BEVERAGE TECHNOLOGY

PREPARATION OF BEER AND WINE

SUBMITTED TO : PROF. K. S. GADHE
SUBMITTED BY: G. D. LADDA (13T10M)
Alcoholic Content of Beer, Wine & Distilled Spirits

The description of alcohol in a popular source of information (the Indiana Prevention Resource
Center) reports that

Beer is a low potency alcoholic beverage made by fermenting grains and then extracting the
liquid from the mash. Wine is a relatively low potency alcoholic beverage made by fermenting
fruit juices (or other sugary liquid). Distilled spirits are high potency alcoholic beverages that are
made by fermenting grains or fruit juices and then distilling the resulting liquid to reduce its
water content and to concentrate its alcohol. 1

That may be technically correct, but it unintentionally perpetuates the myth that spirits are
“harder” or more likely to lead to intoxication than are beer or wine. To prevent the misuse of
alcohol, it’s important for drinkers to know that standard drinks of beer, wine and spirits all
contain equivalent amounts of alcohol -- about six-tenths of one ounce.

A glass of white or red wine, a bottle of beer, and a shot of whiskey or other distilled spirits all
contain equivalent amounts of alcohol and are the same to a Breathalyzer. A standard drink is:

 A 12-ounce bottle or can of regular beer

 A 5-ounce glass of wine
 A drink of one and 1/2 ounce of 80 proof distilled spirits (either straight or in a mixed
drink)
Brewing process

There are several steps in the brewing process, which may include malting, mashing, lautering,
boiling, fermenting, conditioning, filtering, and packaging.

Malting is the process where barley grain is made ready for brewing. Malting is broken down
into three steps in order to help to release the starches in the barley. First, during steeping, the
grain is added to a vat with water and allowed to soak for approximately 40 hours. During
germination, the grain is spread out on the floor of the germination room for around 5 days.
The final part of malting is kilning when the malt goes through a very high temperature drying
in a kiln; with gradual temperature increase over several hours. When kilning is complete, the
grains are now termed malt, and they will be milled or crushed to break apart the kernels and
expose the cotyledon, which contains the majority of the carbohydrates and sugars; this makes
it easier to extract the sugars during mashing.

Mashing converts the starches released during the malting stage into sugars that can be
fermented. The milled grain is mixed with hot water in a large vessel known as a mash tun. In
this vessel, the grain and water are mixed together to create a cereal mash. During the mash,
naturally occurring enzymes present in the malt convert the starches (long chain
carbohydrates) in the grain into smaller molecules or simple sugars (mono-, di-, and tri-
saccharides). This "conversion" is called saccharification. The result of the mashing process is a
sugar rich liquid or "wort", which is then strained through the bottom of the mash tun in a
process known as lautering. Prior to lautering, the mash temperature may be raised to about
75–78 °C (167–172 °F) (known as a mashout) to deactivate enzymes. Additional water may be
sprinkled on the grains to extract additional sugars (a process known as sparging).

The wort is moved into a large tank known as a "copper" or kettle where it is boiled with hops
and sometimes other ingredients such as herbs or sugars. This stage is where many chemical
and technical reactions take place, and where important decisions about the flavour, colour,
and aroma of the beer are made. The boiling process serves to terminate enzymatic processes,
precipitate proteins, isomerize hop resins, and concentrate and sterilize the wort. Hops add
flavour, aroma and bitterness to the beer. At the end of the boil, the hopped wort settles to
clarify in a vessel called a "whirlpool", where the more solid particles in the wort are separated
out.

After the whirlpool, the wort then begins the process of cooling. This is when the wort is
transferred rapidly from the whirlpool or brew kettle to a heat exchanger to be cooled. The
heat exchanger consists of tubing inside a tub of cold water. It is very important to quickly cool
the wort to a level where yeast can be added safely as yeast is unable to grow in high
temperatures.[40][42] After the wort goes through the heat exchanger, the cooled wort goes into a
fermentation tank. A type of yeast is selected and added, or "pitched", to the fermentation
tank. When the yeast is added to the wort, the fermenting process begins, where the sugars
turn into alcohol, carbon dioxide and other components. When the fermentation is complete
the brewer may rack the beer into a new tank, called a conditioning tank. Conditioning of the
beer is the process in which the beer ages, the flavour becomes smoother, and flavours that are
unwanted dissipate. After conditioning for a week to several months, the beer may be filtered
and force carbonated for bottling,or fined in the cask.

Mashing

A mash tun at the Bass Museum in Burton-upon-Trent

Mashing is the process of combining a mix of milled grain (typically malted barley with
supplementary grains such as corn, sorghum, rye or wheat), known as the "grain bill", and
water, known as "liquor", and heating this mixture in a vessel called a "mash tun". Mashing is a
form of steeping, and defines the act of brewing, such as with making tea, sake, and soy
sauce.Technically, wine, cider and mead are not brewed but rather vinified, as there is no
steeping process involving solids. Mashing allows the enzymes in the malt to break down the
starch in the grain into sugars, typically maltose to create a malty liquid called wort. There are
two main methods – infusion mashing, in which the grains are heated in one vessel; and
decoction mashing, in which a proportion of the grains are boiled and then returned to the
mash, raising the temperature. Mashing involves pauses at certain temperatures (notably 45 °C,
62 °C and 73 °C), and takes place in a "mash tun" – an insulated brewing vessel with a false
bottom. The end product of mashing is called a "mash".

Mashing usually takes 1 to 2 hours, and during this time the various temperature rests activate
different enzymes depending upon the type of malt being used, its modification level, and the
intention of the brewer. The activity of these enzymes convert the starches of the grains to
dextrins and then to fermentable sugars such as maltose. A mash rest from 49–55 °C (120–
131 °F) activates various proteases, which break down proteins that might otherwise cause the
beer to be hazy. This rest is generally used only with undermodified (i.e. undermalted) malts
which are decreasingly popular in Germany and the Czech Republic, or non-malted grains such
as corn and rice, which are widely used in North American beers. A mash rest at 60 °C (140 °F)
activates β-glucanase, which breaks down gummy β-glucans in the mash, making the sugars
flow out more freely later in the process. In the modern mashing process, commercial fungal
based β-glucanase may be added as a supplement. Finally, a mash rest temperature of 65–71 °C
(149–160 °F) is used to convert the starches in the malt to sugar, which is then usable by the
yeast later in the brewing process. Doing the latter rest at the lower end of the range favours β-
amylase enzymes, producing more low-order sugars like maltotriose, maltose, and glucose
which are more fermentable by the yeast. This in turn creates a beer lower in body and higher
in alcohol. A rest closer to the higher end of the range favours α-amylase enzymes, creating
more higher-order sugars and dextrins which are less fermentable by the yeast, so a fuller-
bodied beer with less alcohol is the result. Duration and pH variances also affect the sugar
composition of the resulting wort.

Lautering

Lautering is the separation of the wort (the liquid containing the sugar extracted during
mashing) from the grains. This is done either in a mash tun outfitted with a false bottom, in a
lauter tun, or in a mash filter. Most separation processes have two stages: first wort run-off,
during which the extract is separated in an undiluted state from the spent grains, and sparging,
in which extract which remains with the grains is rinsed off with hot water. The lauter tun is a
tank with holes in the bottom small enough to hold back the large bits of grist and hulls. [56] The
bed of grist that settles on it is the actual filter. Some lauter tuns have provision for rotating
rakes or knives to cut into the bed of grist to maintain good flow. The knives can be turned so
they push the grain, a feature used to drive the spent grain out of the vessel. The mash filter is
a plate-and-frame filter. The empty frames contain the mash, including the spent grains, and
have a capacity of around one hectoliter. The plates contain a support structure for the filter
cloth. The plates, frames, and filter cloths are arranged in a carrier frame like so: frame, cloth,
plate, cloth, with plates at each end of the structure. Newer mash filters have bladders that can
press the liquid out of the grains between spargings. The grain does not act like a filtration
medium in a mash filter.

Boiling

After mashing, the beer wort is boiled with hops (and other flavourings if used) in a large tank
known as a "copper" or brew kettle – though historically the mash vessel was used and is still in
some small breweries. The boiling process is where chemical and technical reactions take place,
including sterilization of the wort to remove unwanted bacteria, releasing of hop flavours,
bitterness and aroma compounds through isomerization, stopping of enzymatic processes,
precipitation of proteins, and concentration of the wort. Finally, the vapours produced during
the boil volatilise off-flavours, including dimethyl sulfide precursors. The boil is conducted so
that it is even and intense – a continuous "rolling boil".The boil on average lasts between 45
and 90 minutes, depending on its intensity, the hop addition schedule, and volume of water the
brewer expects to evaporate. At the end of the boil, solid particles in the hopped wort are
separated out, usually in a vessel called a "whirlpool".

Brew kettle or copper

Brew kettles at Coors Brewing Company

Copper is the traditional material for the boiling vessel, because copper transfers heat quickly
and evenly, and because the bubbles produced during boiling, and which would act as an
insulator against the heat, do not cling to the surface of copper, so the wort is heated in a
consistent manner. The simplest boil kettles are direct-fired, with a burner underneath. These
can produce a vigorous and favourable boil, but are also apt to scorch the wort where the flame
touches the kettle, causing caramelisation and making cleanup difficult. Most breweries use a
steam-fired kettle, which uses steam jackets in the kettle to boil the wort. Breweries usually
have a boiling unit either inside or outside of the kettle, usually a tall, thin cylinder with vertical
tubes, called a calandria, through which wort is pumped.

Whirlpool

At the end of the boil, solid particles in the hopped wort are separated out, usually in a vessel
called a "whirlpool" or "settling tank".The whirlpool was devised by the Molson Brewery in
1960 to utilise the so-called tea leaf paradox to force the denser solids known as "trub"
(coagulated proteins, vegetable matter from hops) into a cone in the centre of the whirlpool
tank. Whirlpool systems vary: smaller breweries tend to use the brew kettle, larger breweries
use a separate tank, and design will differ, with tank floors either flat, sloped, conical or with a
cup in the centre. The principle in all is that by swirling the wort the centrifugal forces will push
the trub into a cone at the centre of the bottom of the tank, where it can be easily removed.

Hopback
A hopback is a sealed chamber that is inserted in between the brewing kettle and counter-flow
wort chiller. Hops are added to the chamber, the hot wort from the kettle is run through it, and
then immediately cooled in the wort chiller before entering the fermentation chamber. It
facilitates maximum retention of volatile hop aroma compounds that would normally be driven
off when the hops contact the hot wort. Because it is a sealed chamber, the volatile hop
compounds are trapped in the hot wort, and then the wort is immediately cooled, which keeps
the volatile compounds in solution. In the United Kingdom, it is common practice to use a
hopback to clear the green wort (green wort is wort to which yeast has not yet been added).
This device has the same effect as, but operates in a completely different manner than, a
whirlpool. The two devices are often confused but are in function, quite different. While a
whirlpool functions through the use of centrifugal forces, a hopback uses a layer of fresh hop
flowers in a confined space to act as a filter bed to remove trub (pronounced tr-oo-b, tr-uh-b in
the UK). Furthermore, while a whirlpool is useful only for the removal of pelleted hops (as
flowers do not tend to separate as easily), in general hopbacks are used only for the removal of
whole flower hops (as the particles left by pellets tend to make it through the hopback).

Wort cooling

After the whirlpool, the wort must be brought down to fermentation temperatures (20–
26°Celsius) before yeast is added. In modern breweries this is achieved through a plate heat
exchanger. A plate heat exchanger has many ridged plates, which form two separate paths. The
wort is pumped into the heat exchanger, and goes through every other gap between the plates.
The cooling medium, usually water, goes through the other gaps. The ridges in the plates
ensure turbulent flow. A good heat exchanger can drop 95 °C wort to 20 °C while warming the
cooling medium from about 10 °C to 80 °C. The last few plates often use a cooling medium
which can be cooled to below the freezing point, which allows a finer control over the wort-out
temperature, and also enables cooling to around 10 °C. After cooling, oxygen is often dissolved
into the wort to revitalize the yeast and aid its reproduction.

While boiling, it is useful to recover some of the energy used to boil the wort. On its way out of
the brewery, the steam created during the boil is passed over a coil through which unheated
water flows. By adjusting the rate of flow, the output temperature of the water can be
controlled. This is also often done using a plate heat exchanger. The water is then stored for
later use in the next mash, in equipment cleaning, or wherever necessary.

Another common method of energy recovery takes place during the wort cooling. When cold
water is used to cool the wort in a heat exchanger, the water is significantly warmed. In an
efficient brewery, cold water is passed through the heat exchanger at a rate set to maximize the
water's temperature upon exiting. This now-hot water is then stored in a hot water tank.
Fermenting

Modern fermentation tanks

Fermentation in brewing is the conversion of carbohydrates to alcohols and carbon dioxide or

organic acids using yeasts, bacteria, or a combination thereof, under anaerobic conditions. A
more restricted definition of fermentation is the chemical conversion of sugars into ethanol.
The science of fermentation is known as zymurgy.After the wort is cooled and aerated – usually
with sterile air – yeast is added to it, and it begins to ferment. It is during this stage that sugars
won from the malt are metabolized into alcohol and carbon dioxide, and the product can be
called beer for the first time. Fermentation happens in tanks which come in all sorts of forms,
from enormous cylindro-conical vessels, through open stone vessels, to wooden vats.

Most breweries today use cylindro-conical vessels, or CCVs, which have a conical bottom and a
cylindrical top. The cone's aperture is typically around 60°, an angle that will allow the yeast to
flow towards the cone's apex, but is not so steep as to take up too much vertical space. CCVs
can handle both fermenting and conditioning in the same tank. At the end of fermentation, the
yeast and other solids which have fallen to the cone's apex can be simply flushed out of a port
at the apex.

Open fermentation vessels are also used, often for show in brewpubs, and in Europe in wheat
beer fermentation. These vessels have no tops, which makes harvesting top-fermenting yeasts
very easy. The open tops of the vessels make the risk of infection greater, but with proper
cleaning procedures and careful protocol about who enters fermentation chambers, the risk
can be well controlled.

Fermentation tanks are typically made of stainless steel. If they are simple cylindrical tanks with
beveled ends, they are arranged vertically, as opposed to conditioning tanks which are usually
laid out horizontally. Only a very few breweries still use wooden vats for fermentation as wood
is difficult to keep clean and infection-free and must be repitched more or less yearly.

Fermentation methods
Beer fermenting

There are three main fermentation methods, warm, cool and wild or spontaneous.
Fermentation may take place in open or closed vessels. There may be a secondary fermentation
which can take place in the brewery, in the cask or in the bottle.

Brewing yeasts are traditionally classed as "top-cropping" (or "top-fermenting") and "bottom-
cropping" (or "bottom-fermenting"). This distinction was introduced by the Dane Emil Christian
Hansen. Yeast were termed top or bottom cropping because, in traditional brewing, yeast was
collected from the top or bottom of the fermenting wort to be reused for the next brew. This
terminology is somewhat inappropriate in the modern era; after the widespread application of
brewing mycology it was discovered that the two separate collecting methods involved two
different yeast species that favoured different temperature regimes, namely Saccharomyces
cerevisiae in top-cropping at warmer temperatures and Saccharomyces pastorianus in bottom-
cropping at cooler temperatures. As brewing methods changed in the 20th century, cylindro-
conical fermenting vessels became the norm and the collection of yeast for both
Saccharomyces species is done from the bottom of the fermenter, thus the method of
collection no longer implies a species association. There are a few remaining breweries who
collect yeast in the top-cropping method, such as Samuel Smiths brewery in Yorkshire,
Marstons in Staffordshire and several German hefeweizen producers.

For both types, yeast is fully distributed through the beer while it is fermenting, and both
equally flocculate (clump together and precipitate to the bottom of the vessel) when
fermentation is finished. By no means do all top-cropping yeasts demonstrate this behaviour,
but it features strongly in many English yeasts that may also exhibit chain forming (the failure of
budded cells to break from the mother cell), which is in the technical sense different from true
flocculation. The most common top-cropping brewer's yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, is the
same species as the common baking yeast. However, baking and brewing yeasts typically
belong to different strains, cultivated to favour different characteristics: Baking yeast strains are
more aggressive, in order to carbonate dough in the shortest amount of time; brewing yeast
strains act slower, but tend to produce fewer off-flavours and tolerate higher alcohol
concentrations (with some strains, up to 22%). [citation needed]. Modern quantitative genomics has
revealed the complexity of Saccharomyces species to the extent that yeasts involved in beer
and wine production commonly involve hybrids of so-called pure species. As such, the yeasts
involved in what has been typically called top-cropping or top-fermenting ale may be both
Saccharomyces cerevisiae and complex hybrids of Saccharomyces cerevisiae and
Saccharomyces kudriavzevii. Three notable ales, Chimay, Orval and Westmalle, are fermented
with these hybrid strains, which are identical to wine yeasts from Switzerland.

To ensure purity of strain, a "clean" sample of brewing yeast is sometimes stored, either dried
or refrigerated in a laboratory. After a certain number of fermentation cycles, a full scale
propagation is produced from this laboratory sample. Typically, it is grown up in about three or
four stages using sterile brewing wort and oxygen.

Warm fermentation

In general, yeasts such as Saccharomyces cerevisiae are fermented at warm temperatures

between 15 and 20 °C (59 and 68 °F), occasionally as high as 24 °C (75 °F),while the yeast used
by Brasserie Dupont for saison ferments even higher at 29 to 35 °C (84 to 95 °F). They generally
form a foam on the surface of the fermenting beer, as during the fermentation process its
hydrophobic surface causes the flocs to adhere to CO 2 and rise; because of this, they are often
referred to as "top-cropping" or "top-fermenting" – though this distinction is less clear in
modern brewing with the use of cylindro-conical tanks. Generally, warm-fermented beers are
ready to drink within three weeks after the beginning of fermentation, although some brewers
will condition them for several months.

Cool fermentation

Lager is beer that has been cool fermented at around 10 °C (50 °F), compared to typical warm
fermentation temperatures of 18 °C (64 °F). It is then stored for 30 days or longer close to the
freezing point, and during this storage sulphur components developed during fermentation
dissipate.

Though it is the cool fermentation that defines lager, the main technical difference with lager
yeast is its ability to process raffinose (a trisaccharide composed of the sugars galactose,
fructose, and glucose), which means that all sugars are fermented, resulting in a well
attenuated beer; warm-fermenting yeast only cleaves and ferments the fructose portion of
raffinose, leaving melibiose, which it cannot further cleave into two monosaccharides due to its
lack of melibiose, so ale remains sweeter with a lower conversion of sugar into alcohol.
Raffinose is a minor dry component of Carlsberg barley, but once malted is practically
nonexistent.

While the nature of yeast was not fully understood until Emil Hansen of the Carlsberg brewery
in Denmark isolated a single yeast cell in the late 1800s, brewers in Bavaria had for centuries
been selecting cold-fermenting lager yeasts by storing ("lagern") their beers in cold alpine
caves. The process of natural selection meant that the wild yeasts that were most cold tolerant
would be the ones that would remain actively fermenting in the beer that was stored in the
caves. Some of these Bavarian yeasts were brought back to the Carlsberg brewery around the
time that Hansen did his famous work.
Today, lagers represent the vast majority of beers produced. Examples include Budweiser
Budvar, Birra Moretti, Stella Artois, Red Stripe, and Singha. Some lager-style beers market
themselves as Pilsner, which originated in Pilsen, Czech Republic (Plzeň in Czech). However,
Pilsners are brewed with 100% barley malt and aggressive hop bitterness, flavor, and aroma.

Lager yeast normally ferments at a temperature of approximately 5 °C (41 °F). Lager yeast can
be fermented at a higher temperature normally used for top-fermenting yeast, and this
application is often used in a beer style known as California Common or colloquially as "steam
beer". Saccharomyces pastorianus is used in the brewing of lager.

Spontaneous fermentation

"Wild yeast" redirects here. For the role of wild yeast in winemaking.

Lambic beers are historically brewed in Brussels and the nearby Pajottenland region of Belgium.
They are fermented in oak barrels after being inoculated with wild yeast and bacteria while
cooling in a Koelschip. Wild yeast and bacteria ferment the wort in the oak barrels. The beers
fermented from yeast and bacteria in the Brussels area are called Lambic beers. These bacteria
add a sour flavour to the beer. Of the many styles of beer very few use bacteria, most are
fermented with yeast alone and bacterial contamination is avoided.

However, with the advent of yeast banks and the National Collection of Yeast Cultures, brewing
these beers – albeit not through spontaneous fermentation – is possible anywhere. Specific
bacteria cultures are also available to reproduce certain styles.

Brettanomyces is a genus of yeast important in brewing lambic, a beer produced not by the
deliberate addition of brewer's yeasts, but by spontaneous fermentation with wild yeasts and
bacteria.

Taking inspiration from Belgium-style brews, American microbreweries produce beer with
microorganisms other than Saccharomyces, usually Brettanomyces. These fall in the broad
category of American wild ale.

Conditioning

After an initial or primary fermentation, beer is conditioned, matured or aged, in one of several
ways, which can take from 2 to 4 weeks, several months, or several years, depending on the
brewer's intention for the beer. The beer is usually transferred into a second container, so that
it is no longer exposed to the dead yeast and other debris (also known as "trub") that have
settled to the bottom of the primary fermenter. This prevents the formation of unwanted
flavours and harmful compounds such as acetylaldehydes.

Kräusening
Kräusening is a conditioning method in which fermenting wort is added to the finished beer.
The active yeast will restart fermentation in the finished beer, and so introduce fresh carbon
dioxide; the conditioning tank will be then sealed so that the carbon dioxide is dissolved into
the beer producing a lively "condition" or level of carbonation. The kräusening method may
also be used to condition bottled beer.

Lagering

Lagers are stored at near freezing temperatures for 1–6 months while still on the yeast. The
process of storing, or conditioning, or maturing, or aging a beer at a low temperate for a long
period is called "lagering", and while it is associated with lagers, the process may also be done
with ales, with the same results – that of cleaning up various chemicals, acids and compounds.

Secondary fermentation

During secondary fermentation, most of the remaining yeast will settle to the bottom of the
second fermenter, yielding a less hazy product.

Bottle fermentation

Some beers undergo a fermentation in the bottle, giving natural carbonation. This may be a
second or third fermentation. They are bottled with a viable yeast population in suspension. If
there is no residual fermentable sugar left, sugar and/or wort may be added in a process known
as priming. The resulting fermentation generates CO2 that is trapped in the bottle, remaining in
solution and providing natural carbonation. Bottle-conditioned beers may be either filled
unfiltered direct from the fermentation or conditioning tank, or filtered and then reseeded with
yeast.

Cask conditioning

Cask ale or cask-conditioned beer is unfiltered and unpasteurised beer that is conditioned
(including secondary fermentation) and served from a cask, either pumped up from a cellar via
a beer engine (hand pump), or from a tap by gravity. Sometimes a cask breather is used to keep
the beer fresh by allowing carbon dioxide to replace oxygen as the beer is drawn off the
cask.The term "real ale" as used by the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) refers to beer "served
without the use of extraneous carbon dioxide", which would disallow the use of a cask
breather.
Filtering

A mixture of diatomaceous earth and yeast after filtering.

Filtering the beer stabilizes the flavour, and gives beer its polished shine and brilliance. Not all
beer is filtered. When tax determination is required by local laws, it is typically done at this
stage in a calibrated tank.

Filters come in many types. Many are in the form of sheets or "candles". Others use a fine
powder such as diatomaceous earth, also called kieselguhr. The powder is added to the beer
and recirculated past screens to form a filtration bed.

Filters range from rough filters that remove much of the yeast and any solids (e.g., hops, grain
particles) left in the beer, to filters tight enough to strain colour and body from the beer.
Filtration ratings are divided into rough, fine, and sterile. Rough filtration leaves some
cloudiness in the beer, but it is noticeably clearer than unfiltered beer. Fine filtration removes
almost all cloudiness. Sterile filtration removes almost all microorganisms.

Sheet (pad) filters

These filters use sheets that allow only particles smaller than a given size to pass through. The
sheets are placed into a filtering frame, sanitized(with boiling water, for example) and then
used to filter the beer. The sheets can be flushed if the filter becomes blocked. The sheets are
usually disposable and are replaced between filtration sessions. Often the sheets contain
powdered filtration media to aid in filtration.

Pre-made filters have two sides. One with loose holes, and the other with tight holes. Flow goes
from the side with loose holes to the side with the tight holes, with the intent that large
particles get stuck in the large holes while leaving enough room around the particles and filter
medium for smaller particles to go through and get stuck in tighter holes.

Sheets are sold in nominal ratings, and typically 90% of particles larger than the nominal rating
are caught by the sheet.

Kieselguhr filters
Filters that use a powder medium are considerably more complicated to operate, but can filter
much more beer before regeneration. Common media include diatomaceous earth and perlite.

Packaging
See also: Beer bottle, Beverage can, Widget (beer), Draught beer and Cask ale

Packaging is putting the beer into the containers in which it will leave the brewery. Typically,
this means putting the beer into bottles, aluminium cans and kegs/casks, but it may include
putting the beer into bulk tanks for high-volume customers.
PROCESS OF WINE MAKING:

Process

Anatomy of a grape, showing the components extracted from each pressing.

After the harvest, the grapes are taken into a winery and prepared for primary ferment. At this
stage red wine making diverges from white wine making. Red wine is made from the must
(pulp) of red or black grapes and fermentation occurs together with the grape skins, which give
the wine its color. White wine is made by fermenting juice which is made by pressing crushed
grapes to extract a juice; the skins are removed and play no further role. Occasionally white
wine is made from red grapes; this is done by extracting their juice with minimal contact with
the grapes' skins. Rosé wines are either made from red grapes where the juice is allowed to
stay in contact with the dark skins long enough to pick up a pinkish color (blanc de noir) or by
blending red wine and white wine. White and rosé wines extract little of the tannins contained
in the skins.

To start primary fermentation yeast may be added to the must for red wine or may occur
naturally as ambient yeast on the grapes or in the air. Yeast may be added to the juice for white
wine. During this fermentation, which often takes between one and two weeks, the yeast
converts most of the sugars in the grape juice into ethanol (alcohol) and carbon dioxide. The
carbon dioxide is lost to the atmosphere.

After the primary fermentation of red grapes the free run wine is pumped off into tanks and the
skins are pressed to extract the remaining juice and wine. The press wine is blended with the
free run wine at the winemaker's discretion. The wine is kept warm and the remaining sugars
are converted into alcohol and carbon dioxide.

The next process in the making of red wine is secondary fermentation. This is a bacterial
fermentation which converts malic acid to lactic acid. This process decreases the acid in the
wine and softens the taste of the wine. Red wine is sometimes transferred to oak barrels to
mature for a period of weeks or months; this practice imparts oak aromas to the wine. The
wine must be settled or clarified and adjustments made prior to filtration and bottling.

The time from harvest to drinking can vary from a few months for Beaujolais nouveau wines to
over twenty years for top wines. However, only about 10% of all red and 5% of white wine will
taste better after five years than it will after just one year. Depending on the quality of grape
and the target wine style, some of these steps may be combined or omitted to achieve the
particular goals of the winemaker. Many wines of comparable quality are produced using
similar but distinctly different approaches to their production; quality is dictated by the
attributes of the starting material and not necessarily the steps taken during vinification.

Variations on the above procedure exist. With sparkling wines such as Champagne, an
additional fermentation takes place inside the bottle, trapping carbon dioxide and creating the
characteristic bubbles. Sweet wines are made by ensuring that some residual sugar remains
after fermentation is completed. This can be done by harvesting late (late harvest wine),
freezing the grapes to concentrate the sugar (ice wine), or adding a substance to kill the
remaining yeast before fermentation is completed; for example, high proof brandy is added
when making port wine. In other cases the winemaker may choose to hold back some of the
sweet grape juice and add it to the wine after the fermentation is done, a technique known as
süssreserve.

The process produces wastewater, pomace, and lees that require collection, treatment, and
disposal or beneficial use.

The grapes

Harvested Cabernet Sauvignon grapes

The quality of the grapes determines the quality of the wine more than any other factor. Grape
quality is affected by variety as well as weather during the growing season, soil minerals and
acidity, time of harvest, and pruning method. The combination of these effects is often referred
to as the grape's terroir.

Grapes are usually harvested from the vineyard from early September until early November in
the northern hemisphere, and mid February until early March in the southern hemisphere. In
some cool areas in the southern hemisphere, for example Tasmania, harvesting extends into
May.
The most common species of wine grape is Vitis vinifera, which includes nearly all varieties of
European origin.

Harvesting and destemming

Central component of a mechanical destemming. Paddles above the small circular slots rotate
to remove the larger chunks of stems. Grapes are pulled off the stems and fall through the
holes. Some small amount of stem particles are usually desired to be kept with the grapes for
tannin structure.

Harvest is the picking of the grapes and in many ways the first step in wine production. Grapes
are either harvested mechanically or by hand. The decision to harvest grapes is typically made
by the winemaker and informed by the level of sugar (called °Brix), acid (TA or Titratable Acidity
as expressed by tartaric acid equivalents) and pH of the grapes. Other considerations include
phenological ripeness, berry flavor, tannin development (seed color and taste). Overall
disposition of the grapevine and weather forecasts are taken into account.

Night harvest by hand of wine grapes in Napa, California

Mechanical harvesters are large tractors that straddle grapevine trellises and, using firm plastic
or rubber rods, strike the fruiting zone of the grapevine to dislodge the grapes from the rachis.
Mechanical harvesters have the advantage of being able to cover a large area of vineyard land
in a relatively short period of time, and with a minimum investment of manpower per
harvested ton. A disadvantage of mechanical harvesting is the indiscriminate inclusion of
foreign non-grape material in the product, especially leaf stems and leaves, but also, depending
on the trellis system and grapevine canopy management, may include moldy grapes,canes,
metal debris, rocks and even small animals and bird nests. Some winemakers remove leaves
and loose debris from the grapevine before mechanical harvesting to avoid such material being
included in the harvested fruit. In the United States mechanical harvesting is seldom used for
premium winemaking because of the indiscriminate picking and increased oxidation of the
grape juice. In other countries (such as Australia and New Zealand), mechanical harvesting of
premium winegrapes is more common because of general labor shortages.

Manual harvesting is the hand-picking of grape clusters from the grapevines. In the United
States, some grapes are picked into one- or two-ton bins for transport back to the winery.
Manual harvesting has the advantage of using knowledgeable labor to not only pick the ripe
clusters but also to leave behind the clusters that are not ripe or contain bunch rot or other
defects. This can be an effective first line of defense to prevent inferior quality fruit from
contaminating a lot or tank of wine.

Destemming is the process of separating stems from the grapes. Depending on the winemaking
procedure, this process may be undertaken before crushing with the purpose of lowering the
development of tannins and vegetal flavors in the resulting wine. Single berry harvesting, as is
done with some German Trockenbeerenauslese, avoids this step altogether with the grapes
being individually selected.

Crushing and primary (alcoholic) fermentation

The corkscrew-shaped feed auger sits on top of a mechanical crusher-destemmer. Grape

clusters are fed into the machine, where they are first crushed, then destemmed. Stems exit at
the end, while juice, skins, seeds, and some debris exit the bottom.

Crushing is the process when gently squeezing the berries and breaking the skins to start to
liberate the contents of the berries. Destemming is the process of removing the grapes from
the rachis (the stem which holds the grapes). In traditional and smaller-scale wine making, the
harvested grapes are sometimes crushed by trampling them barefoot or by the use of
inexpensive small scale crushers. These can also destem at the same time. However, in larger
wineries, a mechanical crusher/destemmer is used. The decision about destemming is different
for red and white wine making. Generally when making white wine the fruit is only crushed, the
stems are then placed in the press with the berries. The presence of stems in the mix facilitates
pressing by allowing juice to flow past flattened skins. These accumulate at the edge of the
press. For red winemaking, stems of the grapes are usually removed before fermentation since
the stems have a relatively high tannin content; in addition to tannin they can also give the
wine a vegetal aroma (due to extraction of 2-methoxy-3-isopropylpyrazine which has an aroma
reminiscent of green bell peppers.) On occasion, the winemaker may decide to leave them in if
the grapes themselves contain less tannin than desired. This is more acceptable if the stems
have 'ripened' and started to turn brown. If increased skin extraction is desired, a winemaker
might choose to crush the grapes after destemming. Removal of stems first means no stem
tannin can be extracted. In these cases the grapes pass between two rollers which squeeze the
grapes enough to separate the skin and pulp, but not so much as to cause excessive shearing or
tearing of the skin tissues. In some cases, notably with "delicate" red varietals such as Pinot noir
or Syrah, all or part of the grapes might be left uncrushed (called "whole berry") to encourage
the retention of fruity aromas through partial carbonic maceration.

Crushed grapes leaving the crusher

Most red wines derive their color from grape skins (the exception being varieties or hybrids of
non-vinifera vines which contain juice pigmented with the dark Malvidin 3,5-diglucoside
anthocyanin) and therefore contact between the juice and skins is essential for color extraction.
Red wines are produced by destemming and crushing the grapes into a tank and leaving the
skins in contact with the juice throughout the fermentation (maceration). It is possible to
produce white (colorless) wines from red grapes by the fastidious pressing of uncrushed fruit.
This minimizes contact between grape juice and skins (as in the making of Blanc de noirs
sparkling wine, which is derived from Pinot noir, a red vinifera grape.)

Most white wines are processed without destemming or crushing and are transferred from
picking bins directly to the press. This is to avoid any extraction of tannin from either the skins
or grapeseeds, as well as maintaining proper juice flow through a matrix of grape clusters
rather than loose berries. In some circumstances winemakers choose to crush white grapes for
a short period of skin contact, usually for three to 24 hours. This serves to extract flavor and
tannin from the skins (the tannin being extracted to encourage protein precipitation without
excessive Bentonite addition) as well as Potassium ions, which participate in bitartrate
precipitation (cream of tartar). It also results in an increase in the pH of the juice which may be
desirable for overly acidic grapes. This was a practice more common in the 1970s than today,
though still practiced by some Sauvignon blanc and Chardonnay producers in California.
In the case of rosé wines, the fruit is crushed and the dark skins are left in contact with the juice
just long enough to extract the color that the winemaker desires. The must is then pressed, and
fermentation continues as if the winemaker was making a white wine.

Yeast is normally already present on the grapes, often visible as a powdery appearance of the
grapes. The primary, or alcoholic fermentation can be done with this natural yeast, but since
this can give unpredictable results depending on the exact types of yeast that are present,
cultured yeast is often added to the must. One of the main problems with the use of wild
ferments is the failure for the fermentation to go to completion, that is some sugar remains
unfermented. This can make the wine sweet when a dry wine is desired. Frequently wild
ferments lead to the production of unpleasant acetic acid (vinegar) production as a by product.

A cap of grape skins forms on the surface of fermenting red wine.

During the primary fermentation, the yeast cells feed on the sugars in the must and multiply,
producing carbon dioxide gas and alcohol. The temperature during the fermentation affects
both the taste of the end product, as well as the speed of the fermentation. For red wines, the
temperature is typically 22 to 25 °C, and for white wines 15 to 18 °C. For every gram of sugar
that is converted, about half a gram of alcohol is produced, so to achieve a 12% alcohol
concentration, the must should contain about 24% sugars. The sugar percentage of the must is
calculated from the measured density, the must weight, with the help of a specialized type of
hydrometer called a saccharometer. If the sugar content of the grapes is too low to obtain the
desired alcohol percentage, sugar can be added (chaptalization). In commercial winemaking,
chaptalization is subject to local regulations.

Alcohol of more than 12% can be achieved by using yeast that can withstand high alcohol.
Some yeasts can produce 18% alcohol in the wine however extra sugar is added to produce a
high alcohol content.

During or after the alcoholic fermentation, a secondary, or malolactic fermentation can also
take place, during which specific strains of bacteria (lactobacter) convert malic acid into the
milder lactic acid. This fermentation is often initiated by inoculation with desired bacteria.
Pressing

Ancient winepress in Migdal HaEmek, with the pressing area in the center and the collection vat
off to the bottom left.

Pressing is the act of applying pressure to grapes or pomace in order to separate juice or wine
from grapes and grape skins. Pressing is not always a necessary act in winemaking; if grapes are
crushed there is a considerable amount of juice immediately liberated (called free-run juice)
that can be used for vinification. Typically this free-run juice is of a higher quality than the press
juice. However, most wineries do use presses in order to increase their production (gallons) per
ton, as pressed juice can represent between 15%-30% of the total juice volume from the grape.

Presses act by positioning the grape skins or whole grape clusters between a rigid surface and a
moveable surface and slowly decrease the volume between the two surfaces. Modern presses
dictate the duration and pressure at each press cycle, usually ramping from 0 Bar to 2.0 Bar.
Sometimes winemakers choose pressures which separate the streams of pressed juice, called
making "press cuts." As the pressure increases the amount of tannin extracted from the skins
into the juice increases, often rendering the pressed juice excessively tannic or harsh. Because
of the location of grape juice constituents in the berry (water and acid are found primarily in
the mesocarp or pulp, whereas tannins are found primarily in the exocarp, or skin, and seeds),
pressed juice or wine tends to be lower in acidity with a higher pH than the free-run juice.

Before the advent of modern winemaking, most presses were basket presses made of wood
and operated manually. Basket presses are composed of a cylinder of wooden slats on top of a
fixed plate, with a moveable plate that can be forced downward (usually by a central ratcheting
threaded screw.) The press operator would load the grapes or pomace into the wooden
cylinder, put the top plate in place and lower it until juice flowed from the wooden slats. As the
juice flow decreased, the plate was ratcheted down again. This process continued until the
press operator determined that the quality of the pressed juice or wine was below standard, or
all liquids had been pressed. Since the early 1990s, modern mechanical basket presses have
been revived through higher-end producers seeking to replicate the gentle pressing of the
historical basket presses. Because basket presses have a relatively compact design, the press
cake offers a relatively longer pathway for the juice to travel before leaving the press. It is
believed by advocates of basket presses that this relatively long pathway through the grape or
pomace cake serves as a filter to solids that would otherwise affect the quality of the press
juice.

Antique wooden wine press in front of World Heritage vineyards

With red wines, the must is pressed after primary fermentation, which separates the skins and
other solid matter from the liquid. With white wine, the liquid is separated from the must
before fermentation . With rose, the skins may be kept in contact for a shorter period to give
color to the wine, in that case the must may be pressed as well. After a period in which the
wine stands or ages, the wine is separated from the dead yeast and any solids that remained
(called lees), and transferred to a new container where any additional fermentation may take
place.

Pigeage

Pigeage is a French winemaking term for the traditional stomping of grapes in open
fermentation tanks. To make certain types of wine, grapes are put through a crusher and then
poured into open fermentation tanks. Once fermentation begins, the grape skins are pushed to
the surface by carbon dioxide gases released in the fermentation process. This layer of skins
and other solids is known as the cap. As the skins are the source of the tannins, the cap needs
to be mixed through the liquid each day, or "punched," which traditionally is done by stomping
through the vat.

Cold stabilization

Cold stabilization is a process used in winemaking to reduce tartrate crystals (generally

potassium bitartrate) in wine. These tartrate crystals look like grains of clear sand, and are also
known as "wine crystals" or "wine diamonds". They are formed by the union of tartaric acid and
potassium, and may appear to be sediment in the wine, though they are not. During the cold
stabilizing process after fermentation, the temperature of the wine is dropped to close to
freezing for 1–2 weeks. This will cause the crystals to separate from the wine and stick to the
sides of the holding vessel. When the wine is drained from the vessels, the tartrates are left
behind. They may also form in wine bottles that have been stored under very cold conditions.
Secondary (malolactic) fermentation and bulk aging

Stainless steel fermentation vessels and new oak barrels at the Three Choirs Vineyard,
Gloucestershire, England

During the secondary fermentation and aging process, which takes three to six months, the
fermentation continues very slowly. The wine is kept under an airlock to protect the wine from
oxidation. Proteins from the grape are broken down and the remaining yeast cells and other
fine particles from the grapes are allowed to settle. Potassium bitartrate will also precipitate, a
process which can be enhanced by cold stabilization to prevent the appearance of (harmless)
tartrate crystals after bottling. The result of these processes is that the originally cloudy wine
becomes clear. The wine can be racked during this process to remove the lees.

The secondary fermentation usually takes place in either large stainless steel vessels with a
volume of several cubic meters, or oak barrels, depending on the goals of the winemakers.
Unoaked wine is fermented in a barrel made of stainless steel or other material having no
influence in the final taste of the wine. Depending on the desired taste, it could be fermented
mainly in stainless steel to be briefly put in oak, or have the complete fermentation done in
stainless steel. Oak could be added as chips used with a non-wooden barrel instead of a fully
wooden barrel. This process is mainly used in cheaper wine.

Amateur winemakers often use glass carboys in the production of their wine; these vessels
(sometimes called demijohns) have a capacity of 4.5 to 54 liters (1.2–14.3 US gallons). The kind
of vessel used depends on the amount of wine that is being made, the grapes being used, and
the intentions of the winemaker.

Malolactic fermentation

Malolactic fermentation occurs when lactic acid bacteria metabolize malic acid and produce
lactic acid and carbon dioxide. This is carried out either as an intentional procedure in which
specially cultivated strains of such bacteria are introduced into the maturing wine, or it can
happen by chance if uncultivated lactic acid bacteria are present.

Malolactic fermentation can improve the taste of wine that has high levels of malic acid,
because malic acid, in higher concentration, generally causes an unpleasant harsh and bitter
taste sensation, whereas lactic acid is more gentle and less sour. Lactic acid is an acid found in
dairy products. Malolactic fermentation usually results in an increase on the pH of the wine.
This should be monitored and not allowed to rise above a pH of 3.55 for whites or a pH of 3.80
for reds. pH can be reduced roughly at a rate of 0.1 units per 1 gram/litre of tartaric acid
addition.

The use of lactic acid bacteria is the reason why some chardonnays can taste "buttery" due to
the production of diacetyl by the bacteria. All red wines go through complete malolactic
fermentation, both to lessen the acid of the wine and to remove the possibility that malolactic
fermentation will occur in the bottle. White wines vary in the use of malolactic fermentation
during their making. Lighter aromatic wines such as Riesling, generally do not go through
malolactic fermentation. The fuller white wines such as barrel fermented chardonnay, are more
commonly put through malolactic fermentation. Sometimes a partial fermentation, for
example, somewhere less than 50% might be employed.

Laboratory tests

Whether the wine is aging in tanks or barrels, tests are run periodically in a laboratory to check
the status of the wine. Common tests include °Brix, pH, titratable acidity, residual sugar, free or
available sulfur, total sulfur, volatile acidity and percent alcohol. Additional tests include those
for the crystallization of cream of tartar (potassium hydrogen tartrate) and the precipitation of
heat unstable protein; this last test is limited to white wines. These tests may be performed
throughout the making of the wine as well as prior to bottling. In response to the results of
these tests, a winemaker can decide on appropriate remedial action, for example the addition
of more sulfur dioxide. Sensory tests will also be performed and again in response to these a
winemaker may take remedial action such as the addition of a protein to soften the taste of the
wine.

°Brix is one measure of the soluble solids in the grape juice and represents not only the sugars
but also includes many other soluble substances such as salts, acids and tannins, sometimes
called Total Soluble Solids (TSS). Because sugar is the dominant compound in grape juice, these
units are effectively a measure of sugar level. The level of sugar in the grapes determines the
final alcohol content of the wine as well as indirect index of grape maturity. Brix (Bx for short) is
measured in grams per hundred grams of solution, so 20 Bx means that 100 grams of juice
contains 20gm of dissolved compounds. There are other common measures of sugar content of
grapes, Specific gravity, Oechsle (Germany) and Beaume (France). In the French Baumé (Be° or
Bé° for short) one Be° corresponds approximately to one percent alcohol. One Be° is equal to
1.8 Brix, that is 1.8 grams of sugar per one hundred grams. Therefore, to achieve one percent
alcohol the winemaker adds 1.8 grams per 100 ml or 18 grams per liter — a practice known as
chaptalization, which is illegal in some countries and in California.

Brix is usually measured with a refractometer while the other methods use a hydrometer.
Generally, hydrometers are a cheaper alternative.
Volatile acidity test verifies if there is any steam distillable acids in the wine. Mainly present is
acetic acid (the dominant component of vinegar), but lactic, butyric, propionic, and formic acid
can also be found. Usually the test checks for these acids in a cash still, but there are other
methods available such as HPLC, gas chromatography and enzymatic methods. The amount of
volatile acidity found in sound grapes is negligible, because it is a by-product of microbial
metabolism. Because acetic acid bacteria require oxygen to grow, eliminating any air in wine
containers as well as addition of sulfur dioxide will limit their growth. Rejecting moldy grapes
also prevents possible problems associated with acetic acid bacteria. Use of sulfur dioxide and
inoculation with a low-V.A. producing strain of Saccharomyces may deter acetic acid producing
yeast. A relatively new method for removal of volatile acidity from a wine is reverse osmosis.
Blending may also help—a wine with high V.A. can be filtered (to remove the microbe
responsible) and blended with a low V.A. wine, so that the acetic acid level is below the sensory
threshold.

Sulphur dioxide can be readily measured with relatively simple laboratory equipment. There are
several methods available; a typical test involves acidification of a sample with phosphoric acid,
distillation of the liberated SO2, and capture by hydrogen peroxide solution. The SO2 and
peroxide react to form sulphuric acid, which is then titrated with NaOH to an end point with an
indicator, and the volume of NaOH required is used to calculate the SO2 level. This method has
inaccuracies associated with red wine, inefficient condensers, and excessive aspiration rate,
although the results are reproducible, having an accuracy with just a 2.5-5% error,
[Buechsenstein and Ough, 1978], which is sufficient to control the level of sulphur dioxide in
wine.

Blending and fining

Different batches of wine can be mixed before bottling in order to achieve the desired taste.
The winemaker can correct perceived inadequacies by mixing wines from different grapes and
batches that were produced under different conditions. These adjustments can be as simple as
adjusting acid or tannin levels, to as complex as blending different varieties or vintages to
achieve a consistent taste.

Fining agents are used during winemaking to remove tannins, reduce astringency and remove
microscopic particles that could cloud the wines. The winemakers decide on which fining agents
are used and these may vary from product to product and even batch to batch (usually
depending on the grapes of that particular year).

Gelatin has been used in winemaking for centuries and is recognized as a traditional method for
wine fining, or clarifying. It is also the most commonly used agent to reduce the tannin content.
Generally no gelatin remains in the wine because it reacts with the wine components, as it
clarifies, and forms a sediment which is removed by filtration prior to bottling.

Besides gelatin, other fining agents for wine are often derived from animal products, such as
micronized potassium casseinate (casein is milk protein), egg whites, egg albumin, bone char,
bull's blood, isinglass (Sturgeon bladder), PVPP (a synthetic compound), lysozyme, and skim
milk powder.

Some aromatized wines contain honey or egg-yolk extract.

Non-animal-based filtering agents are also often used, such as bentonite (a volcanic clay-based
filter), diatomaceous earth, cellulose pads, paper filters and membrane filters (thin films of
plastic polymer material having uniformly sized holes).

Preservatives

The most common preservative used in winemaking is sulfur dioxide, normally added in one of
the following forms: liquid sulfur dioxide, sodium or potassium metabisulphite. Another useful
preservative is potassium sorbate.

Sulfur dioxide has two primary actions, firstly it is an anti microbial agent and secondly an anti
oxidant. In the making of white wine it can be added prior to fermentation and immediately
after alcoholic fermentation is complete. If added after alcoholic ferment it will have the effect
of preventing or stopping malolactic fermentation, bacterial spoilage and help protect against
the damaging effects of oxygen. Additions of up to 100 mg per liter (of sulfur dioxide) can be
added, but the available or free sulfur dioxide should be measured by the aspiration method
and adjusted to 30 mg per liter. Available sulfur dioxide should be maintained at this level until
bottling. For rose wines smaller additions should be made and the available level should be no
more than 30 mg per liter.

In the making of red wine, sulfur dioxide may be used at high levels (100 mg per liter) prior to
ferment to assist in color stabilization. Otherwise, it is used at the end of malolactic ferment
and performs the same functions as in white wine. However, small additions (say 20 mg per
liter) should be used to avoid bleaching red pigments and the maintenance level should be
about 20 mg per liter. Furthermore, small additions (say 20 mg per liter) may be made to red
wine after alcoholic ferment and before malolactic ferment to overcome minor oxidation and
prevent the growth of acetic acid bacteria.

Without the use of sulfur dioxide, wines can readily suffer bacterial spoilage no matter how
hygienic the winemaking practice.

Potassium sorbate is effective for the control of fungal growth, including yeast, especially for
sweet wines in bottle. However, one potential hazard is the metabolism of sorbate to geraniol
which is a potent and unpleasant by-product. The production of geraniol occurs only if sorbic
acid is present during malo-lactic fermentation. To avoid this, either the wine must be sterile
bottled or contain enough sulfur dioxide to inhibit the growth of bacteria. Sterile bottling
includes the use of filtration.
Some winemakers practice natural wine making where no preservative is added. Once the wine
is bottled and corked, the bottles are put into refrigeration with temperatures near 5°C.

Filtration

Filtration in winemaking is used to accomplish two objectives, clarification and microbial

stabilization. In clarification, large particles that affect the visual appearance of the wine are
removed. In microbial stabilization, organisms that affect the stability of the wine are removed
therefore reducing the likelihood of re-fermentation or spoilage.

A wine labelling machine in France

The process of clarification is concerned with the removal of particles; those larger than 5–10
micrometers for coarse polishing, particles larger than 1–4 micrometers for clarifying or
polishing. Microbial stabilization requires a filtration of at least 0.65 micrometers. However,
filtration at this level may lighten a wine's color and body. Microbial stabilization does not imply
sterility. It simply means that a significant amount of yeast and bacteria have been removed.

Clarification of the wine can take place naturally by putting the wine into refrigeration at 35°F
(2°C). The wine takes about a month to settle and it is clear. No chemicals are needed.

Bottling

A final dose of sulfite is added to help preserve the wine and prevent unwanted fermentation in
the bottle. The wine bottles then are traditionally sealed with a cork, although alternative wine
closures such as synthetic corks and screwcaps, which are less subject to cork taint, are
becoming increasingly popular.[4] The final step is adding a capsule [5] to the top of the bottle
which is then heated [6] for a tight seal.