ML fermentation

That's normal. I still have merlot, melbec and chardonnay going through ML that are the same age as your's.

snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com wrote:

MLF bubbles are tiny for whatever reason; that is one way, look at the size of the bubbles as they rise.

All my reds seem to come out with an RS of 0.4% by clinitest so I do understand where you are coming from, is it that last bit of sugar being consumed or is it MLF?

My Valdepena from 2005 was bubbling and I was ready to bottle. I racked and sulfited at about 30 PPM and it stopped so I'm thinking it was MLF.

I have been using titrettes to measure the SO2 in reds for years and had a few batches go slightly fizzy in the bottle as of late. I really think it's been MLF all along because my SO2 was too low. That could be because titrettes report false high, or it could be because I have switched to synthetic corks and I am not using a vacuum corker so that little bit of air I push in is driving the SO2 lower as it consumes the oxygen. It was a well known issue with Supremecorq, I'm not sure I don't have the same thing going on with Nomacorc. I am considering jumping in and buying an AO apparatus for measuring SO2.

Joe

I purchased an AO set up this last year and have been using it since. More time / work involved, but very consistent results. One thought - to save some $, I set up a air 'push' system, rather than a vacuum 'pull' - the little aquarium air pump does the job and is a lot cheaper than a vacuum pump. Just need to be sure all the fittings are tight.

"Joe Sallustio" wrote:

I used to do TLC for work all the time. Got VERY good at making reproduceable spots. Well defined spots with smear suggested large quantities of Malic Acid, small spots, hard to discern, fast fading, suggested less.

So I just followed it with the chromatography until the spots disappeared, then gave it a couple of extra weeks.

P> How did you decide that it was a ML fermentation and not the secondary