combination of citric, malic and tartaric acids used to increase acidity of wine.

Ascorbic (Acid Vitamin C): Has anti-oxidant properties, acting as preservative and helps preserve color in white wines.

Lactic Acid (bacteria): Responsible for the sour flavor of sour milk products and sourdough breads.

-Decreases Acidity (raises pH)

Calcium Carbonate (chalk): Used for acid reduction in wine (raise pH). First reduces tartaric acid, so care in dosage should be taken to prevent complete deduction of tartaric acid. 1/2 ounce in gallon reduces acid by .1 pH unit.

Potassium Bicarbonate: Used for acid reduction in wine. Use at a rate of 2gm/liter for acid reduction. Dissolve in small quantity of wine then add to batch ¾gm/gallon reduces acid by .1pH unit.

Now that it is warming up, it is a good time for homebrewers to try their hand at an old Belgian style beer that gets “better with a little extra heat. Saisons can be a light bodied flavorful ale that is perfect for summertime, but in direct contrast to lagering a beer to smooth it out, Saisons embrace a warm fermentation.

Some History:
Saison is an old world style of beer that has recently received a revival amongst craft brewers and home brewers throughout the world.  A group of beers more than a exact style, Saisons originated in Wallonia, the southern and predominantly French speaking region of Belgium, as a refreshing and nourishing drink for farmhands and seasonal harvest workers (les saisonneirs). Much like an unwanted house guest, farm workers would consume upwards of five liters of this beer per day since the other available water sources were of questionable quality.  Given the volume of consumption, alcohol was only 2-2.5% or less making the beer refreshing which prevented the hired help from getting plastered.  The mechanical revolution took all of the farm jobs and put them into factories, and as a result most all of the rustic farmhouse breweries disappeared, taking with them hundreds of years of brewing tradition. 

What most Saisons have in common is a light golden/orange color, very dry finish, and either a crisp sourness or bitterness (or sometimes both).  The farmhouse breweries would use their own grains, and due to the higher tax rates on malted barley versus other grains, would have certainly used a mixture of barley, oats, rye, wheat, and spelt.  Each brewery had their own unique strain of yeast that was a blend of common brewing yeasts, wild yeast, and other bacteria.  These wild yeasts and bacteria, combined with limited knowledge of sanitation, gave the Saison a distinct dryness and sour flavor reminiscent of other farmhouse style such as Bier de Garde and Gueze. The Saison was fairly generously hopped with local noble hop varieties, which helped preserve the beer during aging. Typically, only generous bittering and aroma additions were made, and it wasn't uncommon to dry hop the finished product. Other spices such as ginger, coriander, peppercorns, and orange peel were commonly used as well. The beer was then aged in oak barrels for four months or as long as several years to give the sourness from the yeast time to blend and balance with the bitterness from the hops. While the versions given to the farmhands were lower in alcohol, export and specialty versions could have alcohol levels from 4-9%

If you want to step out of your comfort zone a bit from the classic ales or lagers you have been brewing at home, give this recipe a try:

Caramunich III 8 oz
Acid Malt          4 oz
Wheat DME     1 lb
Pilsen Light LME 4 lbs
Corn Sugar      1 lb
Kent Golding    1.5 oz (60 min)
Strisslespalt     .5 oz  (20 min)
Strisslespalt     1 oz  (0 min)

Yeast:
Wyeast 3711 French Saison
(Ferment 70-80°F)
Get even hotter:
Wyeast 3724 Belgian Saison
(Ferment 75-95°F)

5 Tricks For Your Next Extract Batch

Just a few things to help out hopefully.

Boil some water while you are steeping:

With stovetop home brewing, much of your time is spent heating up water. A simple trick to cut down some of this time is to use two kettles at the same time. Try doing your 30 minute steep in a smaller pot, since you only need a gallon or so (enough to cover your grain). During the steep (or maybe even before) start bringing your big kettle of water to a boil, making sure to leave some room for the water from your steep. Now you will have water near a boil the instant you are done with your steep saving you some time.

Use one muslin sock for your hops

Many times people will almost instinctually assume that all of their different hop additions will need to be separated in the boil, leaving them to buy a separate small straining (muslin) bag for each hop addition. Muslin bags are pretty inexpensive, but if you are doing a big IPA the cost can start to add up, not to mention the hassle of tying up a bunch of hops in a bunch of different little bags. Next time try just one large muslin bag, and keep the open end out of the pot (wrapped around the handle so it doesn’t slip into the pot). Each time you have to add some hops to the boil, just Keep adding them into the same sock.

Wort Cool Down:

Cooling down your hot wort can take some time and while putting it in an icebath in your sink is a great way to cool it down quickly there is another technique for a quick cool down in the event you are out of ice. If you have ever just put your pot in some cold water in your sink you have undoubtedly found out that all you get is a sink full of hot water in a matter of minutes. Ice helps this, but you can also put a rag or paper towel at the bottom of your sink rather than stopping up the drain completely. A partially stopped up drain  will allow the water to slowly drain, and lets you to simultaneously run cold water from your tap into the sink. Now you have a cold water bath that will continue to transfer heat away from the pot and down the drain.  

Chill Your Top-Off Water:

If you find yourself needing to top off with some water in your fermenter to get to the five gallon mark there are actually some benefits to doing so. In a five gallon pot (20 qt) you usually start your boil at about four gallons and boil down to 3-3.5 gallons leaving you with about two gallons needed to add to your fermenter. Put this water in the fridge (or even the freezer) to get nice and cold. Now you don’t have to wait so long cooling your wort in an ice bath. If you can get two gallons of really cold water into your fermenter it is likely you only need to get your wort down to about 100 degrees. The top off water will bring it down the rest of the way to room temp and you can pitch your yeast. There is an added benefit to this. Pouring in the cold water aggressively will churn up your wort and plenty of oxygen which is essential to a healthy start to fermentation.

Use the sani rinse on your dishwasher:

Lot’s of people complain about the bottling process because you must clean and sanitize dozens of bottles. Washing, rinsing, sanitizing can be a pain, but if you treat them like any other dish you would use at dinner time, you can take out a bunch of the hassle. First, treat them like a dish; when you are done with a beer, rinse out the bottle and make sure you get all the yeast sediment at the bottom, then put it in the dishwasher with the rest of you dishes. Then just put your clean bottle away in your bottle box to use again some day. When bottling day arrives, put all your cleaned bottles in your dishwasher and set it to sanitize (most newer washers have this setting). Use a little bit of Oxy based cleanser, like PBW or OneStep and you will have a couple of racks full of sanitized bottles ready to use for bottling.