Hi Guys...
Things were going fine. Primary ferment was near the end and so I pitched the ML germ along with "germ food", whatever that was. The next day the ambient temperature here in Monterey dropped from a nice 74 degrees to a frost on the roof and my six carboys of Merlot went to the 50s. Worst, I rechecked the SO2 and it was still in the 50s. Obviously not a MLF environment. I suspect I have to start it all over. I built a "cupboard" for two five-gallon carboys that will maintain the temperature to whatever I want.
Questions: Should I start two carboys now in the cupboard with a new pitch or wait until I have racked off the lees? Do lees help? Will it work ok if I wait for each pair of carboys to finish MLF when it will take maybe two months each? What would be the optimum SO2 to bring the carboys to before pitching again? And finally, what would be the optimum temperature to set for the cupboard? Lots of questions.... Many thanks.
Cheers, Bruce