Kegged Wines

[DrXmus]

Food & Wine published an article a couple of months ago about kegged wines becoming more popular. From what I can tell, they're using run-of-the-mill 5 gallon Sankey kegs. My question for you all is how do you think the wine is pushed to the tap? Room air will oxidize the wine. CO2 and Nitrogen will carbonate it. It doesn't seem like O2 would work, although it would oxygenate the heck out of the wine.

Thoughts? Curious minds want to know.

Sandy

[mdt]

Food & Wine published an article a couple of months ago about kegged wines becoming more popular. From what I can tell, they're using run-of-the-mill 5 gallon Sankey kegs. My question for you all is how do you think the wine is pushed to the tap? Room air will oxidize the wine. CO2 and Nitrogen will carbonate it. It doesn't seem like O2 would work, although it would oxygenate the heck out of the wine.

Thoughts? Curious minds want to know.

Sandy

CO₂ and N would not carbonate it unless you put it under high pressure for a period of time. The (inert) air can be set at a low pressure and just push the wine out of the keg. The more important question is what wine is in the keg.

[DrXmus]

CO₂ and N would not carbonate it unless you put it under high pressure for a period of time. The (inert) air can be set at a low pressure and just push the wine out of the keg. The more important question is what wine is in the keg.

Not to get into a dissertation about balancing a draught system, but don't you have to consider the run from the keg to the tap? Assuming the kegs are more than a foot or so from the tap, the pressure needed would certainly carbonate the wine (not much if it's a short run, but my thought is it'd feel like a vinho verde). I guess you could depressurize the keg after every use, but that'd be quite the hassle and noise. I'll admit I may be thinking about this process all wrong, but after working on my kegerator system, I feel like I know enough to be dangerous.

[mdt]

Not to get into a dissertation about balancing a draught system, but don't you have to consider the run from the keg to the tap? Assuming the kegs are more than a foot or so from the tap, the pressure needed would certainly carbonate the wine (not much if it's a short run, but my thought is it'd feel like a vinho verde). I guess you could depressurize the keg after every use, but that'd be quite the hassle and noise. I'll admit I may be thinking about this process all wrong, but after working on my kegerator system, I feel like I know enough to be dangerous.

You are correct that it would depend on the run and it would take some management but it would work. The only time you would need to keep any pressure on the keg is when you need to serve it. When done you could bleed off any extra CO₂ and keep the wine bubble free.

[DrXmus]

You are correct that it would depend on the run and it would take some management but it would work. The only time you would need to keep any pressure on the keg is when you need to serve it. When done you could bleed off any extra CO₂ and keep the wine bubble free.

Yep, you may be right about just keeping pressure on when it's being served. I'm attaching a link to the Food and Wine blurb about kegged wines. Looking at the setup, there's a chance the kegs may be above the floor so they may be gravity fed. If that's the case, they could just allow enough inert gas to enter the keg to allow for prevention of a vacuum.

[qwertyy]

My brother is involved in Free Flow Wines, so while I don't completely understand the sourcing and engineering, I have been avidly reading the news about it. These three articles from San Francisco have some illuminating details.