Yeast and acid suggestions

[waygorked]

Yesterday we crushed 100 lbs each of cabernet sauvignon and cabernet franc grapes, from Washington up near Red Mountain. We wound up with significantly more must than we were expecting somehow, and went home with 7 gallons of cab sauv, 7 of cab franc, and 7 that was a 50:50 blend of both. Both grapes had hung a bit too long, and were on the brink of being overly ripe. Brix on the cab sauv after the crush was 25.5, and it shot up to 29 on the cab franc. TA for both was 0.42. I watered the cab franc down to 24.5. I left the blend at about 27, and suspect I'll take it down a bit tonight before pitching yeast. Not expecting to need anywhere near as much acid as these required, we brought them all up to around 0.5 before running out of TA. I suspect we will add more later.

Now, the questions. We are far more interested in generating complexity in our wines than making fruit bombs. Given how long these grapes hung, some degree of fruit bombardment is inevitable. That said, what would y'all suggest for yeast? We have RC212 and Red Star Pasteur Red on hand, 2 packages of each. I'm not sure that's enough for all 3 fermenters, and this may require a trip back to the shop. If so, what should I use? I'm most confused about what to do with the blend.

Also, should I top up the acid prior to fermenting, or will I be ok doing this later on? And if so, when?

Cheers!

 

[JohnT]

I like to go with 1 packet for every 36 pounds of grapes. That being the case, You would recommend 3 packets of yeast for each of your 7 gallon batches. Others may disagree, but I would toss the red star yeast in the trash and go with RC212. Be sure to also add yeast nutrient.

 

[ibglowin]

Make (or try) to make all acid additions up front rather than post fermentation. I like BDX, D254, BM4X4 these days. What was your starting pH?

 

[waygorked]

I would have liked to try any of those, but for some reason none were available. I went with R56 for the cab sauv (which should be interesting, as there was already fermentation taking place when I pitched it), RC212 for the cab franc, and VR21 for the blend. I brought the acid up to about 0.56 prior to adding yeast and nutrient, and also brought them all down to about 24.5 brix. Starting pH was apparently 3.42/3.44 before I started messing with them. All three smell fantastic and taste delicious.

 

[JohnT]

I would have liked to try any of those, but for some reason none were available. I went with R56 for the cab sauv (which should be interesting, as there was already fermentation taking place when I pitched it), RC212 for the cab franc, and VR21 for the blend. I brought the acid up to about 0.56 prior to adding yeast and nutrient, and also brought them all down to about 24.5 brix. Starting pH was apparently 3.42/3.44 before I started messing with them. All three smell fantastic and taste delicious.

Those number look great. IMHO, .56 is close enough for now.

 

[waygorked]

Great. Thanks.What would be the minimum level of acid I should roll with early in fermentation? I ask because I'm honestly guessing where our acid level is at the moment. When we crushed and sulfated, we were told the acid came in at 0.4-0.42. We were not prepared for this, and didn't think about adding acid until on the way home from the shop with the grapes. I had some TA lying around at home, but it was only about a third of what was necessary. I split it up between the batches, then yesterday I put in enough to bring them each up by 0.1. I wanted to test the acid, but it was a bit too complicated for 11:30 on a Monday night...

 

[ibglowin]

When you say you watered down the cab franc did you use acidulated water? Unless you had high starting acid if you did not use acidulated water then you also watered down your acid levels. You need somewhere between 0.6 and 0.8 for a red wine.

 

[waygorked]

Good point, hadn't considered that. We just used a couple of cups of filtered water. I suppose that dropped the acid a bit further. I tasted the CS last night, and the acid seemed about right, but the CF and blend, both of which needed to be watered down, seemed a bit light on acid now.

Any suggestions on a good acid testing kit? The one I grabbed (cheapest, or course), is a serious pain in the butt to use...

Also, any thoughts on how long to keep the cab sauv and cab franc on the skins? Are these wines to be pressed early, or should I just let them run?

 

[sdelli]

Wierd you only got 7gallons yield from 100 lbs. of grapes.... That is very low. Should yield 10% to must.


Sam

 

[waygorked]

Actually, we wound up with 7 gallons of each varietal, and 7 gallons of a blend of both.

I'm getting a bit concerned about the cab sauv. I punched down last night and got a distinct sulfur hit. There is some level of reduction taking place, despite there being a solid level of yeast nutrient. Any suggestions?