Mosti Mondiale MM Instructions - What were they thinking?

[vcasey]

Mike I think Mosti just wants to give the yeast some oxygen and get a good mix. Leave it in the primary but really mix up the must when you add the nutrient.
Ike, like Wade & Jim, I leave wines in the primary until they finished. This just seems to work best for me. I'll also leave it after racking to glass for a month or 2 (sometimes longer) before finishing and letting it sit for a month while clearing. Since I started this degassing has been easy and the wine seems to have a fuller mouth feel.
VC

 

[ibglowin]

Photo's oh we got photo's!

I know how we love pics around here so here are a few of the MM All Juice Sangiovese I started exactly one week ago today. I left it in the primary until SG was ~1.00 and then quick racked into Carboy including most of the lees as well as oak chips. I plan on letting it rest in secondary for ~12 days until SG reads 0.996 or less for 2 days straight.

I did notice that when I added the yeast nutrient at SG = 1.03 and stirred into must it was not the nutrient that made the thing explode with fizzing, it was actually the addition of the oak chips! Once the chips were dumped in the bucket exploded but did not overflow since it was still in the primary bucket with all the room for expansion.

The first pic was taken aprox 24 hours post yeast pitch and the last pic was taken on day 4.

It has settled way down now with just a few small bubbles and signs of fermentation.

 

[Big Ike]

That first shot looks like delicious souffle!


I'm happy to see in the second shot that I'm not the only one who scapes the sides trying to get all those little bits of goodness back into the brew.


Ike

 

[ibglowin]

It funny how every kit takes on its own fermentation pattern and it seems no two ferment out exactly like another.

This was my first true crusty cap!

 

[Big Ike]

You're right. The three batches I've got going right now all the same grape, all had different caps.

 

[uavwmn]

OO OO, this looks so good I could spread it on toast!!! ummmm

 

[ibglowin]

Its funny how all of the wine makers love the smell of fermenting grape juice however maybe not so much our better halves!

 

[Big Ike]

Mike,


Have you been eavesdropping on my wife and me?

 

[ibglowin]

Ha!

Yours too?I proudly showed my wife the cap yesterday evening on the fermenting Pinot Grigio and she said "you want me to drink that!"

I think she's more interested in the final product!

 

[Big Ike]

Mine is a fan of the final product too. She's amazed that the first kit I made - a Mosti Mondiale Reneassance - is as good as it is (and I didn't do a great job on that one).

I also make her taste on Saturdays to critique progress on the four I've got bulk aging. She just humors me on Saturdays.

BTW, are you working with nukes over there?

 

[ibglowin]

Well,

It is a weapons lab.........

or as they say I could tell you but then I'd be forced to kill you......

 

[Big Ike]

Very cool! And a wine maker to boot.

 

[ibglowin]

Better living through nukular chemistry!

Very cool! And a wine maker to boot.

 

[grapeman]

You guys want to be careful when you give "Mr Glowin" a bad critique. You may be invited to a test of one of the weapons.................... I hear they use real live targets............

 

[ibglowin]

Yea,

Be nice to me as I have an "explosive" personality.....

 

[uavwmn]

I can tell you the first kit I made while it was fermenting, my other half thought the cat litter boxes were full!!!

 

[robie]

Mike,

I am about 2 days into an MM Renaissance amarone and it seems to be going fast. I had a nice foam on top for the first 24 hours, then stirred. After that I had no more foam but have had very heavy fizzing since. I hope that is typical.

I just want to make sure I understand what seems to work best, rather than follow the instructions and get the wine valcano. You and some of the others have been through this and seem to have figured it out. Now that you have finished several MM kits, I wonder what your final assessment is.

Help me here:
You leave in primary until ~1.00?
At what SG did you start sealing primary cover?
At what SG do you do final squeeze out of the raisin juice and remove them entirely from the primary?
Do you add the yeast nutrient at that same SG?
Do you add the oak chips to the primary at same SG as adding the nutrient, or do you wait to add the chips to the carboy after racking? Your photos pretty much imply you added the chips to the primary, but at what SG?

After primary reached 1.00, did you remove the sealed top from the primary often to check the SG or did you leave it several days in between checks? I am wondering about getting too much oxygen in primary.

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

 

[grapeman]

My way of doing it:
Cover primary with the lid and lay a towel over it to cover the hole. Check daily on progress. After 3-4 days check the SG. If it is in the desireable range of 1.030-1.040 add the yeast nutrient. This helps feed the yeast at this point. Give it a stir for 30 seconds by hand. For this one I added 2 pounds of sugar in a simple syrup (2 cups water to4 cups sugar). Whoah where did it say that in the instructions- believe me it doesn't. Let it go for about 3 more days- give it a simple stir once a day. Don't airlock it- just use the towel. I also add the oak now. When it gets down to 1.005-1.010 or a bit less, transfer it to the carboy leaving MOST of the the lees behind. By doing it this way, it has completed a good share of the fermentation but is still active enough to get a good protection from C02. You can just give the bag with raisins in it a little squeeze to get most of the juice out- don't go hard.


From now on, follow the instructions to completion. You end up with about a 14.5-15% ABV Amarone that way which is truer to type and with a bit of luck- you too could win a gold medal with it.

 

[robie]

Just want to make sure when you add the simple syrup - you wait to add the simple syrup when SG is in the range of 1.030-1.040 and NOT at the very beginning of fermentation?

I take the raisins off just before I rack?

Man! I really appreciate your help.

 

[JohnnyK68]

For those of you that add the oak to the primary, are you then tranfering the oak from the primary into the carboy for extended oak contact? I was just about to start my first MM kit. Its a small 10L kit (Castel Del Papa) however when I read the directions, the first thing I thought was why am I racking this at 1.04? I decided that I would do this more like the RJS kits but I would add the nutrient at 1.04. I was not sure when to add the oak though. I was going to add it and into the primary at 1.04 and then transfer it to the carboy, it this correct?