Broad Run Cellars 2015 Fall Crush

[Boatboy24]

Racked the cab from the garage this morning and had a boatload of crystals. Wine is tasting MUCH better. I'll double check later for 'salts', but again, I think I succeeded with this. I added 2oz of Medium French cubes and 1oz of American. It'll go into a neutral barrel in a month or so.

 

[Boatboy24]

Update: 36 hours after racking and bringing it back to the basement, the wine is showing tiny bubbles - almost as if MLF has kicked off. I did add 1/4 tsp of kMeta, but the VP41 supposedly has a tolerance of up to 60ppm.

 

[Tnuscan]

Racked the cab from the garage this morning and had a boatload of crystals. Wine is tasting MUCH better. I'll double check later for 'salts', but again, I think I succeeded with this. I added 2oz of Medium French cubes and 1oz of American. It'll go into a neutral barrel in a month or so.

May I ask what have your temps in garage been averaging?

 

[Boatboy24]

May I ask what have your temps in garage been averaging?

Well, last week they were pretty warm - it was pushing 80 here for 3 or 4 days. With the cold, concrete slab in there and the door closed, it was probably in the mid 60's. Prior to that, I'd say they were in the 40's. After the first few cold days in the garage, I wrapped the carboy in a few towels to keep the temps a little more stable.

 

[Boatboy24]

OK, the Cab went into my newest Vadai over the weekend. Third wine in (previous two were kits). It is tasting very, very good now, so I think the potassium carbonate and cold stabilizing was a success. I need to test pH to be sure, but there was a dramatic difference in the taste.

 

[ibglowin]

Looking forward to your numbers.

I think I am going to try blending my "problem" away LOL. I racked the last of my boys this past weekend. My Grenache turned out to be a problem child. I suspect just not ready to be picked and they did as the bulk of the grapes were good to go so pull everything. Sigh......

Starting numbers were ~ 23 brix and TA 0.6 and pH ~ 3.3. Just ugly so I let it ride as is and only added a bit of simple syrup to bump the sugar up. Ended up with a pH around 3.2 and now is tasting pretty darn tart. Luckily I have 6 gallons of Syrah with pH ~ 3.7 to play with. I plan on a bench trial with 40% Grenache, 40% Syrah and 20% Cab Sauv (pH ~3.65).

Hopefully that will work out well if not, plan "B" is some K2CO3.

 

[ceeaton]

Starting numbers were ~ 23 brix and TA 0.6 and pH ~ 3.3.

Mike, for educational purposes, should the pH normally be around 3.5 or so on the Grenache? Thanks.

 

[ibglowin]

For the area my fruit came from the brix should have been ~26 or so and the pH around 3.6-3.8.

 

[geek]

OK, the Cab went into my newest Vadai over the weekend. Third wine in (previous two were kits). It is tasting very, very good now, so I think the potassium carbonate and cold stabilizing was a success. I need to test pH to be sure, but there was a dramatic difference in the taste.

was that low in PH?

 

[Boatboy24]

was that low in PH?

It had been reading 3.25 and was tasting very sour. I added potassium carbonate and cold stabilized in the garage for about 4 weeks in Feb/March

 

[geek]

It had been reading 3.25 and was tasting very sour. I added potassium carbonate and cold stabilized in the garage for about 4 weeks in Feb/March

What was the TA?

 

[Boatboy24]

I got .65 when I pitched the yeast. Haven't checked since. It was after fermentation that I noticed the harsh, acidic flavor.

 

[geek]

Jim,

was re-reading your posts about the cab sav and the harsh taste before adding potassium carbonate.

Two questions:
1.to the sample 1gal jug you tested, how high did the PH go to?
2.how high did you go with the PH on the remainder carboy by adding potassium carbonate before you did the CS?

 

[Boatboy24]

Jim,

was re-reading your posts about the cab sav and the harsh taste before adding potassium carbonate.

Two questions:
1.to the sample 1gal jug you tested, how high did the PH go to?
2.how high did you go with the PH on the remainder carboy by adding potassium carbonate before you did the CS?

In both cases, I overshot, hitting 3.9 on the 1 gallon and 3.85 on the rest. Though I'm always skeptical of my pH meter and my ability to effectively use it; going by taste, those numbers could be right. I'd recommend you use half of the amount to get to your desired pH, and re-test from there.

 

[geek]

I ended at PH=3.64 and stopped, my 6gal batch is now sitting on the cold deck...
Forgot to ask, after CS, did you check the PH?

 

[Boatboy24]

I ended at PH=3.64 and stopped, my 6gal batch is now sitting on the cold deck...
Forgot to ask, after CS, did you check the PH?

Those numbers are after CS. I didn't measure after the addition, but before CS.

 

[geek]

Those numbers are after CS. I didn't measure after the addition, but before CS.

Wait, got confused.....

 

[geek]

I assume you meant after, you said before CS.

 

[sour_grapes]

He meant that he did not measure the pH just after adding carbonate; he waited until after CS to measure.

 

[geek]

That is what I thought but "Those numbers are after CS. I didn't measure after the addition, but before CS." the 'before CS" would mean after the addition, wouldn't it.....