Our numbers are in…start the ferment
Here are the results of our Vinquiry Core Juice panel: 2010SyrahCoreJuicePanel
Our analysis of those numbers:
- Brix: 25.3…no more sugar need…this will result in 12.7-15.2% alcohol, probably around 14%.
- pH: 3.79. This is quite a bit higher than we would like. Our acid addition (see below) will lower it somewhat, but it will also rise during pressing. The plan is to monitor the pH during pressing.
- TA: 4.96 g/L. We want to be at 6 g/L. So we need to add 1 g/L tartaric, using our target wine amount:
- 60 gallons target wine-> 214 g tartaric acid…I only have 122 g tartaric… need 92 g more.
- Added 122 g tartaric
- Nitrogen
- Ammonia: 31 mg/L
- Assimilable amino nitrogen: 221 mg/L
- YAN = 31 + 221 = 252 mg/L.This is considered a high level of YAN, so that will minimize our nutrient additions.
- malic acid: 2.81 g/L: This will get converted to lactic acid during the MLF, so our TA will drop.
Just for fun, we measured what 1/2 gallon of must weighs… 5 lbs, 1.8 oz
- 10.23 lbs must/gallon
- 108 gallons * 10.23 lbs must/gallon = 1100 lbs grapes!
- Typical wine yield = 16 lbs grapes/ gallon. If you assume all the weight is in the must (pretty accurate, as we only throw away the stems), then we should end up with 1100/16 = 68.8 gallons.
- Let’s go metric! What would that look like? I’ll write it up in a separate post!
The must temperature was still at 55 F, too cold for the yeast addition, which requires >59 F. So we will wait one more day.