mlf

Hi all. I usually avoid MLF, since I like a bit of acidity in wine and generally local grapes in Turkey have relatively low acidity due to hot climate. But this year having realized that Merlot grapes that I am fermenting has a too sharp acidic mouthfeel, I decided making MLF and ordered...

Many of the wines I did in 2022 had a percentage of fresh/ unpasteurized apple juice in them. That seemed OK since juice would have more fruit impact than formulating country wines with water. BUT now that I am clearing out the carboys I am seeing all the pH numbers have drifted up...

(Hi. Just joined. Hope this is a good sub-forum to post in). I made a starter for my malolactic bacteria, and the smell I get from it is that of sour beer. Lactic acid is the main acid in sour beer, so that makes sense, but the few things I see around the internet are that the starter should...

Hello All, I'm new to winemaking and have found this forum helpful in the learning process. I live in San Diego and have made a few batches of Cab and Petite the past few years. I pick grapes from local vineyards and de-stem/crush/press at home. I've picked ~150lbs of grapes each time so end up...

Hey all, love the great tips on here. Could use some help of my own. I pressed my Cab. Two days later, I carefully racked my carboys to the neck and I began MLF that day. it’s been just over 2 weeks since MLF has visibly been going on but some heavy sediment has accumulated...should I rack...

I read if you put a wine with citrus acid through MLF it will produce acidic acid and taste like vinegar. I did a 2nd run wine through some merlot skins and used water and grape concentrate to do it and I’m talking about standard frozen grocery store grape juice concentrate not a wine specific...

My merlot got a sign of infection during MLF, so I racked and added sulfite. The MLF was only half way done when the infection occurred. I’m wondering if I can wait for sulfite to go down and restart MLF again. If not, can you advise in what to do as merlot is still pretty tart. Thanks!

I just did my Chromatography test and it did not come out as expected. I tested 5 reds two of which I inoculated with CH16 two days after pitching the yeast. And the other 3 did not get the ML culture. I attached the pic of the test and it looks like all 5 wines are still strong in Malic Acid...

I have a batch of pinot noir (from grapes). I pitched yeast on 9/30and co-inoculated with ML bacteria on 10/1. I've since pressed off the skins/seeds, SG is below 1.000, and the wine is still sitting on the gross lees. Question: can I rack off those lees now or will that mess with the MLF? Do...

I currently have petite Sirah wine grape fermenting and it’s almost done fermenting. Per my research, if I want to do MLF, I shouldn’t add any sulfite in my wine. However, with pressing, I’m concerned with infection and oxidation. Of course, I’ll sanitize my wine press but I’m still a bit...

Hi all, I am a few weeks into MLF, in the beginning I noticed both my carboys airlock levels showed a positive pressure from inside the carboy, meaning there is some outgassing happening. Now one still shows positive pressure and one negative pressure which I thought was odd. Is there reason to...

If you have to choose 1 malolactic bacteria strain to take up resident inside your only oak barrel, what strain would that be?

So I live in St. Louis Missouri. For the last few years I have been picking fresh Chambourcin grapes from a friends vineyard in Illinois. This year because of the odd weather his crop was pretty wrecked So we ordered some Kings River California Cabernet grapes. My first time making a Cabernet...

I had a question about MLF. After a week of fermenting 100 lbs of merlot grapes with EC-1118, I pressed my grapes on Friday and racked off the gross lees on Sunday. I have not added any sulfites since the crush. When I racked on Sunday, I had to top off with a similar store bought wine. 3...

Hi, Crushed red grapes 6 days ago (1 pail of Syrah, 1 pail of Sangiovese), threw a bit of Sodium Meta then left on a cool garage for almost 24 hours. Next day I inoculated with yeast. Every day twice a day I punched the cap and aerated the must. Maceration went on for 5 1/2 days. Checked...

Hello All, Just made a nice 50L batch of red blend (Cab Sav, Merlot, Syrah - 1:1:1), and racked it to my barrel over the weekend. I've put in the MLB yeast into the barrel yesterday. But i also ended up with about 12L (3 gal) of press run wine, currently sitting in a carboy. Should i run it...

I have an extended maceration going with a WineXpert Eclipse Lodi Ranch 11 Cab Sauv kit that will be finishing up in 2 weeks. I was interested in doing MLF on this batch once the EM is done since my preference for red wine is lower acid. But I read online in...

Hi guys, With the primary going, I'm preparing for a sequential MLF (will add V41 int the tank once the primary has completed). The first batch ever, so grossly inexperienced :) I won't have any equpment to test the levels of components, so the progress will need to be tracked "mechanically"...