pp wrote:
On Nov 6, 9:37 am, Rob wrote:

We've had a very late harvest in my neck of the Northwest, so I've
jsut pressed my Syrah grapes. I'm using Wyeast Bordeaux yeast, which
claims it will survive to 14% ABV, but I just redid my calculation and
realized that I should end up with about 15.5% ABV (I started with
27.2 Brix).

So, now that I'm at about 5 Brix remaining (by hydrometer) and I want
it to go dry, do I start a batch of yeast that can survive up to 18%
ABV and pitch it on now, or wait until the current yeast dies off and
pitch then? And I'm going to do ML on it - any comments on timing
that?

It's so much easier when you're used to 22-23 Brix..

Rob


I'd do the first - start a strong batch of EC1118 or something similar
and pitch at this stage. It might not take off if you wait until the
wine is dry.

ML might be hard at those alcohol levels - there is a Hansen strain
CH-16 that has alcohol tolerance up to 16%, so that might be your best
option. If you use EC1118, make sure to add ML nutrients because that
yeast isn't friendly to ML bacteria.

Pp

There is a new yeast strain specifically for restarting stuck
fermentation, called 43. I would use this if avaiable, over EC1118.