Staring first couple frozen buckets soon.

[brewbush]

I had a couple questions before I buy my supplies (and probably more down the road)

1. I am planning a syrah - 2 must buckets. Brix: 24.0, pH: 3.42, TA: .5

Would you do anything with those starting stats? I will obviously recheck those when I get the buckets.


2. I have read that a co-ferment with syrah/D80 yeast make a nice overall wine. I assume I can not pitch both into the must at the same time. Can I ferment one bucket in my Wineeasy and another in a bucket. When fermentation is done, can I dump the bucket fermentation into the wineeasy and press both at the same time?

3. ML culture. Since I am only doing 2 buckets initially it seems overkill for the VP41 at $33 which I assume can not be reused once opened? How good are the wyeast liquid ML cultures?

Thanks

 

[stickman]

Those numbers seem good to me, I personally wouldn't make any adjustments if you trust the supplier. Keep in mind that measuring acid, brix, and PH, are difficult with freshly thawed must, so your numbers may not agree with the label. Be sure to get all of the acid residue from the bottom of the pail mixed into the must.

I would keep the fermentations separate until complete and press together as you indicate, the more dominant yeast will complete any residual sugar. D80 is more nutrient dependent, so be sure to use a quality complex yeast nutrient.

I've used those liquid cultures in the past without problems, the main issue is tracking the ML to completion and then rack and sulfite when complete. My batch sizes are much larger so these days I use the dry cultures.

 

[brewbush]

Those numbers seem good to me, I personally wouldn't make any adjustments if you trust the supplier. Keep in mind that measuring acid, brix, and PH, are difficult with freshly thawed must, so your numbers may not agree with the label. Be sure to get all of the acid residue from the bottom of the pail mixed into the must.

I would keep the fermentations separate until complete and press together as you indicate, the more dominant yeast will complete any residual sugar. D80 is more nutrient dependent, so be sure to use a quality complex yeast nutrient.

I've used those liquid cultures in the past without problems, the main issue is tracking the ML to completion and then rack and sulfite when complete. My batch sizes are much larger so these days I use the dry cultures.

Thsnks for the reply.

Is there anything special about doing a syrah? It seems to me a relatively straight forward wine to do especially for a first time must-user. I will be using info here on the forum as well as manuals from morewine. I have heard cabernet can be a bit finicky so I will avoid that for the first few.

 

[sdelli]

Yes... I agree to leave it alone. Because you only have a small amount of must. You might want to just pick your yeast and do it all as one... But if you want both yeast then definitly ferment seperate and press together and mix. You can use vp41... Just seal it afterwards and keep the rest in a cool place. I just ordered two buckets of frozen must. Sangiovese from Tuscany. Should arive anyday now. I am adding some enzyme to it and fermenting both together. Then... vp41.

 

[stickman]

I have made many Syrah and Cab batches and they seem similar from a winemaking point of view. With must sourced from cooler higher elevation regions, color and tannin is usually high and therefore reduction is always possible during the first several months after pressing. I usually rack 24hrs after pressing and wait 48hrs and rack again and then add the ML culture and oak. This removes the gross lees and adds enough oxygen for fermentation completion and to help reduce the generation of sulfur odors. Small amounts of oxygen (micro-ox or additional oak) can also be added if necessary during the first half of ML fermentation; don't introduce oxygen during the last half of ML or VA may increase. When ML is complete check the PH, I'll add tartaric acid after racking if the ph is higher than 3.7, add sulfite accordingly.

I use good quality nutrients during the primary fermentation and have not needed the ML nutrients using this method.

This is just how I handle heavy reds from must, but there are many different ways to do it. Good luck, let me know how it goes.