MLF not starting...

[danchami]

Hi all,
this is my first post, but been lurking around, reading lots and soaking lots of good knowledge - thanks for sharing;

I have pressed 20 gallons of Syrah following a successful primary fermentation. BRIX at start were 24.5, through in 50ppm SO2 at crush time... so SO2 should be good, alcohol around 14%. I let the wine settle for 2 days, and racked off of the coarse lees. I then prepared my enoferm beta starter in mix of water + ACTI-ML (using half of the bacteria - closed the rest quickly and tried to absorb as much air and stored in freezer) and mixed it in 3 days back. yesterday I checked on the carboys, and having not seen any small fizzy bubble or airlock activity i got a bit worried.. did more research and found that I should have used distilled water / non chlorinated water for the starter. I had actually used bottled water to prepare the starter which I later found to have 10mg Chlorine / liter. So I distilled some water yesterday again, took out the rest of the enoferm from the freezer mixed it again with distill water and pitched it in yesterday. This morning still no signs of activity at all...
I have checked all the boxes.. room temp is about 80F, I have placed the carboys in a tub and added water till about 1/3rd. water tem is about 76-77F. Acti-ML is in; SO2 should be rather low following primary; Alcohol about 14%.. any thoughts? should I get a new pack of enofrem beta to try again?

Thanks,
Danny

 

[ibglowin]

MLB can be a little finicky and each strain has their own set of conditions it requires to live. Have you checked the pH? MLB have limits on pH, SO2 (not only free but total as well), temp, alcohol. Usually they like cooler temps than what you listed up. I would double check on the conditions your MLB need to survive and thrive and then get measurements and make sure you are within those. Some are faster than others as well so don't worry just yet.

 

[danchami]

Thanks Mike. PH is 3.63. I forgot to mention that, but I don't think it is outside of the norms for MLF. I will give it couple more days to see if there's any action, and go form there then... but typically how long does it take for MLF to kick in?

 

[Tom]

You didnt add k-meta did you?

My MLF dont see alot of bubbles.

 

[danchami]

Hi Tom,

no, I didn't add k-meta... well aware of that. you said your MLF doesn't generate much bubbles, what about airlock activity?

Thanks,
Danny

 

[PCharles]

Mlf

Danny,

I'm in the same boat, observing my wine following MLF innoculation. This is my first go at this process. It looks like you've done a great job getting ready for MLF. I hope the water/CL issue doesn't suppress the bacteria. I used the White Labs MF product. I'm not seeing any bubbles either... now 5 days following press. I'm not concerned and generally expect I'll have to wait until MLF testing is done in about 5-6 weeks.

The procedure for MLF that I've reviewed suggests stiring the wine twice a week. I gave mine a stir yesterday and plan to repeat this again Sunday.

Your thread is of interest to me and I look forward to following your comments and those of others as your MLF progress.

Best regards,
Paul

 

[danchami]

Paul,

I just spoke to Lallemand, and they said they prefer the use of distilled / mineral water, because sometimes Chlorine can be high and will kill the bacteria.. but given the overall condition of the wine, and level of CL (10mg / liter), they said it should be fine... shouldn't impact ML. In addition they said, don't depend much on the visuals, you may not see anything, but doesn't mean that MLF is not happening.... only way is to test!

 

[robie]

I haven't looked at the specifications for that particular mlb, but your temperature does seem a little high. Your PH is great, if that is what it was at the start of mlf, not just what it was when you started alcohol (yeast) fermentation. SO2 at 50PPM at crush is also OK, as long as no one else before you had sulphited the grapes.

You can't go by bubbling, although I understand you want to see something happening. (I started an mlf this very morning, so I understand the apprehension.)

Try to lower the temp to 72F or even a little lower. That should help. 72F is the upper limit for some mlb.

Do you have some sort of malo/lactic test kit? You will need one before it's over, so you will know when to stabilize to stop the mlf. Accuvin sells a quick check version and you can use the standard chromatographic test kit, which several shops sell and is the more popular test.

One way or another you will eventually need to be able to test, because if mlf goes on beyond the point when all the malic acid is gone, the mlb can start processing other things that can produce off flavors.

Good luck.

 

[danchami]

Robie,

Thanks for the input, very useful. i will be testing with Chromatography test kit... expecting that to arrive shortly.

This afternoon came back from work... went straight to the carboys... and tiny bubbles were on the surface of the wine close to the neck... so I guess things are happening ;-)

Cheers,
Danny

 

[robie]

Robie,

Thanks for the input, very useful. i will be testing with Chromatography test kit... expecting that to arrive shortly.

This afternoon came back from work... went straight to the carboys... and tiny bubbles were on the surface of the wine close to the neck... so I guess things are happening ;-)

Cheers,
Danny

Good deal! That test kit will let you know shortly if everything is working normally.

With mlf, it seems that if only one of - ph, SO2, temperature, or alcohol level is out of tolerance, you can still have a successful mlf, provided of course that that one is not horribly out of tolerance. It's when two or more are present that things really go wrong.

 

[Tom]

Hi Tom,

no, I didn't add k-meta... well aware of that. you said your MLF doesn't generate much bubbles, what about airlock activity?

Thanks,
Danny

I see almost no bubbles. remember, its not eating the sugars that will give you airlock activity.
Mlf produces verry little activity. Least with the cultures I use.

 

[vouxwines]

Very glad your MLF kicked off! I’m encountering a similar situation with 3 of my 4 large tanks. PH is 3.42 SO2 is under 10 ppm, ABV is 13.5 added Acti-ML nutrient and temp started at 64 degrees, now adjusted to 68. As soon as room was adjusted to 68 one of the 4 tanks took off as evidenced by the co2 pressure that released when I unscrewed the sealed airlock. I’ve now outfitted it with an S-Airlock to be able to relieve pressure. My other airlocks see no evidence of CO2 escaping. Paper chromatography tested one week apart shows starting of ML but no progression. I did reinoculate with MLB that was freeze dried from a local vendor after two weeks of no activity. That’s when the 4th tank took off. Thinking of getting some warming blankets to strap to tanks to get over 70 degrees. Any thoughts? Tanks range in volume from 250L-650L.