How to perform extended maceration?

[tradowsk]

You can't do MLF with juice from a kit. The malic acid they add is synthetic and can't be broken down by the bacteria.

 

[Dom Lausic]

Wow, didn't realize that! Thanks for letting me know.

 

[Dom Lausic]

Is this a kit you are thinking of doing Mlf on? Conventional wisdom says this will end poorly,if you can even get Mlf to succeed in a kit.

Yes, it was a kit. Seems like it wouldn't be a good idea….

 

[tradowsk]

Wow, didn't realize that! Thanks for letting me know.

I was planning on doing MLF too before someone on here mentioned it wouldn't work, saved me a lot of hassle haha

 

[masic2000]

What would be the next step after an initial EM. Do you rack for secondary or has that now taken place as part of your EM. In which case you would move to stabilization if your SG is .996 or less and do you remove the skins at this point and add your k-meta as usual.

 

[Hordak]

I rack to carboy (removing all skins), add K-Meta (I don't add the sorbate as I don't sweeten), sometimes I make a second tannin addition like Tannin Riche, Biotan, or Quertannin and then make sure the carboy is topped up. Over the next few days I degas using my vacuum pump or you can just stir vigorously and then I let it sit upwards of a month again. Rack again and then I add my oak additions and it stays in carboy another 2-3months. Rack and then it can be bottled anytime when convenient. The most important lesson I've learned is to KEEP THE WINE TOPPED UP. I lost an expensive batch this past summer cause it had oxidized too much as I was lazy with the topping up.

 

[masic2000]

Great. Thanks Hordak.

 

[Dom Lausic]

Just received by wine kit. It's from Argentia Ridge, Reserve Amarone 23L. Description said it can with 23L of "must", but looks to just be juice. It came with a bag of dried grape currants (raisins). Thought it would have had the bag of grape skins like other premium kits, but guess not. How long should I try the EM for? Not sure if the dried grape currants need as much time??

 

[Ajmassa]

I’m sure your itching to get started. But here’s a link to a separate grape pack I’ve used before.
I’d go as long as you initially planned regardless. Whole point is to get the most out of the little bit that’s in there, right? The dried grapes was likely a calcualated decision since its “Amarone” and an attempt to mimic the appassimento process.

Also I’ve noticed my Chilean juice buckets refer to the contents as ‘must’. I don’t think it’s intentionally misleading.


http://www.juicegrape.com/Mosti-Mondiale-All-Grape-Pack/

 

[Dom Lausic]

Awesome! I'll definitely check it out!

Any yeast suggestions for an Amarone?? Don't want to use the EC-118, and my local wine supply store carries RC-212. But wanted to know if there were a few better options??

 

[cmason1957]

Awesome! I'll definitely check it out!

Any yeast suggestions for an Amarone?? Don't want to use the EC-118, and my local wine supply store carries RC-212. But wanted to know if there were a few better options??

Amarone are often fairly high alcohol wines (upwards of 15-17%abv), EC-1118 may be the best bet to handle that. RC-212 is only good to about 14% as I recall.

 

[sour_grapes]

I have used BM45 on Amarones to good effect.

 

[crushday]

Just received by wine kit. It's from Argentia Ridge, Reserve Amarone 23L. Description said it can with 23L of "must", but looks to just be juice. It came with a bag of dried grape currants (raisins). Thought it would have had the bag of grape skins like other premium kits, but guess not. How long should I try the EM for? Not sure if the dried grape currants need as much time??

Are you in Canada? I don't believe that Costco in the USA sells wine kits.

 

[Dom Lausic]

Are you in Canada? I don't believe that Costco in the USA sells wine kits.

Yes, I live just outside of Toronto. This is my first Argentia Ridge (Costco.ca) kit, but it's received decent reviews for a mid-line wine kit. Especially considering the Costco pricing. But I just found out that Vineco, who makes Cellar Craft kits, is in St. Catherine's, ON (about 50 min from me). I'm hoping to find good deals for one of those!

 

[Boatboy24]

BM4X4 on many of my Italian reds.

 

[Dom Lausic]

So just getting ready to start EM on my wine kit. SG was 1.020. Performed one last "punchdown" to the cap, and closed the lid of my bucket. This morning there is still a fair bit of bubbling in the airlock. I gave the bucket a little swirl as to not splash the juice up into the airlock.

How often should I "swirl" over the course of the EM period?

Is there anything else I should be doing??

 

[tradowsk]

I would swirl maybe once a day for the next week or so. You mainly want to keep the skins floating on top moist so they don't start to spoil or make vinegar. Once the skins sink, you can just leave it alone.

I did add a dose of kmeta about 3 weeks in out of paranoia, though probably not necessary.

 

[Dom Lausic]

Does it need an aggressive "swirl"? Or just a subtle movement? I'm fermenting in a 7.9 gal bucket so I can see whether the skins have fallen yet.... And I just "swirled" a little to aggressively and got a bunch of wine in the airlock!

 

[Trick]

I usually hold two gallons of juice at the beginning and incrementally add juice into the fermenter to extend the CO2 generation for at least 4 to 5 weeks.

 

[tradowsk]

Does it need an aggressive "swirl"? Or just a subtle movement? I'm fermenting in a 7.9 gal bucket so I can see whether the skins have fallen yet.... And I just "swirled" a little to aggressively and got a bunch of wine in the airlock!

Just enough swirl to moisten the skins on top. If it helps, you can remove the airlock and put a rubber stopper in while swirling so that you don't make a mess. At this point there is a good CO2 blanket in there anyway so your safe from oxidation.

I also did this is a 7.9Gal bucket, and was able to do a sort of back-and-forth motion to create some constructive interference waves at the surface that would do what I needed (can you tell I'm an engineer? haha). I never had an issue with getting wine in the airlock using this method, since the "wave nodes" would be away from the airlock.