Can I adjust acid during MLF?

Winemaking Talk - Winemaking Forum

Help Support Winemaking Talk - Winemaking Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Joined
Oct 25, 2016
Messages
4,372
Reaction score
5,007
Location
S. Jersey/Philadelphia area
Looking for a shove in the right direction here. I know WHAT I want to do. I just don't know WHEN to do it.
I've got two separate batches going that have both just been racked off the gross lees. An all grape Tuscan and a Grenache blend juice pail. They had strikingly similar numbers before AF and now post they are identical. Tuscan got BM 4x4. Juice went all natural.
Ph 4.0 (3.9 before)
TA 5.25 (about 7.0 pre AF)
SG .999 -98 ish

Inoculated with VP 41 right about when the yeast kicked into gear. Currently waiting on a chromatography for a control test.
THe numbers seem to need just a touch of tartaric to bring me to more comfortable levels. Would I benefit from doing this adjustment now during MLF? Or is that a big no-no and could end up causing trouble?
 
Looking for a shove in the right direction here. I know WHAT I want to do. I just don't know WHEN to do it.
I've got two separate batches going that have both just been racked off the gross lees. An all grape Tuscan and a Grenache blend juice pail. They had strikingly similar numbers before AF and now post they are identical. Tuscan got BM 4x4. Juice went all natural.
Ph 4.0 (3.9 before)
TA 5.25 (about 7.0 pre AF)
SG .999 -98 ish

Inoculated with VP 41 right about when the yeast kicked into gear. Currently waiting on a chromatography for a control test.
THe numbers seem to need just a touch of tartaric to bring me to more comfortable levels. Would I benefit from doing this adjustment now during MLF? Or is that a big no-no and could end up causing trouble?

MLF can change acid, so it is best to wait. You'll also taste less acid as the malic converts to lactic.
 
Back
Top