WineXpert German Muller Thurgau

[gonzo46307]

Another off-dry kit...this is my first one with elder flowers included.

It's in the secondary right now...will update after it clears.

Peace,
Bob

 

[Racer]

I think you'll like it.I made it a few years ago and really liked it alot. I also got a silver medal with it from the 2005 winemaker mag. competiton.

 

[JakeSnow]

does that one come with an F-Pack to backsweeten it??

 

[Racer]

Yes it does come with an f-pack

 

[gonzo46307]

I seem to have trouble with these off dry kits clearing...

I didn't feel like hitting it with Superkleer, so I threw it down in the crawlspace (it's been maintaining 55-58º this winter) a couple of weeks ago. It's getting there. The good thing about being a year into this...I have plenty of wine, so I'm not in any hurry to bottle this.

I actually haven't tasted it yet...I'll let it sit another month and see what happens.

Peace,
Bob

 

[jronneba]

Hey Bob,
Thanks for the update. I'm actually going to start a batch of this tomorrow which will be my first shot at it. I'm curious, when did you start your batch?

Jeremy

 

[gonzo46307]

The notes say January 2nd, 2010. Stabilized, de-gassed, added the f-pack and fining agent on January 18th. When it wasn't clearing I threw it down in crawlspace on February 6th.

I started a Black Raspberry Merlot the same day, which is already in the bottle, no trouble with that one clearing using the provided agent.

 

[jdeere5220]

My only Island Mist kit basically cleared itself before I added anything. I could shine a light through it 1 day after adding the clearing agents.

 

[gonzo46307]

It looks like it's finally cleared...

Peace,
Bob

 

[jdeere5220]

Hey Bob,

Wow, looks great!

So just curious- will you bottle straight from there, or rack into a clean vessel before bottling? Is there any dust at all on the bottom of the carboy?

 

[gonzo46307]

Hey Bob,

Wow, looks great!

So just curious- will you bottle straight from there, or rack into a clean vessel before bottling? Is there any dust at all on the bottom of the carboy?

I'll bottle right from the carboy it's in.

I racked off of all the fine lees before I threw it down in the crawlspace. When I bottle, I always clamp the autosiphon so it's about 3/4 down in the carboy, then I move it down when the liquid reaches that level...just in case there's any sediment on the bottom.

I usually "test" the last bottle from the batch anyway.

Peace,
Bob

 

[niwilkes]

Mueller Thergau kit problems clearing

This is our first kit. We are on day 24 (8 days after adding the isinglass clarifier) and it is not cleared. The upper 1/3 of the car boy is clear, but lower 2/3 is still hazy and lots of sediment on bottom of carboy. Per kit instructions it should be clear and ready to rack.

Should we rack to a second carboy at this point?

 

[jdeere5220]

My opinion, for what it worth, is that if you can see a "line" of demarcation between the cleared top portion the cloudy bottom part, just give it more time. Check every few days and see if that line is still migrating towards the bottom. I had a dark red that took a lot longer than the instructions said, but it did finally clear nicely.

If the clearing isn't progressing at all... well other experts here will have to help because I wouldn't know what to do either!

 

[robie]

Hi Niwilkes,
Glad you found this forum and topic. Sounds like all you need is just some additional time to clear.

Good luck.

 

[gonzo46307]

This is our first kit. We are on day 24 (8 days after adding the isinglass clarifier) and it is not cleared. The upper 1/3 of the car boy is clear, but lower 2/3 is still hazy and lots of sediment on bottom of carboy. Per kit instructions it should be clear and ready to rack.

Should we rack to a second carboy at this point?

That's pretty much what happened to mine. I waited a couple of weeks and it cleared somewhat more, then I racked and threw it down in the cool crawlspace. If you don't have a cool place to put a 6 gallon carboy, you can always get some superkleer and try that. That's what I did when my White Merlot didn't clear, it took care of it right away.

Peace,
Bob

 

[niwilkes]

Winexpert Muller Thurgau, the rest of the story

This is a Selection International WE kit. From my previous posts you will note it did not clear per kit instructions after adding the isinglass on day 16. On day 25 about the top 1/3 of the carboy was clear and below was cloudy. We racked into a Better Bottle carboy leaving the sludge (lees) behind, put the carboy in our basement at about 64-66F, and 20 days latter it was very clear and ready to bottle.

We corked 25 bottles and have two sample botttles for tasting. At bottling the wine was really pretty decent to drink. We did parallel tasting with a commercial Muller-Th and one of our favorite Rieslings. We liked our production as well if not better than the commerical wines. Has a very smooth apple-apricot-melon taste. Not sweet, but not too dry.

Thanks for the suggestions and comments. Patience seems to be the key.

Batch now in production: Cellar Craft Walla Walla Cab-Merlot. It's aging on it's oak cubes in a carboy now. So far so good.

 

[19taylorave]

Winexpert Muller Thurgau, sounds like frying bacon

I started a batch on 5/19, the 5 to 7 days was up on tuesday the 26th,
I went to check it and when I pried the top off the primary fermenter it sounded like bacon sizzling and all the elder berry debris is still on the top.
The reading was 1.06. I checked yesterday same story no change, today it's still sizzling and bubbling through the air lock like crazy. temp is a steady 70 degrees........Normal?

 

[gonzo46307]

I started a batch on 5/19, the 5 to 7 days was up on tuesday the 26th,
I went to check it and when I pried the top off the primary fermenter it sounded like bacon sizzling and all the elder berry debris is still on the top.
The reading was 1.06. I checked yesterday same story no change, today it's still sizzling and bubbling through the air lock like crazy. temp is a steady 70 degrees........Normal?

I don't know your background, so don't take this wrong. If it's "sizzling like bacon", could it be possible that it's at 1.006 as opposed to 1.06?

I had mine fermenting during winter, below grade with a ceramic heater, and between Jan 2nd and Jan 7th it went from 1.082 to 1.002. The avg temp was probably around 72º

I'm not doubting you...I just don't know you.

Peace,
Bob

 

[19taylorave]

I don't know your background, so don't take this wrong. If it's "sizzling like bacon", could it be possible that it's at 1.006 as opposed to 1.06?

I had mine fermenting during winter, below grade with a ceramic heater, and between Jan 2nd and Jan 7th it went from 1.082 to 1.002. The avg temp was probably around 72º

I'm not doubting you...I just don't know you.

Peace,
Bob

Please don't apologize, I'm new at this...and you're absolutely right. I just looked at what we wrote down last night....it was at the 50 under the 1.000 ... 1.005, right? It was 1.003 just now when i tested it ...I guess it's kicking in but taking a few days longer.
Not knowing anything, when i hard the sizzle sound i thought the worst. But that's normal huh?

Also is the Black Rasberry Merlot a kit?


Thanks for your help and patience,
Jeff

 

[Racer]

Sounds to me like a normal active fermentation is still going on.Just follow the kit instructions and the wine will be fine.