More data!
Erwin and I tasted the three barrels today. Everything tasted fine. No sign of H2S. The 15 gallon barrels tasted a bit smoother than the 30 gallon…possible the MLF in the 15’s is going faster?
We also tried the Accuvin Malic acid test strips. We got ~300 mg/L, with wine from a 15 gallon barrel noticeably lighter than the 30 gallons, which agrees with the above.
Erwin took a sample (50% from the 30 gallon barrel, 25% each from the 15 gallon barrels) to Vinquiry for analysis. Here is a table of the results, and a comparison to our juice panel before the ferment:
Before ferment | After ferment | Comments | |
Brix | 25.3 | - | |
Glucose + fructose | - | .11 g/L (.011%) | <0.1% is considered dry |
Alcohol | - | 14.2% | Conversion rate = 14.2/25.3 = 0.56 |
pH | 3.79 | 3.77 | |
TA | 4.96 g/L | 6.82 g/L | Went up more than the 1 g/L we added |
Free SO2 | - | 2 ppm | |
Total SO2 | - | 11 ppm | |
Malic acid | 2.81 g/L | 1.21 g/L | dropping, but long ways to go |
Volatile acidity | - | 0.2 g/L | .2 – .6 g/L sensory threshold; 1.4 g/L legal limit |