Ok team,
Red wine update:
PH 9.23.18
Marquette 3.47
Foch 3.77+3.83
Saint Croix 3.75
Racked off the lees. The wine all went up by between .3 to .4 PH. I did not add Malo yet. Not even sure if I should at this point. Maybe for microbial stability after bottling. The number difference also might imply it went under MLF with native bacteria. I am not sure if RC212 would eat acid in this quantity, or at all.
I rinsed my testing container in kmeta between samples and I ran two samples of the foch to see if it made a difference between rinsing in meta or distilled water. The lower PH is the sample from a cup rinsed with meta (also off first gallon of siphoning. and the second sample is from the container being rinsed with distilled water before collecting the sample and is from the last gallon siphoned from the carboy.In practice, at the level I am working with I'll just need to be consistent using the same liquid for rinsing out the sample container. I'll be ordering tartaric acid with my oak this next week.
As of right now, with a little swirling in the glass the Marquette is the most balanced of the 3. All are still too "bright" and almost a little concord-esque in the nose and on the tongue.
Shopping list for tomorrow.
1.tartaric acid
2. oak cubes (any opinions on light/medium toast?/grams per gallon)
3. More kmeta (Running very light, need to hit them again after going to the LHBS
tomorrow)
Task list for Monday/Tuesday:
1. Decide if I'm going to do MLF on reds
2 Test PH on LaC
3. Rack the Lac
4. If I do Malo, get the culture going.
Questions:
-PH Changes normal without MLF? Do the changes imply MLF with wild bacteria and that is why my PH changed consistently through the varieties?
-Has anyone used dry malo bacteria? I've kept it in my fridge for 3 weeks. Hopefully it's not all dead
-Light or medium toast French oak cubes for these varieties? Leaning towards light toast for tannins and mouthfeel.
-I've got 3/4ths of a gallon of red blend in a 1 gallon carboy. Probably going to grab a random cheap pinot to top it up, or hit it with a large dose of meta. It's for topping up after racks which probably won't happen again for 3+ months, or for possibly making a blush with any leftover La Crescent .
Red wine update:
PH 9.23.18
Marquette 3.47
Foch 3.77+3.83
Saint Croix 3.75
Racked off the lees. The wine all went up by between .3 to .4 PH. I did not add Malo yet. Not even sure if I should at this point. Maybe for microbial stability after bottling. The number difference also might imply it went under MLF with native bacteria. I am not sure if RC212 would eat acid in this quantity, or at all.
I rinsed my testing container in kmeta between samples and I ran two samples of the foch to see if it made a difference between rinsing in meta or distilled water. The lower PH is the sample from a cup rinsed with meta (also off first gallon of siphoning. and the second sample is from the container being rinsed with distilled water before collecting the sample and is from the last gallon siphoned from the carboy.In practice, at the level I am working with I'll just need to be consistent using the same liquid for rinsing out the sample container. I'll be ordering tartaric acid with my oak this next week.
As of right now, with a little swirling in the glass the Marquette is the most balanced of the 3. All are still too "bright" and almost a little concord-esque in the nose and on the tongue.
Shopping list for tomorrow.
1.tartaric acid
2. oak cubes (any opinions on light/medium toast?/grams per gallon)
3. More kmeta (Running very light, need to hit them again after going to the LHBS
tomorrow)
Task list for Monday/Tuesday:
1. Decide if I'm going to do MLF on reds
2 Test PH on LaC
3. Rack the Lac
4. If I do Malo, get the culture going.
Questions:
-PH Changes normal without MLF? Do the changes imply MLF with wild bacteria and that is why my PH changed consistently through the varieties?
-Has anyone used dry malo bacteria? I've kept it in my fridge for 3 weeks. Hopefully it's not all dead
-Light or medium toast French oak cubes for these varieties? Leaning towards light toast for tannins and mouthfeel.
-I've got 3/4ths of a gallon of red blend in a 1 gallon carboy. Probably going to grab a random cheap pinot to top it up, or hit it with a large dose of meta. It's for topping up after racks which probably won't happen again for 3+ months, or for possibly making a blush with any leftover La Crescent .
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