champagne making process
sean sheedy
You may want to print this out as it is a fairly long explanation.
There are 3 or 4 methods of making champagne. The modified Charmat and
dispatch method are both the easy way out by using pressurized CO2
cannisters to inject CO2 into the wine. BORING! I have a much
greater interest in the other two methods which are more traditional.
Methode Champegnoise (There is supposed to be a tit on the e for you
frenchmen)
This is the traditional method of making champagne and is fairly
complicated.
Step one:Tirage
INGREDIENTS
5 gal cuvee ( or white wine to the rest of us)alc content of 10.5%and 6
months old
13 oz(390 grams) sugar
5 tsp yeast nutrient
2 x 5g champagne yeast
EQUIPMENT
33 oz wine bottle with a plastic cap
1 liter glass pitcher
5 gal carboy
long spoon
syphon hose
PROCEDURE
1. syphon 33oz of wine into bottle. cap and put aside
2. syphon 16 oz of wine into glass pitcher add the sugar and yeast
nutrient .stir until dissolved.
3 Add yeast of 1 cup of warm water and leave for ten minutes to
rehydrate.
4.Pour sugar and yeast nutrient solution into carboy. Add the yeast
5. Stir and attach the lock to carboy
STEP TWO
EQUIPMENT
25 x 750ml champagne bottles ( THIS IS IMPORTANT!! NORMAL WINE BOTTLES
WILL EXPLODE!!!)
26 crown caps
crown capper
PROCEDURE
6.After 24-48 hours, when the wine is cloudy with yeast get your
champagne bottles cleaned and ready, but do not add sulfite!
7. Stir the yeast into suspension
8. Syphon the wine into the champagne bottles, leaving 1 inch air
space. Crown cap the bottles.
9. Store the bottles for 3 months in an upright position at 65 - 70 F.
Twice a week during this time invert each bottle and shake it gently to
encourage fermenting. Return to uprihgt position. A lot of sediment
will form.
STEP THREE - REMUAGE (huh?)
**THE BOTTLES ARE NOW UNDER A HELL OF A LOT OF PRESSURE. WEAR SAFETY
GOGGLES AND GLOVES AND DO NOT LEAVE THEM WHERE CHILDREN CAN GET AT THEM
OR I WILL PERSONALLY COME AND KICK YOUR ASS!!!**
EQUIPMENT
riddling board (This is basically two boards that are hinged at the top
with a number of holes drilled for the necks of the champagne bottles.
It is stood up so that when it is on the floor it becomes a triangle
with the floor being the base. There is also a string or wire attached
about half way down the boards holding the two together so that they do
not slide and fall flat on the floor. I have a picture of one here ,
but I do not know how to paste it. I hope that this is a good
explanation. You will get a better idea when I explain what it is for.)
10. Place the bottles in the riddling board by inverting them and
putting their necks through the holes. Angle the board steeply. Every
day give each bottle a sharp quarter turn. This is to shake the yeast
sediment into the cap. Every week open the riddling board a little bit
so that the bottles become more vertically inverted . This is how you
would start /\ and this is how you would end <>(use your imagination)
STEP FOUR DEGORGEMENT
INGREDIENTS
8 oz Vodka
12 oz wine conditioner
12 oz wine which was set aside at the start
1/2 tsp sulfite
EQUIPMENT
wide tub
2lb rock salt
5 bags crushed ice
plastic champagne corks
champagne wires
PROCEDURE
If possible chill the bottles to 30F to prevent the loss of too much
CO2, but do not return bottles to the upright position or disturb the
sediment.
11. When bottles are chilled open one . If there are no bubbles then
the process did not work. Put the wine back in the carboy and start
again.(I am sure this will not happen!)
12. If there are bubbles then put the ice and rock salt in the tub and
put the bottles in upside down to a depth of 6 inches. Leave them in
until there is a one inch ice plug in the neck.
13. Mix all ingredients in a pitcher and chill in the fridge. This is
the dosage(pronounced the french way)
14. place your primary fermenter on its side. Aim a bottle with the
frozen neck into the primary and take off the cap and watch the ice
plug leave in a hurry. This can be messy. Do all of your bottles.
15. When the plug blows out fill all of your bottles with 1 oz of the
dosage or to within 1 inch of the top. Insert a plastic cork and wire
it down.
Store the bottles upright in a cool dark place. This will make a dry
Brut champagne.
The second method if you are still reading is called the Andovin method
which is basically the same idea , but is a lot easier. Instead of
going in depth I will explain the basic differences.
DIFFERENCES
1. Instead of putting the bottles in a riddling board you store the
upright.(it is already looking pretty good!) Let rest for 1 month to
firm the sediment.
2. when your 25 champagne bottles are ready put your doasage in the
bottles before anything else. Put 2 tablesponns in each bottle.Freeze
this in the freezer
3. Put your bottles of fermenting wine in the freezer in an
upright position for about 1 - 1.5 hours until ice has formed on the
wine. You the open the bottles and gently pour each bottle of wine into
a bottle with the dosage. Be careful to leave the sediment in the
bottle. The freezing should have froze the sediment.
That is it ! cork and wire. When the dosage thaws, gently swirl to mix
with your.....Champagne. Chill before serving. I hope this helps. I
would like to mention that if you do not want all of this work you can
just follow all of the instructions up to STEP THREE . I have had
friends who have made champagne without going to the trouble of
removing the sediment and it was excellent. The sediment will firm up
a bit and iff you are careful when you are pouring you will not get any
in your glass. I am going to make some strawberry champagne in 6
months. I will let you know how it goes. Sorry this was so long , but
I think it is a really interesting topic and can almost serve as a
seperate hooby.
Sean
Donald Million
Derek Schott wrote:
> I have attempted the art of champagne making three times now. The end result
> is truely a drink of the gods, but one problem exits- about 75% of my bottles
> end up exploding!
I mostly make beer, and only recently have tried wine. Making champagne
should, I would think, be quite similar to making beer. What with the
bottle conditioning (which adds the carbonation) we do with beer.
If you want to artificially carbonate, you need a keg and CO2 setup.
Rack the wine into the keg, add CO2 under pressure and let it sit.
Eventually the wine will absorb CO2 and become carbonated. Then you
need a counter-pressure bottle filler to bottle the wine (unless you
want to drink it out of the keg like you would beer. Hey, a 5 gallon
keg full of champagne would be quite a novelty at a party!
Anyway, bottle conditioning isn't that hard. I have to believe you're
doing something wrong. Do you bottle immediately and let it do it's
primary fermentation in the bottle? If so, that's your problem. You
need to let it ferment out and mostly settle. Then add a measured
amount of sugar (approx. 1 cup for 5 gallons should be right) and bottle
it. This will give the small amount of additional fermentation you need
to carbonate in the bottle.
No need to add extra yeast unless you let it settle for many months.
Even when the wine looks quite clear there will still be enough yeast in
suspension for bottle conditioning.
So, to summarize (and remembering that I've done this many times with
beer but never with wine), I would recommend the following:
1. Put must in primary fermenter and leave for 1-2 weeks.
2. Rack to secondary and leave for 3-4 weeks or until fermentation
stops.
3. Add 1 cup of sugar and bottle.
I doubt you'll have any bottle-bombs, and in a few months, when you try
the wine, I'm sure you'll find it nicely carbonated.
sean sheedy
Derek Schott wrote:
>
> <excellent text deleted>
>
> I have attempted the art of champagne making three times now. The end result
> is truely a drink of the gods, but one problem exits- about 75% of my bottles
> stoppers. I finally started to not wire the stoppers down. That way the
> stopper would blow out, and I would not have a lethal weapon in the bathroom.
> Out of each gallon made, about 4 of the 5 bottles go boom. About the only
> thing I can do is to put it in the refrigerator to keep the temp down (and
> thus slow the carbonation rate.)
>
> I have found that most yeast now days firms up enough that you don't really
> need to disgorge. Yeah, I know, it looks so much better, but.... I haven't
> tried fermenting out, and then adding a champagne yeast with a prime dose. And
> as I am told, it is almost impossible to make a sweet champagne...short of
> carbonating by using CO2.
>
> So my question is, what do you need to artificially carbonate your wine? What
> equipment is needed, and what kind of cost are you looking at. Hey, nobody has
> to know how those bubbles got in there, right?
>
> Oh, and what is the safest way to naturally carbonate? I really get scared
> giving away bottles. Always feel that one is going to go off and kill
> someone....
>
> ************************************************************************> Derek Schott
> Email: dsc...@dnc.net
> Albany, OR, USA DOD 313f^3
> ************************************************************************
I do not know why they would explode so often. The only thing that I can
think of is that you are adding too much sugar. I do not have enough
experience. I just wrote what I had read. Good luck.
Sean
sean sheedy
Jacques Gauthier wrote:
>
> In article <5srj1f$4lo$1...@nntp.structured.net> thou wrote:
> : <excellent text deleted>
>
> : So my question is, what do you need to artificially carbonate your wine? What
> : equipment is needed, and what kind of cost are you looking at. Hey, nobody has
>
> This is just a shot in the dark but how to they carbonate
> pop bottles ? I know they make machines so that you
> can make your own 7up or cola at home. That process
> may work on your champagne.
>
> Jacques G.
Well you are right. I was just relaying the traditional method. You
could use the same machines as they use to carbonate beverages at home,
however I think that you would have to use the plastic bottles that are
made for the machine. The book that I have describes the modified
charmat method and it states that you will need about $400.00 worth of
equipment:
20lb co2 tank
pressure gauge
regulator gauge
gas flow line
serving tap
5 gallon stainless steel product tank
and of course you bottles corks and wires
It is just my opinion that the method of using yeast to obtain your
carbonation is much more interesting from a hobbyists point of view, but
if you are just looking to make some good, cheap champagne then the co2
is likely the way to go. It may be a substantial initial investment, but
it would be easy and you would have no yeast problems.
Sean
Derek Schott
<excellent text deleted>
I have attempted the art of champagne making three times now. The end result
is truely a drink of the gods, but one problem exits- about 75% of my bottles
end up exploding! I use good 750ml champagne bottles, and wired plastic
stoppers. I finally started to not wire the stoppers down. That way the
stopper would blow out, and I would not have a lethal weapon in the bathroom.
Out of each gallon made, about 4 of the 5 bottles go boom. About the only
thing I can do is to put it in the refrigerator to keep the temp down (and
thus slow the carbonation rate.)
I have found that most yeast now days firms up enough that you don't really
need to disgorge. Yeah, I know, it looks so much better, but.... I haven't
tried fermenting out, and then adding a champagne yeast with a prime dose. And
as I am told, it is almost impossible to make a sweet champagne...short of
carbonating by using CO2.
So my question is, what do you need to artificially carbonate your wine? What
equipment is needed, and what kind of cost are you looking at. Hey, nobody has
Donald Million
sean sheedy wrote:
> ...you will need about $400.00 worth of
> equipment [to force carbonate champagne]
The basic equipment can be had from a variety of beer brewing sources
for between $150 and $250 (depending on whether most of the stuff is new
or used-reconditioned). With this investment you can carbonate anything
-- water, soda, beer, or champagne.
The only problem is that your champagne will be in a keg. It will keep
just fine in there, and you might enjoy "draft champagne," but if you
want to put it in bottles, then you need some additional equipment. In
particular, you need a counter-pressure bottle filler. These can also
be had from homebrew beer suppliers, for about $50.
So, the bottom line is that all the equipment you need can be bought for
about $200. If you want all new and shiny stuff, figure about $300. On
the other hand, I agree with you that bottle conditioned champagne would
be much more interesting.
sean sheedy
Luis Miguel =?UNKNOWN-8BIT?Q?TavaresMagalh=E3es?= wrote:
>
> I´m sorry, but what you describe, like a method to do champagne, is not
> "champagne", but coca-cola, 7up, etc.. Don´t put the word champagne, a
> something that isn´t a drink, but a .....
>
> LM
>
> sean sheedy <she...@telusplanet.net> escreveu no artigo
> <33F24E...@telusplanet.net>...
> > Jacques Gauthier wrote:
> > >
> > > In article <5srj1f$4lo$1...@nntp.structured.net> thou wrote:
> > > : <excellent text deleted>
> > >
> wine? What
> > > : equipment is needed, and what kind of cost are you looking at. Hey,
> nobody has
> > >
> > > This is just a shot in the dark but how to they carbonate
> > > pop bottles ? I know they make machines so that you
> > > can make your own 7up or cola at home. That process
> > > may work on your champagne.
> > >
> > > Jacques G.
> >
> >
> > Well you are right. I was just relaying the traditional method. You
> > could use the same machines as they use to carbonate beverages at home,
> > however I think that you would have to use the plastic bottles that are
> > made for the machine. The book that I have describes the modified
> > equipment:
> > 20lb co2 tank
> > pressure gauge
> > regulator gauge
> > gas flow line
> > serving tap
> > 5 gallon stainless steel product tank
> > and of course you bottles corks and wires
> >
> > It is just my opinion that the method of using yeast to obtain your
> > carbonation is much more interesting from a hobbyists point of view, but
> > if you are just looking to make some good, cheap champagne then the co2
> > is likely the way to go. It may be a substantial initial investment, but
>
> > it would be easy and you would have no yeast problems.
> > Sean
> >
No kidding!! I would appreciate it if you would go back and read my
original emails to the news group. By the way, The only champagne in the
world comes from Champagne in France so it does not matter if you
carbonate the wine by farting in it it is still just sparkling wine. I
merely called it champagne so that those who are not as experienced would
know what I am talking about.
Sean
Luis Miguel TavaresMagalhăes
Rex Smith
Ugghhh... I'd hate to be describing the aroma of THAT champange in a wine
tasting... <sour grin>
Rex
(NOW, we've got an interesting thread...)
In article <33F796...@telusplanet.net>, sean sheedy
<she...@telusplanet.net> wrote:
>Luis Miguel =?UNKNOWN-8BIT?Q?TavaresMagalh=E3es?= wrote:
>>. Don´t put the word champagne, a
>> something that isn´t a drink, but a .....
>
>No kidding!! I would appreciate it if you would go back and read my
>original emails to the news group. By the way, The only champagne in the
>world comes from Champagne in France so it does not matter if you
>carbonate the wine by farting in it it is still just sparkling wine. I
>merely called it champagne so that those who are not as experienced would
>know what I am talking about.
>Sean
To reply to me, remove "nospam." from the address listed in the reply to of this message.
Unfortunately, courtesy of those spamming turds.
Rex Smith