2018 Grape Season Underway

[Ajmassa]

If your borderline color blind it just doesn't work. What's even worse is trying to do a manual titration. Just got off the phone with Vinmetrica. They had to walk me through rebuting the meter. Seems OK now but they recommended I do a final test with cream of tartar. See below:

pH test with cream of tartar

A quick way to check your calibration and pH accuracy is to measure the pH of a saturated solution of cream of tartar which has a pH of 3.56 at 25 degrees celsius:
a. Get pure cream of tartar (grocery store stuff is fine, provided it’s pure), or even better is reagent grade potassium hydrogen tartrate, also known as potassium acid tartrate or potassium bitartrate. Call it KHT for short.
b. Place about 1/4 teaspoon of KHT in 20 mL of distilled water. Mix well for about 30 seconds. You want to be sure the solution is saturated, i.e., everything that can dissolve, has dissolved. There should be some undissolved solid left.
c. Decant or filter the solution off the solids.
d. This solution has a standard pH of 3.56 at 25 degrees C (78 degrees F). It should be within 0.02 pH of this value at temperatures from 20 to 30 degrees Celsius. Discard after 24 hours.

Yikes. Sounds like work. And a trip to store. Just stick it in another wine you made that you know the ph of.

 

[mainshipfred]

Yikes. Sounds like work. And a trip to store. Just stick it in another wine you made that you know the ph of.

Great minds you know. I already did that in 3 different. Appears to be fine. Still going to do the test just because it's a new thing.

 

[Ajmassa]

Great minds you know. I already did that in 3 different. Appears to be fine. Still going to do the test just because it's a new thing.

Rock and roll

 

[mainshipfred]

Yep - missed that. So, you'll push it through an MLF and wind up where? 3.4 - 3.5?

I'm not 100% sure but I thought it went the other way. I thought MLF increased the ph..

 

[jgmann67]

I'm not 100% sure but I thought it went the other way. I thought MLF increased the ph..

I get them confused a lot. It will increase your pH by .2 to .3 (decreasing acidity).

 

[Boatboy24]

I'm not 100% sure but I thought it went the other way. I thought MLF increased the ph..

It does.

 

[pgentile]

Just had my first 2 bathces tested with commercial equipment. Syrah brix 26.7 ph 4.08, Zin brix 22.7 ph 3.99. The winemaker told me to take them both down to 3.65 - 3.70. We were talking about chapitalizing the Zin but I think I'm going to keep it where it's at. It's one of the wineries I help at on occasion and while I was there we crushed and pressed 3 ton of Petite Manseng.

I'm surprised at these numbers, the way they talked at procacci the zin was supposed to be 26 brix. I didn't adjust my petite sirah at 3.82 TA was .60. Hope I don't rue that.

 

[ceeaton]

I'm surprised at these numbers, the way they talked at procacci the zin was supposed to be 26 brix. I didn't adjust my petite sirah at 3.82 TA was .60. Hope I don't rue that.

You're fine. Taste it and check the pH after MLF is complete and you've degassed a sample, you may have to up the SO2 when you bottle it if the pH is on the higher end. If it doesn't taste right do some bench tests lowering the pH in small increments. If you like the taste you didn't "rue" it, it's your wine.

 

[pgentile]

You're fine. Taste it and check the pH after MLF is complete and you've degassed a sample, you may have to up the SO2 when you bottle it if the pH is on the higher end. If it doesn't taste right do some bench tests lowering the pH in small increments. If you like the taste you didn't "rue" it, it's your wine.

Thanks Craig you confirmed my thinking.

 

[Steve_M]

Thoughts on the following for this years grape selection;
Cabernet Sauvignon 54%
Merlot 40%
Petit Verdot 3%
Cabernet Franc 3%
What if anything would you change or switch in/out?

 

[Boatboy24]

Thoughts on the following for this years grape selection;
Cabernet Sauvignon 54%
Merlot 40%
Petit Verdot 3%
Cabernet Franc 3%
What if anything would you change or switch in/out?

I like the sounds of it, but wouldn't finalize anything until I did some taste trials.

 

[mainshipfred]

I'm surprised at these numbers, the way they talked at procacci the zin was supposed to be 26 brix. I didn't adjust my petite sirah at 3.82 TA was .60. Hope I don't rue that.

Paul, call me thick but I don't think I'm reaing something right. So you didn't adjust the TA of 3.82. What was .60?

 

[pgentile]

Paul, call me thick but I don't think I'm reaing something right. So you didn't adjust the TA of 3.82. What was .60?

pH 3.82 TA .6

 

[pgentile]

Went to pitch the MLB yesterday and noticed they sent me opti-malo instead of act-malo, which I already had. Ended up just adding the CH16 directly to the must after adding opt-malo to the must.

Pitched Rc212 sunday am. Cap is up and ferment is vigorous on the brunello. The petite sirah is fermenting just as vigorously but the dark inky viscous juice is having trouble holding the cap up as high.

Aromas are delightful right now. Hits you as soon as you enter the house.

 

[ceeaton]

Went to pitch the MLB yesterday and noticed they sent me opti-malo instead of act-malo, which I already had. Ended up just adding the CH16 directly to the must after adding opt-malo to the must.

Pitched Rc212 sunday am. Cap is up and ferment is vigorous on the brunello. The petite sirah is fermenting just as vigorously but the dark inky viscous juice is having trouble holding the cap up as high.

Aromas are delightful right now. Hits you as soon as you enter the house.

Your co-innoculating so I think you'll be fine. The acti-malo helps the MLB survive the harsh environment present in a fully fermented wine. Plus RC-212 doesn't seem to create a super harsh environment (SO2 wise) as some of the other yeasts. I'd drink a glass or beer/wine and enjoy the blurping (or burping) noises.

 

[mainshipfred]

Went to pitch the MLB yesterday and noticed they sent me opti-malo instead of act-malo, which I already had. Ended up just adding the CH16 directly to the must after adding opt-malo to the must.

Pitched Rc212 sunday am. Cap is up and ferment is vigorous on the brunello. The petite sirah is fermenting just as vigorously but the dark inky viscous juice is having trouble holding the cap up as high.

Aromas are delightful right now. Hits you as soon as you enter the house.

I've only ever used opti-malo. Never rehydrated with acti-malo, didn't even know it existed. I'll have to try it but unfortunately my fall yeast and additive order arrrived today and don't think I missed anything.

 

[mainshipfred]

This should probably go in another thread but going to post here. My formula for calculating potential ABV is starting minus finish SG X 131. If I have a must of 26.7 brix or 1.114 SG the math takes me to 21.49% alcohol using a finish gravity of .95. Now I know my yeast will die off before and if it didn't I wouldn't want it that high anyway. What am I doing wrong. I really don't want to water it back.

 

[Ajmassa]

Talked to Lenny Procacci today. They have more trucks coming in this week with all new stuff. And trucks will continue coming into October as well.
Got my old man coming by this wknd and will be making the D**o red batch. Meant as a throwback no frills stress free type batch. Still mulling it over- but may go au natural. No yeast. No adjustment/malo or anything. Just crush and let ‘er rip. Like the good old days.
I don’t think 6 gallons will be enough tho. Upping to 15. This is the wine we drink waiting for the rest to age.

**noticed my ph55 meter dried out. Not sure how long ago. Rinsed off the salty chemical deposits— dropped in the 7.0 and 4.0. Both right on the money. Hats off to Milwaukee

 

[pgentile]

This should probably go in another thread but going to post here. My formula for calculating potential ABV is starting minus finish SG X 131. If I have a must of 26.7 brix or 1.114 SG the math takes me to 21.49% alcohol using a finish gravity of .95. Now I know my yeast will die off before and if it didn't I wouldn't want it that high anyway. What am I doing wrong. I really don't want to water it back.

Brix calculator comes up with 16.5 ABV for 26.7 brix.

https://www.brewersfriend.com/brix-converter/

 

[Johnd]

This should probably go in another thread but going to post here. My formula for calculating potential ABV is starting minus finish SG X 131. If I have a must of 26.7 brix or 1.114 SG the math takes me to 21.49% alcohol using a finish gravity of .95. Now I know my yeast will die off before and if it didn't I wouldn't want it that high anyway. What am I doing wrong. I really don't want to water it back.

Your calculations are off, at least according to FermCalc, which is what I use for all of my winemaking calculations. Fermcalc says that a starting point of 1.114 and ending of .995 yields an ABV of between 15.9 and 16.6, depending upon which calc method you choose. At any rate, that's still a bit stout for most wines, and watering back with acidulated water is pretty much the norm unless you have a lower BRIX must you can blend it with. I've had to water back a few times, and didn't really like the concept, but in the end, the wine turned out wonderful.................