Recent content by sebring96hbg

Ken, I have purchased some locally at Scotzins and online at Grape and Granary (D254 yeast, MLB and Opti Malo Plus), Midwest Supplies and Presque Isle. A fun project I worked on recently involved getting gondola paint from Presque Isle to rehab the basin of a Marchisio #35 press I scored...

MartyYule, Thanks. I have been researching posts on old NaOH. I agree getting that reagent is the next step. That's the only way I will know the normality as NaOH weakens over time. And thanks for pointing out the potassium affect, I spent some time reading up on that. I will test...

I did as it was convenient to southcentral PA.

I received my new bottle of NaOH in the mail and locally picked up a glass wine thief to test TA again and to check MLF using an Accuvin quick test. The numbers are 3.61 pH, 7.0 g/l TA and about 110 mg/l MLF. This is day 22 overall. AF took 8 days to achieve 0 brix with punching and stirring...

Hello kwb, This is my first season taking the step beyond kits. I am doing a combo of two pails plus one lug to add body. I tested beforehand but did not need to make any adjustments. In the fall, I will take the next step to all grapes. I highly recommend visiting the link below...

I retested yesterday after calibrating my Hanna Checker with fresh buffers. Current readings on the top up bottle are 3.63 pH and 5.2 g/l TA. I previously used Wyeast MLB and Opti Malo Plus for MLF. I saw some Lallemand charts showing MLF completing within two weeks for a red wine with a pH...

I appreciate the comments which provide experience in addition to all the reading I have done. I plan on testing completion of MLF at the two month mark. And when completed, I will taste and then test for pH and TA again.

I added the MLB and Opti-Mal. Current readings are 3.57 pH and 5.25 g/l TA. It seems likely based on my reading that I will need to add tartaric acid after MLF as pH will likely change to about 3.7. And, oof, did the gross lees stink!

Thanks! As this seems to be working out as fine as I had hoped, it's time to upgrade that test kit syringe to a burette. As much as the opposable thumb is awesome, it lacks that fine control at the crucial moment just before 8.2 pH -aaargh. And I will keep things simple by adding oak after MLF.

Late last night, I transferred the must from the primary to the carboys when my hydrometer read 0 brix. I found the Rubbermaid must scoop at a restaurant supply store to gently splash rack into the sanitized juice buckets fitted with a strainer bag to fllter out the seeds and skins from the 18...

Currently, it is at 2 brix, 3.5 pH and 6.3 g/l TA.

I was going to follow the More Wine PDF on red wines which suggested adding oak at the same time as MLF (page 25). http://www.morewinemaking.com/public/pdf/wredw.pdf There may be some cons to this approach of which I am simply not aware.

Thanks bzac!

Yesterday, I added the second and final addition of Fermaid-K at 6.25g based on an estimated 13.5 gallon must. This morning, the must weighs in at 10 brix after pitching yeast Sunday evening. My plan is to use oak spirals during MLF. Should I use American or French medium toast? Please...

Hello! First post, finally! I bought two pails and one lug of Carmenere from Harford Vineyard in MD. After a thorough search, I could not find any place closer to the suburbs of Harrisburg, PA. The quality of the lug of Carmenere grapes looked very good and were kept in cold storage at...