What's going on in your winery today..

[Rich]

Hi folks. Not been online for ages and ages so hope it is okay to pop in for a chat.

No problem

[goldseal]

I pulled my floor corker apart, to repair the broken jaw. It was pretty grotty inside, so a few hours were spent cleaning, removing rust, filing, respraying, drilling, epoxy-ing and tea-drinking.

It's all ready to reassemble, but I'm waiting a couple of days for the paint to really harden. Pictures later.

[lockwood1956]

Nothing in the winery....but have managed to obtain a working version of the video editing software (mine stopped working for some reason) so am editing the grapefest videos and uploading to the winesathome youtube channel

will post links when its done

[lockwood1956]

Hi shirl

good to have you back

[shirlthegirl43]

Hi, it will be nice to get brewing again - if I can

[robwrx]

Racked from primary fermenter a Stark Naked Pinot Grigio. I was very surprised at the vast amounts of CO2 released.

Did some SO2 testing on last years Grapefest wines. Struggling to get free SO2 numbers high enough to protect high PH wine without adding what seems obscene amounts of Kmeta so I've added some tartaric acid in the hope of bringing the PH down.

[NorthernWiner]

Did some SO2 testing on last years Grapefest wines. Struggling to get free SO2 numbers high enough to protect high PH wine without adding what seems obscene amounts of Kmeta so I've added some tartaric acid in the hope of bringing the PH down.

Rob, just out of curiosity, what are you using to test pH, a meter or paper strips?

[Cellar_Rat]

Making bacon.

[robwrx]

Rob, just out of curiosity, what are you using to test pH, a meter or paper strips?

I have a Vinmetrica SC300. The PH is 3.88 with TA4.6. I first tested back in the summer and got single digit SO2 results which was not a complete surprise as I had only made 2 small additions of kmeta since pressing 13 months ago. I added about 30ml of 10% solution and only raised free SO2 to low 20s ppm. I believe I need in the region of 70ppm to protect at that ph but I am nervous about adding what appears to be a lot of kmeta. I haven't got access to my notes at present so I can't be more specific with the numbers.

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2

[NorthernWiner]

Making bacon.

Lol... you do that in the winery? I usually save the hanky panky for the boudoir.

[NorthernWiner]

I have a Vinmetrica SC300. The PH is 3.88 with TA4.6. I first tested back in the summer and got single digit SO2 results which was not a complete surprise as I had only made 2 small additions of kmeta since pressing 13 months ago. I added about 30ml of 10% solution and only raised free SO2 to low 20s ppm. I believe I need in the region of 70ppm to protect at that ph but I am nervous about adding what appears to be a lot of kmeta. I haven't got access to my notes at present so I can't be more specific with the numbers.

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2

Yeah, 3.88 is pretty high. You may want to consider adding enough tartaric to bring the pH down to about 3.5(ish), and then cold stabilize for a few weeks to drop out the excess. While it seems counterintuitive to add acid and then cold stabilize, what happens is this: if your pH is 3.6 and below, cold stabilizing will cause excess tartrate to precipitate out without causing a rise in pH.

[SiSandrine]

Checked BC Port. SG 1.006 giving me about 16.5% ABV.

Racked my Pinot Noir clone into a DJ and added french oak staves, previously toasted to medium. Rather promising for such a young age.

[robwrx]

Yeah, 3.88 is pretty high. You may want to consider adding enough tartaric to bring the pH down to about 3.5(ish), and then cold stabilize for a few weeks to drop out the excess. While it seems counterintuitive to add acid and then cold stabilize, what happens is this: if your pH is 3.6 and below, cold stabilizing will cause excess tartrate to precipitate out without causing a rise in pH.

Thanks Steve, that sounds like a plan.

Does it matter if the wine has been previously cold stabilised? Is there a limit to how much acid will drop out? The Merlot is not a particularly big wine and I don't think it will handle much of an increase in TA.

[robwrx]

Two drums of frozen Grenache arrived today so preparing the necessary for another grape ferment. Going to bleed off at least 5 litres for a White Grenache.

Thanks Brian

[SiSandrine]

If its the same Grenache that I got at Grapefest then bleed it off quick. Thick and inky black. I tried to bleed some off after a couple of days by then too late. Still a little like treacle after a good couple of rackings too.

Lovely though.