Do I have all I need for Crush?

The only thing I would add for the fermentation stage is an ML culture. You'll also need to borrow a press when the time comes. You might not need much or any tartaric acid but the stuff doesn't spoil and is cheap so get 2 lbs or so, just in case. If you're in Calistoga, there should be plenty of people around who can drop by and check on what you're doing, but it's actually not that hard - keep it simple and you'll be fine. Good luck!

Pp

This list could get long, quick.

suggestion - take a run over to 'Napa Fermentation Supplies' in Napa (google 'em, they;re right in town). While you;re there, browse a couple books. If you haven't done a large grape crush and fermentation before, you might start with the equip list in Jeff Cox's book (From Vines to Wine).

Main things I notice missing on your list;

• a second vessel for racking, and all appropriate racking equipment. Doesn;t have to be another oak barrel - even an 'intermediate vessel' (such as a couple stainless barrels) would work.

• A press for after fermentation

• MLF bacteria

• Hydrometer

• Clinitest tablets

• Thermometer

• Titrettes, or some oter means of measuring free SO2

shit, like I said, this list could get real long, real fast ....

You'll need something to push down the cap (grape skins) when they rise up during fermentation. You do that two or three times a day. I use a tile mortar mixing tool you can get at hardware store. Not very expensive. It looks like a big potato masher with a wooden handle. Napa Fermentations probably sells a nice stainless steel job if you want to spend more..

Crush/destem the grapes, stir in some yeast food, then sprinkle yeast on top and stir it in after it gets milky looking.. about an hour or so. Twenty-four hours later add the ML bacteria. Taste the must and take temp and hydrometer readings at least once a day. Ideally I want temp to peak around 90 degrees F and I usually press when brix is at zero or slight bit higher, since by the time I finish press it will hit zero. You can taste the difference when its close to zero brix.

Of course there are a million variations to this, but above is simple, stress free approach to first batch. Grapes are in good shape this year so I wouldn't get concerned about adding chemicals before fermentation. You may over do it. Meanwhile you can get a good book and read up on what's next after that. Fermentation will usually be over in 4 or 5 days after adding yeast.

Here's what I do. It's simple and works.

Clean the primary bin and crusher with Oxiclean and rinse both real good. Place crusher on primary and crush the grapes. Add 1/4 tsp of Pot meta per 5 gallons of must. I use 36 lbs. crates and add 1/4 tsp of meta per 2 crates of grapes (72 lbs). So you can figure out what you need for 1000 lbs. If the fruit is moldy add 1/8 teaspoon more per 5 gallons. MIx the must so the meta is mixed in good. If fruit is cold let sit for a day , otherwise take a glass of juice off the top of the crushed grapes and let settle 20 min. After 20 min pour the juice into your hydrometer and take a brix reading. if brix is less than 23 add white table sugar to bring brix up to 23 otherwise do nothing. Mix in good. Take the PH of the juiice. Add appropriate amount of tartaric acid to get the PH of must down to 3.3. Mix in real good. If Ph is below 3.3, do nothing. You don't need to take the TA until after the fermentation is done. Sprinkle the yeast on top of the must and wait until fermentation kicks off ( 2 days). After fermentation kicks off, add about 1/2 the DAP or yeast nutrient to the must. Take the brix everyday. When Brix gets to about 12 add the rest of the DAP. The theory is that you don't want to add all the DAP at the beginning of fermentation because it could cause the yeast population to get so big that you would need to add even more DAP to feed it. If your using a yeast like Premier cuvee or Pasteur Red , don't even bother adding MLF culture until after the fermentation is complete. Some yeasts promote MLF and some don't ( Premier cuvee). If your using a champagne type yeast like PC then you'll need a MLF nutrient to start MLF after the fermentation is done due to the nutrients being eaten by the yeast. Anyway, let me know what yeast your using and I can help you on the MLF procedure. After 7 days, press the wine ( about 5 days of primary fermentation and 2 days of waiting for the fermentation to start) and put in secondary.

That's it.

Bob

EnoNut wrote:

BTW,

Don't forget to cover your primary with a piece of clean plywood or clean sheet. Keep it on for all seven days.

Bob

snipped-for-privacy@hotmail.com wrote:

For pushing down the cap, I recommend:

- roll your sleeves up

- wash your hands and arms and rinse

- push the cap down with your hands jo> I should be harvesting a week from this coming Sat (9/30) for my 1/2

That's how I do it, with my hands. BTW Eno, push down the cap at least twice a day. If you work , push it down before you leave in the morning and push it down when you get home at night. You could also push it down before you go to bed. Make sure the whole cap is submersed in the juice. The alcohol will kill any bacteria that is trying to form on the cap if you do it everyday, twice a day.

Bob

Terry Bell wrote:

Never tried that. Actually never even ocurred to me. Certainly would work and cheaper. Save $20 bucks. To each their own.

Well I suppose maybe its unconventional, but I've had good luck adding ML bacteria once dry yeast starts working in earnest. That's usually a day and half to two days after pitching. Sorry Eno, I only said 24 hrs previous. That was incorrect. The way it was explained to me was you want to get bacteria in there before it has to compete for food with the yeast. I know Peynaud in his book, Knowing and Making Wine, recommends adding at 5 brix, but adding earlier works also. I started doing this in 2001 with Merlot, Cab and Sangiovese and have verified successful completion with Chromotography test in every case. I have used almost exclusively Pasteur Red on my red wines. The nice thing about adding ML bacteria at that stage is that it is very close to complete by time yeast is finished doing its thing and when time comes to rack off lees and get SO2 protection, there is no risk of having to wait for ML fermentation to complete. I don't lower pH all the way down to 3.3 or add more than 30 ppm SO2 at crush, usually less ppm if pH is less than 3.4. I usually shoot for 3.35 to 3.4. At 3.4, according to my calcs 32 ppm free (asceptic) SO2 is all that's needed to protect the wine. Jackisch mentions in his book, Modern Winemaking, that if you want to prevent ML then lower pH to 3.3 and get SO2 to 30ppm. If you don't mind me asking.. why are you opposed to ML fermentation if using Pasteur Red? Curious..

wrote in message news: snipped-for-privacy@i3g2000cwc.googlegroups.com...

JIm ,

It's not unconventional to throw MLF bacteria in at the start. I just told him the way I do it. He can use as much or as little as he wants.

Bob

Jim Hall wrote:

Thanks for all the great advice. I'll be prepping my area this weekend for crush next weekend. I'll be using Pasteur Red yeast and I'll be sure to get the MLF culture and it's food. I don't think I want to lean over a full MacroBin to push down with my hands, might fall in.

Best regards,

Rick

Eno,

Jim is right about the Pasteur Red. It doesn't inhibit MLF. I was thinking Pasteur Champagne and Premier Cuvee and wrote Pasteur Red. I use Premier Cuvee at a very low PH which insures a clean fermentation and a controlled MLF later. Also , the MLF culture I use is good down to 3.0 PH so a 3.3 PH won't stop it. I don't add it until after the fermentation is complete.I actually start my fermentations closer to

3.0 but recommended 3.3 because I figured you wouldn't want to go through the steps to bring the PH back to where it needs to be before bottling. The theory behind the very low PH is that the only bacteria that can survive in that low a PH is the engineered yeast. Wild strains of bacteria won't survive and the 50ppm SO2 kills the wild yeast. Good winemaking is all about control of the processes. This advice is not mine but a very respected winemaker that I had the fortune of working with. It makes sense to me and I've never had a problem with off tastes. A PH that is too high is a great environment for nasty strains of bacteria to thrive in.Lowering the PH with tartaric acid makes it easy to extract ( precipitate ) it later. As far as yeast is concerned, I like Premier Cuvee because it inhibits MLF due to it's appetite for MLF nutrients and it's tendency to produce SO2 during fermentation.It makes it easier to control the processes just in case you really don't want to perform an MLF on the wine. I've found in reds that leaving some malic acid in the wine gives a dry wine some fruity qualities that won't be there if all the malic acid is gone. I could go on but I'll leave it there.

Bob

En> Thanks for all the great advice. I'll be prepping my area this weekend

I just tested the plot I wan't to use to crush next weekend. The Brix is 25.1, but the acid seems a bit low at 3.56 pH. The pH/Acid is 318, not exactly the 220 - 260 I wanted. How much would one normally expect those values to change in a week of moderate weather? I don't have a choice on timing, unfortunately the availabilty of equipment and help is going to make next Sat my day. The stems are browning, but not brittle and the seeds are light tan to brown and crunchy. All in all from what I've read it should be OK to pick next week, but probably not optimum.

Maybe too some perfectionists those numbers may seem sub-par but too me those numbers are great. Hopefully they don't change much.

Bob

En> I just tested the plot I wan't to use to crush next weekend. The Brix

I go really high tech with my punch downs... I use a clean 1.5L wine bottle... the bottom of the bottle is plenty big for my 10 gal fermentor. A perforated disk potato masher would do just fine, too.

My wife appreciates me not dripp> For pushing down the cap, I recommend:

I second Bob's comment. I'm puzzling over how one reliably gauges acidity of grapes using the pH measurement. Fruity acids are such weak acids that they don't affect the pH very much. The amount of potassium in the grapes creates a much larger swing in the pH. High potassium gives high pH.

The only reliable acidity measurement I know of is TA (total acidity). I look at pH strictly from the standpoint of stability against spoilage at the high end (3.7-4.1 pH), and inhibition of ML fermentation at the low end ( Maybe too some perfectionists those numbers may seem sub-par but too me