Increasing malo-lactic bacterias

Hello!

I have bought malo-lactic cultures in a bag from Vintner's choice. The amount in the bag are for 5 gallons of wine but I am planning to make 10 gallons. How do I double the amount of bacterias?

Micke Granath

Reply to
Micke & Annalena
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Don't they kind of like double themselves? Perhaps it would take longer to complete ML fermentantion but it would still happen.

Marcello

Reply to
Marcello Fabretti

Helloooooo for what purpose do you require to add this culture. Malo-lactic in the process gives off carbon dioxide resulting in a sparkling wine, as with commercial wines, if the wine is not sulphited at bottling time. Stephen.

Reply to
Stephen.....

Is malolactic fermentation something new for you? I only ask because some people do it because they have heard about it and think it is a necessary part of winemaking. Sometimes it is, sometimes it isn't. It really depends on what you are making which is something we don't know at this point. I would rather know more about the wine you are planning to make and why you feel it needs a malo instead of just blindly giving directions on making a starter to increase your culture population.

Brian

Reply to
Brian Lundeen

As has been said, just using it will *probably* work but the manufacturer recommends minimum inoculation quantities for a reason. ML fermentation sometimes can be hard to get going and skimping on the amount of bacteria at the beginning doesn't help. For obvious reasons of expense, commercial wineries don't buy huge amounts of bacteria, they "expand" the culture in the same way you want to. The technique I know of involves "feeding" the bacteria some combination of wine, water and (mostly) apple juice. "Malo" is related to malus, Latin for apple - the main acid in apples is malic which of course is what ML bacteria like to eat. Sorry, I've never read an official recipe but I've used 2:1:1 apple juice:wine:water. Maybe somebody else can be more precise.

If you decide to do this, a few of cautions: check the apple juice label and make sure you're buying "preservative-free", in other words no sulfites or citric or ascorbic acid - you want to see "100% pure juice" or words like that. No airlock is necessary - sanitize a jar with hot water (no sulfites here for obvious reasons), keep it at 70 F covered with plastic wrap and a rubber band. Make sure your mixture matches your culture's recommendations for pH. When is it ready? The best thing to do would be to check for most of the malic acid to disappear using paper chromatography. But if you're like me and not excited about getting equipped to do that, just wait few days and hope for the best.

Or take the easy way out and either (a) buy another packet of bacteria or (b) use the one on your ten gallons and hope for the best!

Reply to
Mark Willstatter

Hello!

I bought it because of this: "Typical conditions of high wine acidity can be improved by reducing the harsh, sharp malic acid in the wine to the softer and smoother lactic acid. Other flavor improvements including vanilla and buttery notes can be anticipated."

I don't know if it's true but i think i would give it a try. The wine i'm planning to make is made of 100 % Montepulciano grapes.

/Micke Granath

"Brian Lundeen" skrev i meddelandet news:bfmcnh$aan$ snipped-for-privacy@canopus.cc.umanitoba.ca...

Reply to
Micke & Annalena

What the package claims is true, in the sense that it will soften acidity, and can add buttery notes through creation of diacetyl. However, it's trickier than they make it sound. The yeast lees will eliminate the buttery character over time, so some management is required to preserve the diacetyl at the level you want. I personally don't like it, so I leave the wine on the lees as long as I can to ensure it is all gone.

As for your grapes, just make certain that they have sufficient acid to withstand a malo. I recall a friend's tragic experience with some expensive Brehm Shiraz, that did not have the acid to support the reduction. His pH ballooned to well over 4, and a bacterial infection destroyed the wine. Unfortunately, he only discovered his pH problem after the damage when I checked it for him.

And the question of how to make a starter has already been addressed.

Brian

Reply to
Brian Lundeen

The lessons to be learned from this are: (1) If the pH is high (over ~3.3-3.4) you can expect the ML to go - whether you inoculate or not. (2) If you're starting with a high pH juice or must, you need to bump the pH down prior to fermentation with tartaric in anticipation of a pH rise during the inevitable ML. (3) You need to be especially vigilant with respect to free SO2 in high pH wines _and_ keeping every container topped up.

Tom S

Reply to
Tom S

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