Recent content by Mark Kissel

I guess if you follow the directions by the letter, it would not hurt anything. My better half likes Rieslings as a dinner drink, so I completely understand the sweet thing....thanks again:)

SC300, while a bit pricy, does do a good job. Makes it easy to get the amount of SO2 correct before bottling and extremely accurate PH. Thanks for the sorbate info. Dont understand why they include this in kits of wine that are dry and have no back sweetening. I figure if you have the correct...

On the Sorbate front, not sure what to do with the stuff. I think my thought process is if I protect the wine form too much aeration, it can be eliminated. I use a vacuum pump to eliminate most air from the carboys during racking and degas with it. Thanks again for the help everyone!

Thanks for all the input all. To touch on some questions presented. Total SO2 measured using the test meter SC300 I purchased from MoreWine. The system works good and is a good way to make sure I dont screw things up and adjust before bottling. As for the question of doing MLF on kit wines, I...

Rats, you are right. checked the website for the bacteria and they say 3.4 or higher. I guess ill let her age and see if ph rises. Maybe try again...thanks

Made a kit Chardonnay (MV Winemakers Reserve), and thought i would run it through MLF as I have read if adds to a wine of this type. Did primary down to SG of .994, racked, checked PH 3.24, and Free SO2, 8PPM or less. Have not checked total SO2, but might if nothing changes. Inoculated with...

Trying to combine two hobbies! Done in MS word but quit a PIA!

Yep, totally. All comes down to how long you want to sit on it before drinking I guess...my will power is not that good, unfortunately....:)

thanks, my thoughts were that if it has been stable for a month, should not drop too much after bottling. I have tested a couple store bought wines and all seam fairly low on SO2, below 20ppm. I guess this makes since for a wine 3 to 4 years old. Thanks for the input!

Hi all, I have had a few wines fail due ZERO Kmeta level 8 months later, turned to vinegar pretty much. I believe those I left in primary open fermentation toooooo long and that did it. Getting ready to bottle a kit of Montepulciano red which has been aging in a carboy for a month. Free SO2 is...

I did not know that....

my thoughts exactly. Not to mention all the fruit flies you see in a winery. Kmeta must do a good job keeping things at bay. Other thing i think i discovered is wine kits come with some SO2 at the start. Finished fermenting my Lodi ranch Cab and ran a SO2 test thinking it would be zero but came...

Hi All, I make mostly dry red wine from kits and seams like most are coming with a pack of Sulphite/Sorbate. I have been reading that the Sorbate part can add off flavors over time and not to use it. The catch is to sanitize everything thoroughly. I also filter all my wines with a number 2...

here in lies the problem. Your thoughts make since, but not really sure what will happen. If nothing else, ill have some happy MLF bacteria! Thanks

Hi All, Started MLF to a 6 gal batch of red, and miss read the amount of ACTI-ML MLF nutrient to add . Lets just say I added too much and not get into the details. I was considering waiting about 24 hours and racking to eliminate some. Sound like a good idea, or am I toast???? Your thoughts...