WS Chardonnay-kinda brown?

[Paulc]

Hey all, is this what chardonnay juice is supposed to look like? It seems rather brown to me.

The TA on this stuff was .75 and pH of 3.8. It was not quite inline with what my reference book says it should be so I added a teaspoon of tartaric acid to my 5 gal of juice. Good idea/bad idea? Should I have added more?

And I also have a pic of the bottom of the bucket...should I have stirred up the juice or is it good that this stuff is left on the bottom of the bucket?

Thanks in advance. Paul

 

[Paulc]

So I just read the directions through more carefully and they say to stir the bucket before transfer...what did I just wash down the kitchen drain? Hate it when I get cocky/careless! thanks, paulc

 

[Runningwolf]

Paul some kits have you do that and others do not. The sediment you washed down was mostly yeast and unused sugars. This sediment is also used in the clearifying process.

Keep moving forward and I think you'll still be ok.

 

[Paulc]

This was a bucket of frozen juice that has not even started fermenting yet. I just got it yesterday from midwest...it should have been nothing but juice in the bucket. Paul

 

[robie]

Actually, that color is a lot (lot!) lighter than my last chardonnay. It will be just fine.

 

[Paulc]

Well then I do feel a little better...this is my first frozen juice bucket so really did not know what to expect. thanks, paulc

 

[Paulc]

In the end I emailed Brehm to find out what to do about the stuff I washed down the drain. I really did not expect a contact back as I had only bought 1 bucket, and not directly from them. But they did respond! So I called them and talked with Paul Rago who was very helpful. The stuff in the bottom of the bucket is in fact tartaric acid and sugar, both of which settle out during the freezing process as the water freezes first, forcing stuff dissolved and suspended in the juice to concentrate at the bottom of the bucket. Paul walked me through how to correct my mistake and after doing the TA test twice I came up with at TA of only .58! The SG level was good though. So I added enough tartaric to get TA up to .8, so I may yet get a drinkable wine out of the bucket. I have been using a ice water bath to keep the ferment temps in the mid 60's so hopefully that will help make a good wine too. So thanks to Brehm! Seem like real nice folks, and really good customer service!

Now to decide on oak or no oak, or how much oak...paulc

 

[robie]

That's great, Paul. Add any oak slowly and taste it about every week as you go, that is a very nice chardonnay, so take good care of it.

 

[ibglowin]

Now that is great customer service after the sale!