To clarify, it was the wood balls that I added back to the wine, not the (presumably) tartrate crystals!
Malolactic fermentation for elderberry wine?
- Thread starter BarrelMonkey
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To clarify, it was the wood balls that I added back to the wine, not the (presumably) tartrate crystals!
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I tried to do ML on my 2022 elderberry and although it's only been ~ 3 weeks, the fizzing seems to have died down so I ran a chromatogram:
T,C,M,L: Tartaric, citric, malic and lactic acids
PRE: Sample taken at start of MLF and frozen
5G, 1G: 5 gal, 1 gal containers
21: 2021 elderberry for reference
The first thing that stands out is the lack of tartaric acid in the pre-ML sample. My only explanation for this is that maybe there was some precipitation during freezing and it didn't resuspend when I thawed out the sample?
The malic/citric bands overlap a lot. There seems to be more citric than malic, which is consistent with what I've read about European elderberry cultivars (I estimate my juice was about 3/4 European, 1/4 American cultivars). There may be a little conversion of M to L, but my conclusion is that it's not complete, I think it just got a bit too cold too soon. Does anyone have experience with ML re-starting when the weather warms up? I am a bit reluctant to leave the wine without sulfites (it's had none added to date), but maybe if I add, say 30ppm now it will keep it in check over the winter.
T,C,M,L: Tartaric, citric, malic and lactic acids
PRE: Sample taken at start of MLF and frozen
5G, 1G: 5 gal, 1 gal containers
21: 2021 elderberry for reference
The first thing that stands out is the lack of tartaric acid in the pre-ML sample. My only explanation for this is that maybe there was some precipitation during freezing and it didn't resuspend when I thawed out the sample?
The malic/citric bands overlap a lot. There seems to be more citric than malic, which is consistent with what I've read about European elderberry cultivars (I estimate my juice was about 3/4 European, 1/4 American cultivars). There may be a little conversion of M to L, but my conclusion is that it's not complete, I think it just got a bit too cold too soon. Does anyone have experience with ML re-starting when the weather warms up? I am a bit reluctant to leave the wine without sulfites (it's had none added to date), but maybe if I add, say 30ppm now it will keep it in check over the winter.
I do a 5 to 1 ratio of blackberry and elderberries, it’s really good after 2 years
I ran another ML chromatogram on my 2022 elderberry; it's now 10-11 weeks after pitching ML bugs (O-mega strain). Much of the time since my last test (in mid November) it has been quite cool, so not ideal conditions for microbial growth.
T,L,C,M: tartaric, lactic, citric, malic acids. 5g, 1g: 5 gal and 1 gal containers; 21: 2021 elderberry.
There may still be a slight malic acid spot, but I think I'm going to call it and add SO2. This strain of ML bacteria is noted for its very late degradation of citric acid (some of which goes all the way to diacetyl), and I don't want to promote that, particularly given the huge amount of citric acid present.
I find it hard to judge wines this early (and elderberry seems to be particularly famous for late maturity!) However it seems fruity and approachable; cherry/blackberry flavors. It does have a bit of a 'cough syrup' note, which I'm hoping will change with time. There was also a slight 'spritz' on the palate, so maybe ML bugs are still busy despite the cold temperature.
@Huba Huba, tagging you since from a previous thread you were interested to know how things worked out.
T,L,C,M: tartaric, lactic, citric, malic acids. 5g, 1g: 5 gal and 1 gal containers; 21: 2021 elderberry.
There may still be a slight malic acid spot, but I think I'm going to call it and add SO2. This strain of ML bacteria is noted for its very late degradation of citric acid (some of which goes all the way to diacetyl), and I don't want to promote that, particularly given the huge amount of citric acid present.
I find it hard to judge wines this early (and elderberry seems to be particularly famous for late maturity!) However it seems fruity and approachable; cherry/blackberry flavors. It does have a bit of a 'cough syrup' note, which I'm hoping will change with time. There was also a slight 'spritz' on the palate, so maybe ML bugs are still busy despite the cold temperature.
@Huba Huba, tagging you since from a previous thread you were interested to know how things worked out.
