Malolactic Fermentation - When is too late

When is it to late to start a ML culture. I was thinking of giving this a try on my Chilean wines but wasn't sure if it was to late to start this. I do want to give this a go on my CA Sangiovase as well. The Chilean was started in May and the CA was started in September.

What are the thoughts from those who have done this in the past...

Have you sulfited them?

They have been sulfited initially and last about 2 months ago. I need to check the levels...Maybe tomorrow..

Check your sulfite levels, then you can check to see if they are within the range the malolactic bacteria can tolerate. Some MLB are more tolerant than others.

Ideally, batches intended for MLF should have little to no sulfite. I made his mistake recently and added kmeta out of habit on batches I planned to MLF. Of the three, two are progressing but the other is not going as well.

Heather


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I'll check these tomorrow. I ordered a culture and the paper chromatography kit this am. I'll post PH levels and Sulfite levels tomorrow..

I just finished testing the free SO2 levels for the 4 wines in question. Here were the results

• Chilean Malbec - PH 3.39 - FSO2 36
• Chilean Carmenere - PH 3.33 - FSO2 34
• Chilean Cab Sauv - PH 3.37 - FSO2 30
• CA Sangiovase - PH 3.32 - FSO2 16

The Chileans were last sulfited in July and the CA was sulfited October 26. I generally follow the 1/4 tsp per 5 gallon rule when racking.

Is there any possibility of kicking off MLF on these? Once the paper chromatography kit gets here later in the week I will run a test on that and can post results.

Give the vp41 strain a look, it might be able to handle those sulfite levels.

seth8530 said:

Give the vp41 strain a look, it might be able to handle those sulfite levels.

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Thanks..I'll look into that...

Try splash racking in order to get the SO2 levels down.

ibglowin said:

Try splash racking in order to get the SO2 levels down.

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I will do that as I have 5 1/2 gallons of each and I want to blend back together. I was planning on MLF on 5 gallons, nothing on the 1/2 so i could determine the difference. The 1/2 will be bottled into 375 splits and tried over time with the other...

I splash racked my 4 wines this am and pitched the MLB. Time will tell if it takes or not. I'll check it in about 6 weeks and see how it looks. Here is the chromatography test pre inoculation.

Is liquid or dry ML bacteria better? If you mail order liquid and it freezes is the bacteria dead?

Went and bought 2 new brew belts. Temps in the cellar dropped from lower 60's to low 50's overnight. Temp should increase to where they should be in the next few hours. I have the belts about 1/4 of the way down on the carboys so the temp doesnt get too high.

After 3 days of being with brew belts on the carboys I checked the temps today. All are between 68-72 degrees. Feel better about the temps now at least.

I have tiny bubbles at the top of each of the wines and what appears to be positive pressure in each of the airlocks. The samples not being mlf'd are absent of these signs. Hopefully it's working..

Sounds like it just might be. Give it a month or two, then test it.

I was just about to ask this!!!! My ca batch was done end of oct and life just got crazy and I didn't mlb it but I also didn't sulfate either. So I think I will bring it in and let it warm up a bit and add my mlb.


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It has been right around 6 weeks. I think I'll give this another test and see what, if anything, is happening. If there are no signs of change, should I give up on mlf and sulfite heavily or keep the brewbelts on and check in another 6 weeks. I'm in no hurry to bottle as the wine is only sitting at the 8 month and 4 month point now.

I did another Paper Chromatography test last evening. Pulled the paper this am. I'll check it later for results. Hoping something started. It's been 6 weeks. If nothing else, the samples tasted good.

Chromatography papaer just about dry. Doesnt appear to be any signs of Malic Acid disapating. May try spash racking and pitching another culture.