rocket fuel or wine?

[spinelli01]

Hi All -

I'm making Syrah from grapes, and I just started MLF (day 2). I decided to taste the wine and it tastes something similar to everclear mixed with a little bit of grape juice - not good! The smell is fairly nice - a little musty! Color is more purple than deep red! What is the wine supposed to taste and look like at this stage?

 

[Torch404]

If you are making a kit it might help if you let us know which one. It is fairly common to have strong unpleasant flavors till the wine ages. If your doing MLF it is most likely to tone down the acidity as well.

 

[spinelli01]

If you are making a kit it might help if you let us know which one. It is fairly common to have strong unpleasant flavors till the wine ages. If your doing MLF it is most likely to tone down the acidity as well.

Hi John - I received these grapes from a vineyard here in washington state. Starting Brix was 23 (from vineyard), but unfortunately, I was too big of a newbie to understand I needed TA and pH. The yeast fermentation seemed a little long (13 days) and cold (average temperature 68). The final sp. gr at pressing on Day 13 was 1.000 with a temp at 66. The free SO2 was around 18, so I stirred like crazy for a couple of days and it went down to 0.

Since the Malic acid was greater than 500 and the taste was a little harsh, I decided to try MLF. MLBs were added after SO2 was 0.

It is good to know it is somewhat normal to have an initial smell and taste that is somewhat harsh.

Will the MLF bring out some of the complexity of the wine?
Should I have adjusted the temp during the initial yeast fermentation?

This has been a fun chemistry experiment

Terri

 

[JohnT]

Since the Malic acid was greater than 500 and the taste was a little harsh

1) Are you saying that the acid titration was .5? If so, then that is way too low. Test the acid and bring the level up to .6 or .65. I rcommend you use tartaric acid.

2) if the taste is thin, then add oak for more body.

3) TIME! it is only a couple of weeks old. If you are certian that the wine is chemically balanced, then give it time for the wine to become more well balanced.

4) MLF should definately take the edge off of the wine's tartness. Go for it, but keep the wine at 65 to 70 degrees.

 

[spinelli01]

1) Are you saying that the acid titration was .5? If so, then that is way too low. Test the acid and bring the level up to .6 or .65. I rcommend you use tartaric acid.

2) if the taste is thin, then add oak for more body.

3) TIME! it is only a couple of weeks old. If you are certian that the wine is chemically balanced, then give it time for the wine to become more well balanced.

4) MLF should definately take the edge off of the wine's tartness. Go for it, but keep the wine at 65 to 70 degrees.

The TA prior to MLF was 8.5, which I think is ok, right?

Oak is a good idea. Will do!

Alright. I'll be patient. It is a baby wine. I have a heating pad on the wine since it dropped to 62 degrees. This morning it was up to 70 degrees. If it goes about 70, will it kill off the MLBs?

Thanks for the advice!

 

[JohnT]

The TA prior to MLF was 8.5, which I think is ok, right?

Oak is a good idea. Will do!

Alright. I'll be patient. It is a baby wine. I have a heating pad on the wine since it dropped to 62 degrees. This morning it was up to 70 degrees. If it goes about 70, will it kill off the MLBs?

Thanks for the advice!

70 degrees is great for MLB. Keep it there for a while.

What are you using to measure your acid? Is this an acid titration kit?

 

[spinelli01]

70 degrees is great for MLB. Keep it there for a while.

What are you using to measure your acid? Is this an acid titration kit?

Great. I'll keep the temp at 70. It creeped up on me last night to 74 degrees, but is back down this morning. Bubbles are definitely forming.

I'm using the Accuvin TA kit. The reading I received was 8.5, which would be 0.85, correct?

"The ACCUVIN Titratable Acidity test kit is designed to measure Titratable Acidity (TA)in grape juice, must and wine. The range of the TA Kit is from 4.0 - 11.0 g/L as tartaric acid."

 

[spinelli01]

John - What do you think of the Accuvin test? Would you recommend something else?

 

[JohnT]

I believe that the strips only measure one type of acid (tartaric) and not the all over acid level of your wine.

If your acid levels are off, then this could explain why your wine is so flat.

Go out a get an acid titration kit ($7.00) or a PH meter ($100.00) to measure your wine's acidity. Make any/all recomended adjustments as insturcted.

 

[spinelli01]

I believe that the strips only measure one type of acid (tartaric) and not the all over acid level of your wine.

If your acid levels are off, then this could explain why your wine is so flat.

Go out a get an acid titration kit ($7.00) or a PH meter ($100.00) to measure your wine's acidity. Make any/all recomended adjustments as insturcted.

Makes sense. Do you happen to have the name of your titration kit? I just read your response to another question regarding acid testing. I took my first reading in the must and did not filter prior to testing. It looks like I should probably run the test again with a different kit

 

[spinelli01]

John - here is a link to an acid titration kit at a local store. Is this one suitable?

http://www.cellar-homebrew.com/store/catalog/Acid-Test-Kit-p-236.html#detail_image

 

[winemaker_3352]

John - here is a link to an acid titration kit at a local store. Is this one suitable?

http://www.cellar-homebrew.com/store/catalog/Acid-Test-Kit-p-236.html#detail_image

Yeah that looks right - you have to remember - there are a few different acid test kits - i have had 2 different kinds with different instructions all having the same ending results. Some make the sodium hydroxide solution more concentrated - so be sure to follow the instructions that come with your test kit

 

[spinelli01]

Thanks. The whole acid testing in general seems confusing. I thought I had it covered with the test I bought, but it makes sense to use this type of test. I'll make sure I follow the instructions provided. Thanks again

 

[JohnT]

I would recommend this one. It has all you need and very clear instructions. Not a bad price either. ..

The only difference seems to be that this requires more than a 3 cc sample.



http://www.thegrape.net/browse.cfm/4,8085.htm