Rack during Malolactic Fermentation?

[KTWineMaker]

I'm making my first ever batch of Zinfandel from grapes from Lodi. I purchased White Labs WLP675 for Malolactic Fermentation. I added it at 5 Brix, per the instructions. Last night I racked the wine into a carboy as it was just below 0 Brix.

Do I wait approximately 4-6 weeks until malolactic fermentation is complete to rack again? Or do I rack sooner to get any remaining lees off of the wine?

There is about a gallon of headspace in the 6-gallon carboy. If I let the wine sit for the 4-6 weeks, is it okay or should I top it up?

 

[mainshipfred]

I'm making my first ever batch of Zinfandel from grapes from Lodi. I purchased White Labs WLP675 for Malolactic Fermentation. I added it at 5 Brix, per the instructions. Last night I racked the wine into a carboy as it was just below 0 Brix.

Do I wait approximately 4-6 weeks until malolactic fermentation is complete to rack again? Or do I rack sooner to get any remaining lees off of the wine?

There is about a gallon of headspace in the 6-gallon carboy. If I let the wine sit for the 4-6 weeks, is it okay or should I top it up?

Although a cost effective ML I've never had any luck with it. It only has a 10 ppm SO2 tolerance so you have to be careful with the yeast selection and absolutely don't add SO2 at crush. MLB does give off CO2 but not at the same rate as AF so I would be leary about the gallon headspace. Mine are always topped up to the fullest but I do let them go 203 months. You don't mention when you pressed but you need to rack a few days after you press to get rid of the gross lees. After that no additional racking should be done until after MLF is complete. Hope that helps.

 

[KTWineMaker]

Thanks @mainshipfred . I chose not to press the grapes and just use the free-run last night when I racked the grapes. I was concerned the wine might be too tannic and harsh since I had to leave the grapes in contact with the wine for 2 days longer than I wanted since I had to go out of town (hence the negative Brix reading when I racked). I'll make sure to top off the headspace. I'm thinking given your review of WLP675 I might also buy a ML testing kit. The wine desperately needs to go through ML it is pretty harsh right now.

 

[mainshipfred]

Thanks @mainshipfred . I chose not to press the grapes and just use the free-run last night when I racked the grapes. I was concerned the wine might be too tannic and harsh since I had to leave the grapes in contact with the wine for 2 days longer than I wanted since I had to go out of town (hence the negative Brix reading when I racked). I'll make sure to top off the headspace. I'm thinking given your review of WLP675 I might also buy a ML testing kit. The wine desperately needs to go through ML it is pretty harsh right now.

Just to correct a typo it 2-3 months not 203 months.

 

[KTWineMaker]

@mainshipfred One more question for you. In the cases where WLP675 didn't work for you because the SO2 levels are too high, did you innoculate a second time with a different brand of ML bacteria? I wasn't sure if you could add two different bacterias if one wasn't working.

 

[mainshipfred]

@mainshipfred One more question for you. In the cases where WLP675 didn't work for you because the SO2 levels are too high, did you innoculate a second time with a different brand of ML bacteria? I wasn't sure if you could add two different bacterias if one wasn't working.

At the time I was using 675 I just kept adding more not knowing the issues it had with SO2 if that was the only problem. It wasn't until I knew enough about MLB to understand it and it's limitations and what to look for in reading the specifications. I think you will find most of us use dry MLB like VP41, CH16, CH35 or Enoferm Beta. My personal preference is MBR31 although I have used CH35 once and it worked well. If you only have 5 gallons I understand why you chose the 675 since the dry packages are for 66 gallons and the cost of 675 is substantially less. I don't see why adding a second culture would hurt. I'll keep my fingers crossed the 675 works for you. Are you planning on investing in a chromatography kit or test strips to know if you are complete?

 

[KTWineMaker]

@mainshipfred I'm guessing I'm going to have the same issue with SO2 you might have had. I added SO2 after crushing so it will be higher than 10ppm. I bought the ML bacteria from my wine store because it was the only one they had and didn't realize the SO2 levels needed to be so low. Thanks for the recommendations for the dry MLB's. I think I'm going to have to invest in a chromatography kit now.

 

[mainshipfred]

@mainshipfred I'm guessing I'm going to have the same issue with SO2 you might have had. I added SO2 after crushing so it will be higher than 10ppm. I bought the ML bacteria from my wine store because it was the only one they had and didn't realize the SO2 levels needed to be so low. Thanks for the recommendations for the dry MLB's. I think I'm going to have to invest in a chromatography kit now.

There are many posts on where to get a vertical chromatography kit but PiWine has the best price for this and it is the same as all the others.
https://www.piwine.com/chromatography-test-kit-vertical-paper.html

 

[cmason1957]

Unless you are pressing your wine with a really heavy duty press, I think the possibility of getting overly tannic wine from mixing the press with the free-run is greatly over-hyped. I use a hand crank fruit press and always mix everything together. I even taste the press part and it never seems all that really different from the free run. just my $0.02, take it for what it is worth.

 

[mainshipfred]

Unless you are pressing your wine with a really heavy duty press, I think the possibility of getting overly tannic wine from mixing the press with the free-run is greatly over-hyped. I use a hand crank fruit press and always mix everything together. I even taste the press part and it never seems all that really different from the free run. just my $0.02, take it for what it is worth.

I have to agree with you not to mention the volume you lose by not pressing.