If I get in over my head I'd just wait and add malo simultaneously. But I do like the sound of that. But Would this method be more of a risk of MLF failing to take off? Adding indirectly through the skins? Not physically adding the actual culture might make me nervous. But I do trust your opinion which based on personal experience. Would you add optiMalo and actiML nutrients with the skins again or just let her ride?
Does "good success" mean that it hasn't ever failed to go off this way?
And also, just to clarify, the "lag phase" of your AF is when the culture is getting acclimated to the must? the time between pitching yeast and when it visibly takes off??
Yes, the lag phase is when the yeast is reproducing to sufficient colony size to attack the sugar, usually will see a goopy, slimy purple foam on top. As soon as the yeast starts to work and you are seeing CO2 release, fermentation has begun.
Good success means it has worked for me every single time with this method. I believe that the earlier the inoculation, the better the chances of MLB performance. Why? When inoculated early, in a must with proper pH, there is no alcohol present, which allows the MLB to get going, there is also boatloads of food. The bacteria is slowly acclimated to the rising alcohol level, as the alcohol is created, as opposed to being dumped into an environment with 13%-14% ABV, when it's tolerance is around 15%. Temperatures created by AF are higher, which is nice for MLB. The action of the CO2 produced by AF keeps the MLB circulation going during the entire AF. It won't finish before AF, but mine all have within a few short weeks.
When you press the juice out of the skins and subsequently put them into your juice buckets, you'll be transferring a huge quantity of MLB, much more than was in your MLB package, and you'll be right back in the same process as the wine from grapes. The yeast you used in the grape batch will also take over your juice bucket fermentation pretty quickly without the need to add any yeast to them, so make sure you selected a yeast you would like to use in both.
Co-inoculation is not without its problems, just as all of the different timing sequences have. I believe that the key is to make sure you are feeding both your yeast and your MLB cultures properly during the process. I feed my yeast at 1/3 and 2/3 sugar depletion, and I rehydrate the MLB in ActiML, add it to the must, and feed it OptiMalo as well. Improperly fed yeast and MLB can cause problems. Yeast will produce a stinky sulfur smell when stressed, and your fermentation may stall. MLB can start eating sugar, producing VA, which is a flaw if it is present in detectible levels.
Here's an article you might enjoy perusing while you mull it over:
http://www.newworldwinemaker.com/20...lation-of-malolactic-bacteria-and-wine-yeast/