wittymonkey
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- Feb 20, 2013
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Hi ,
I am new at home-brewing and I'm making an Old Zin from a kit (6 gallons) wine.
This is my second wine. Before this I made a Sauvignon Blanc from NZ.
On the Sauvignon Blanc the 2ndary Malolactic fermentation was supposed to take about 3 weeks, but from the SG measurements and observations ( no bubbles at all) it was done after about 1 week. I did wait about 2 weeks and then moved on to the next step ( clarification ...). ( THat was 1 week ago, so it's clarified nicely by now, will rack tomorrow or today).
So that Malolactic fermentation went really fast I think.
Now the same thing is happening with the Zin. It was a very activ malolactic in the carboy for a few days. But it has now been a week and SG is 0.996 , no more bubbles... On the kit it says malolactic is over when SG is under 1.000 . So I mixed it vigurously this morning and I plan to give it another week to be sure, and then rack it also.
So the question is :
Are these malolactic fermentations normally this fast or is something wrong ? And how do I know when it's over ?
And should I just wait longer to be safe or just clarify it ? What is safer (of course I care more about the quality of the wine and its flavors then about time).
Thanks for the help,
George
I am new at home-brewing and I'm making an Old Zin from a kit (6 gallons) wine.
This is my second wine. Before this I made a Sauvignon Blanc from NZ.
On the Sauvignon Blanc the 2ndary Malolactic fermentation was supposed to take about 3 weeks, but from the SG measurements and observations ( no bubbles at all) it was done after about 1 week. I did wait about 2 weeks and then moved on to the next step ( clarification ...). ( THat was 1 week ago, so it's clarified nicely by now, will rack tomorrow or today).
So that Malolactic fermentation went really fast I think.
Now the same thing is happening with the Zin. It was a very activ malolactic in the carboy for a few days. But it has now been a week and SG is 0.996 , no more bubbles... On the kit it says malolactic is over when SG is under 1.000 . So I mixed it vigurously this morning and I plan to give it another week to be sure, and then rack it also.
So the question is :
Are these malolactic fermentations normally this fast or is something wrong ? And how do I know when it's over ?
And should I just wait longer to be safe or just clarify it ? What is safer (of course I care more about the quality of the wine and its flavors then about time).
Thanks for the help,
George