First time using frozen must

[sdelli]

I usually wait 48 hours now and then give it a rack..... Find a nice dark warm place to put it thru mlf.


Sam

 

[TomK-B]

Racked off gross lees this afternoon. Oh my, that's A LOT of sediment! :< It's a good thing I had those two half gallon jugs full (with about two inches of sediment at the bottom of each, too).

I inoculated with VP41 using Opti-ML in the rehydration and Opti Malo Plus in the wine. I also added one spiral of Medium Toast French Oak. I'll see if that's enough for my taste after a few weeks. If not, I'll add another.

Right now it is very sharp (duh, 6.9 TA). But it's also very fruity, in fact, I would almost call it jamy. The fruit flavors are quite pronounced and very good! I'm quite happy with how this wine is shaping up!

 

[seth8530]

Sounds good, I just racked my white bubbely blend and topped of with some boxed wine ( sauv blanc).

 

[TomK-B]

From what I see on the forum, Seth, that's not the only wine you're working on. Dang, you're one of the most prolific winemakers around!!!

 

[seth8530]

Ha, not really. I only make maybe 4-6 different wines a year. But, I tend to invest a lot of thought into each one I make. Plus, none of them are kits so that take a bit more effort.

 

[TomK-B]

OK, so here's the situation and a (probably silly) question.

Racked off the gross lees yesterday and inoculated with VP41 MLB. The MLF seems to already be taking off -- little bubbles in a ring around the top of the wine in the neck of the carboy. Also action in the airlock. I counted 23 bubbles/min this afternoon. I'm very happy about all of that. Now, I know it will continue to drop sediment and that I need to stir that back up into the wine a couple of times per week to keep the MLB suspended. My question is this. About how much sediment can I expect to see build up on the bottom of the carboy at this point in the process?

 

[cmason1957]

You will get some sediment, but not a lot. M my seven carboys undergoing MLF now might have 1/4 inch of sediment or something like that. About what you would expect from a second racking.

 

[seth8530]

Yeah, the amount of sediment you get will depend greatly on a few factors. But so long as they aint the gross lees and aint piling up too high, I would not worry way too much about it.

 

[TomK-B]

Like I said, silly question. Looks like I have somewhere between 1/4 -1/2 inch of sediment. Guess I was expecting just a dusting after racking off gross lees. Now I understand why they say to stir it back up to prevent the bacteria from being smothered at the bottom.

 

[Treeman]

OK, so here's the situation and a (probably silly) question.

Racked off the gross lees yesterday and inoculated with VP41 MLB. The MLF seems to already be taking off -- little bubbles in a ring around the top of the wine in the neck of the carboy. Also action in the airlock. I counted 23 bubbles/min this afternoon. I'm very happy about all of that. Now, I know it will continue to drop sediment and that I need to stir that back up into the wine a couple of times per week to keep the MLB suspended. My question is this. About how much sediment can I expect to see build up on the bottom of the carboy at this point in the process?

I wouldn't worry about stirring that often. Going in and out of the carboy twice a week over a few months or so is not recommended because your going to introduce O2 gas every time you remove the airlock to stir. I've never stirred mine, and they have always finished.

When action in your airlock slows down to a bubble every 15 min, then I would test for completion. If it is not done, then you could stir it up to resuspend the lees and any settled bacteria.


Cheers!

 

[TomK-B]

I've never stirred mine, and they have always finished.

Huh. Well, that's something I've never seen in any of the materials I've read on the subject.

Here is what I've gotten to use when taking the airlock off: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001AS4NCM/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

 

[ColemanM]

Wow that's a good price!! Free shipping to boot.

 

[TomK-B]

I thought so.

 

[Treeman]

Huh. Well, that's something I've never seen in any of the materials I've read on the subject. /QUOTE]


Here is some discussion on another board http://www.winepress.us/forums/inde...-for-my-next-problem-stirring-lees-during-mlf.
I wouldn't say there is consensus, but if MLF is rolling along without stirring, then you are only risking contamination or introducing "more O2" by opening the airlock. Your inert gas will help reduce O2 exposure when the airlock is open, but you always have gas exchange both in and out of an airlock (even when you don't see bubbles, gasses are dissolved in the airlock solution and exchange between wine and atmosphere). This is why keeping topped up into the neck is important to reduce the surface area of wine/air interface. Filling into the neck is another reason I don't stir because my stirrer displaces to much volume in the carboy to effectively bring up the lees without overflowing the neck during the process.


Cheers!

 

[TomK-B]

Huh. Well, that's something I've never seen in any of the materials I've read on the subject. /QUOTE]


Here is some discussion on another board http://www.winepress.us/forums/inde...-for-my-next-problem-stirring-lees-during-mlf.
I wouldn't say there is consensus, but if MLF is rolling along without stirring, then you are only risking contamination or introducing "more O2" by opening the airlock. Your inert gas will help reduce O2 exposure when the airlock is open, but you always have gas exchange both in and out of an airlock (even when you don't see bubbles, gasses are dissolved in the airlock solution and exchange between wine and atmosphere). This is why keeping topped up into the neck is important to reduce the surface area of wine/air interface. Filling into the neck is another reason I don't stir because my stirrer displaces to much volume in the carboy to effectively bring up the lees without overflowing the neck during the process.


Cheers!

Thanks for the link, Treeman! Interesting read. Like you say, there's no consensus, but I came away from it a lot more relaxed about the MLF process. (Don't worry. Be happy!) I will say that I definitely have my carboy topped up adequately. In fact, when I went in to check on it the first morning after inoculation, wine had bubbled up into the airlock. I had to draw a little off to give it some room between the surface of the wine and the bottom of the bung. I've actually stirred it up once already. I used one of the thin racking canes I got for my AIO wine pump. It barely displaces any wine at all. If I used my long-handled spoon, it'd be spilling out all over the place.

 

[TomK-B]

OOPS, forgot to update the thread.

MLF completed several weeks ago. I racked off the fine lees on New Year's Eve and added k-meta to 50 ppm.

The taste was tight and astringent. It was totally unintegrated in any way. The oak stuck out like a sore thumb. But there was definitely a really delightful fruity flavor in there as well. I'm hoping that with time that will come to the fore and all will become well integrated.

 

[Buonissimo]

Tom

Very nice. I am ordering my first frozen must as well. I found this very helpful.
Question regarding your very first part of this. Are there "standard guidelines" for Brix/TA/PH balance. I am wondering how one knows if they are good to go or if adjustments need to be made.?

in that light here are the ones posted on the site for the Syrah I am ordering Brix: 25.75, pH: 3.5, TA: .55

any first time mistakes to avoid or words of wisdom? Any comments on primary vessel (brute vs multiple wine buckets)

thank you

 

[Boatboy24]

Tom

Very nice. I am ordering my first frozen must as well. I found this very helpful.
Question regarding your very first part of this. Are there "standard guidelines" for Brix/TA/PH balance. I am wondering how one knows if they are good to go or if adjustments need to be made.?

in that light here are the ones posted on the site for the Syrah I am ordering Brix: 25.75, pH: 3.5, TA: .55

any first time mistakes to avoid or words of wisdom? Any comments on primary vessel (brute vs multiple wine buckets)

thank you

I'm not Tom, but I'll try to help. In my opinion, your Brix is on the high side and the TA a tad low. I'm not sure I'd adjust acid on this one at this point, but with no Brix adjustment, you're looking at a 15% ABV wine - maybe slightly higher. If you're OK with that, don't mess with it. If you want it a little lower, you can add acidulated water to bring the Brix down.

Before you get started, read this: http://www.morewinemaking.com/public/pdf/wredw.pdf
It's a great source of information and will help make your first foray into whole grape fermentation successful.

Regarding the vessel for primary, I guess that depends on how much you're doing. I'm tempted to try that same wine and would get two buckets if I did. For that volume, I'd ferment in my 20gal Brute.

 

[ColemanM]

I added 500ml water and 15g tartaric acid. It fermented to .994 in 7 days. Two feedings of fermaid K. Starting SG was 1.104 I think.

 

[TomK-B]

Update on this Washington Cab: It's been about three months since I racked out of the MLF. It has continued to drop some sediment along the way. I decided to rack again today into a clean carboy. All went well and I got a taste of how the wine is developing. The color is a deep ruby and the body is medium to full. On the nose I get a lot of cherry and black current. On the pallet it is still very tight and unintegrated. The tannin is strong, but totally unintegrated.

I'm totally pumped about how this wine is shaping up. I can imagine in two years that this will be a wine that I'm going to be quite proud of.