One wheel in hand and eight on the ground...2022 Wine Making Season

[winemaker81]

@crushday, check the free SO2 in a couple of days or a week. One early treatment for H2S is K-meta, which binds to the H2S. I'd be surprised if your free SO2 isn't lower as the K-meta is doing its job, although it sounds like you were pleasantly surprised at the SO2 reading you got, so it is possible that K-meta has already done its job. Do you smell H2S?

 

[crushday]

check the free SO2 in a couple of days or a week. One early treatment for H2S is K-meta, which binds to the H2S. I'd be surprised if your free SO2 isn't lower as the K-meta is doing its job, although it sounds like you were pleasantly surprised at the SO2 reading you got, so it is possible that K-meta has already done its job. Do you smell H2S?

Really sound advice here. I didn't do anything last night except check the SO2 levels of both fermenters (pics below). Again, fermenters have the same wine in exactly the same quantity. There is a faint H2S smell still on the wine with the erroneous addition and no visible fermentation activity. The second fermenter also has the H2S and visible fermentation activity. It's obvious that the addition of the KMeta disrupted the yeast. At last Brix check, the reading was -.3 a few days ago.

I'l likely splash rack the begeebees out of both tonight blending them and then immediately separating them. At 3 gallons a minute (pump speed) it won't take long.

Now, a few pics...

Free SO2 with Meta added: It's come down 8 tenths since yesterday.



Free SO2 without Meta added: This wine basically has no free SO2 - the unit doesn't register anything less than 3.

 

[winemaker81]

I'm happy my thoughts are useful.

Upon reflection, don't blend the wines. The un-K-meta'd batch should go through MLF, while the other may not. Instead of potentially scotching both batches, inoculate them separately.

good batch -- you smell a bit of H2S? Splash rack or stir vigorously and monitor it a couple times per day. Did you add more nutrient to it? If so, you should be able to contain and minimize any damage. However, if you still smell H2S, it may be necessary to add a bit of K-meta (say 10 ppm) to bind the H2S. I don't SO2 test, but this is a situation where it is certainly warranted.

H2S batch -- Definitely splash rack or stir vigorously. If the yeast is stunted, make another starter -- it may be unnecessary, but it sure won't hurt!

If it were me, I'd keep the 2 batches separate until the good batch completes MLF. At that time (or later) you can evaluate both batches to decide what you want to do. I'd rather have half a batch that is exactly what I want, and half that is "good", in lieu of a full batch that is merely good. [You caught the H2S early so the wine should be fine, even if it doesn't undergo MLF and isn't what you were planning.]

While I'm sorry this happened to you, it's a good illustration for everyone else how important nutrient management can be. I will be keeping a stricter eye (and nose!) on my wines during fermentation and being diligent about nutrient additions.

 

[crushday]

@winemaker81 - More good advice.

I separately splash racked both containers of the Cab Franc. I was able to alleviate the H2S... I checked the FSO2 after the racking and the reading was 38.4 - so, I pitched the bacteria. The specs indicate that max limit for FSO2 is 40, like previously mentioned.

I have four containers of wine and added bacteria to all four.

I'm done with that for about 4-5 weeks now...

 

[Kraffty]

Crisis averted…. Carry on. CH 16 if I remember. Affordable and reliable yearly for me so far.

 

[CDrew]

You are right at the limit though. I'd keep a close eye on the progress of MLF in the storage container at 38.4. And if it doesn't finish up in a few weeks, it may still be necessary to blend the two together.

Super glad to hear that your H2S problem is solved.

 

[Snafflebit]

Really sound advice here. I didn't do anything last night except check the SO2 levels of both fermenters (pics below). Again, fermenters have the same wine in exactly the same quantity. There is a faint H2S smell still on the wine with the erroneous addition and no visible fermentation activity. The second fermenter also has the H2S and visible fermentation activity. It's obvious that the addition of the KMeta disrupted the yeast. At last Brix check, the reading was -.3 a few days ago.

I'l likely splash rack the begeebees out of both tonight blending them and then immediately separating them. At 3 gallons a minute (pump speed) it won't take long.

Now, a few pics...

Free SO2 with Meta added: It's come down 8 tenths since yesterday.

View attachment 92870

Somewhat unrelated...how do you like the Sentia? Have you used the malo strips also and have any idea about its accuracy?

 

[crushday]

Somewhat unrelated...how do you like the Sentia? Have you used the malo strips also and have any idea about its accuracy?

I love the Sentia. I absolutely HATED setting everything up, drawing 25ml of wine and the jazz to run the proper tests with my SC-300 to ascertain the FSO2. It would literally take all morning! Now, each test takes 30 seconds after about a minute setup.

I have not tried the Malo test. The function was just released this spring, about the time I was was doing my spring wine making (frozen grapes from wine grapes direct) and testing media wasn't available in time. It's available now and I'll likely get some of the test strips and reactant. And, a glucose test was just released although I'm not certain what benefit it is to me knowing the outcome of that test. If you know, please share...

I appreciate you.

 

[CDrew]

I think that Sentia is cool as heck. I could see buying one. Please continue to report specific experience with it. It looks like the free SO2 function is a winner, and I'll be curious how useful the malic acid function is.

 

[Snafflebit]

My guess is the glucose (if it also measures fructose) can test for residual sugar levels. That may be important to know for commercial wineries. Because once ethanol gets included in the mix and at the low levels of glucose near the end of ferment, using specific gravity to measure the glucose would be inaccurate. The yeast used some of the glucose/fructose to grow its population, so not all gets converted to alcohol, as our final potential alcohol calculations assume.

 

[BarrelMonkey]

@crushday , what's that pump that you're using to move pressed wine from the press into tank?

This is the achilles heel of my operation. My little pump is great for wine and OK for juice, but the prefilter gets clogged with cloudy juice/free run wine and it's a bear to disassemble, clean and put back together.

Hope your SO2 problem has resolved. If not there's always peroxide, though I would try gentler methods as you have done first...

 

[crushday]

@crushday , what's that pump that you're using to move pressed wine from the press into tank?

This is the achilles heel of my operation. My little pump is great for wine and OK for juice, but the prefilter gets clogged with cloudy juice/free run wine and it's a bear to disassemble, clean and put back together.

Hope your SO2 problem has resolved. If not there's always peroxide, though I would try gentler methods as you have done first...

The description of your pre filter is what drove me to the Riptide at Amazon.com: RIPTIDE BREWING PUMP by Blichmann Engineering (from March Pumps) With Integrated Valve: Home & Kitchen

BTW, problem is fixed and all is well. Thanks!

 

[CDrew]

Updates?

 

[crushday]

Updates?

Update: No wine activity this weekend. I pitched the bacteria a few days ago and will run a test for completion in a couple of weeks. I took the trailer out and went camping. Here's a picture of the backside of Mount Rainier that I took this morning:

 

[crushday]

Update: Time Will Tell

Running MLB test today on the following wines:

Knight's Valley Cabernet Sauv
Sonoma Merlot
CDL Cab Franc 1 (this one accidentally got the K-Meta infusion - )
CDL Cab Franc 2
CDL Petit Verdot Free Run
CDL Petit Verdot Press Run Carboy
CDL Petite Sirah Free Run
CDL Petite Sirah Press Run Carboy
CDL Petite Sirah Press Run 1 gallon
CDL Petite Sirah Press Run 1/2 gallon

 

[BarrelMonkey]

That's what I call getting value for money out of your chromatography kit! Except the scientist in me can't help but comment that you've left out your control lanes...

 

[Boatboy24]

That's what I call getting value for money out of your chromatography kit! Except the scientist in me can't help but comment that you've left out your control lanes...

I don't use 'em either. Love having a full sheet of chromo tests.

 

[crushday]

That's what I call getting value for money out of your chromatography kit! Except the scientist in me can't help but comment that you've left out your control lanes...

@BarrelMonkey what makes the test effective is the consistency of the “control lanes”. Like you, I know where they show up and if I see anything in the middle I’ll know I have to wait a bit longer and test again…

 

[crushday]

Now, time to develop…

 

[SCAndy]

Mr. Crushday,
I have to say I love your posts.
Informative
Instructional
Inspiring
Motivating!
Especially for a newbie. Lots of knowledge provided. I Especially like how you list your numbers. It's like a home study project as I follow along imagining what the $÷@##&* I would do if faced with the varying scenarios.

Overall what is your opinion of the Harmony yeast so far if I may inquire?