Hi Guys...

Things were going fine. Primary ferment was near the end and so I pitched
the ML germ along with "germ food", whatever that was. The next day the
ambient temperature here in Monterey dropped from a nice 74 degrees to a
frost on the roof and my six carboys of Merlot went to the 50s. Worst, I
rechecked the SO2 and it was still in the 50s. Obviously not a MLF
environment. I suspect I have to start it all over.
I built a "cupboard" for two five-gallon carboys that will maintain the
temperature to whatever I want.

Questions: Should I start two carboys now in the cupboard with a new pitch
or wait until I have racked off the lees? Do lees help? Will it work ok if
I wait for each pair of carboys to finish MLF when it will take maybe two
months each? What would be the optimum SO2 to bring the carboys to before
pitching again? And finally, what would be the optimum temperature to set
for the cupboard? Lots of questions.... Many thanks.

Cheers,
Bruce

We prefer around 20°C, and no free SO2, if possible. Chuck in another
inoculum, and you should be OK if the problem was purely temperature
related. Your previous MLF may come back anyway, but a new inoculum won't
hurt.

Cheers,

Andrew
"Bruce" wrote in message
...

Hi Guys...

Things were going fine. Primary ferment was near the end and so I pitched
the ML germ along with "germ food", whatever that was. The next day the
ambient temperature here in Monterey dropped from a nice 74 degrees to a
frost on the roof and my six carboys of Merlot went to the 50s. Worst, I
rechecked the SO2 and it was still in the 50s. Obviously not a MLF
environment. I suspect I have to start it all over.
I built a "cupboard" for two five-gallon carboys that will maintain the
temperature to whatever I want.

Questions: Should I start two carboys now in the cupboard with a new
pitch
or wait until I have racked off the lees? Do lees help? Will it work ok
if
I wait for each pair of carboys to finish MLF when it will take maybe two
months each? What would be the optimum SO2 to bring the carboys to before
pitching again? And finally, what would be the optimum temperature to set
for the cupboard? Lots of questions.... Many thanks.

Cheers,
Bruce