I purchased an AO set up this last year and have been using it since.
More time / work involved, but very consistent results.
One thought - to save some $, I set up a air 'push' system, rather than
a vacuum 'pull' - the little aquarium air pump does the job and is a lot
cheaper than a vacuum pump. Just need to be sure all the fittings are
tight.


"Joe Sallustio" > wrote:

>
> MLF bubbles are tiny for whatever reason; that is one way, look at the
> size of the bubbles as they rise.
>
> All my reds seem to come out with an RS of 0.4% by clinitest so I do
> understand where you are coming from, is it that last bit of sugar
> being consumed or is it MLF?
>
> My Valdepena from 2005 was bubbling and I was ready to bottle. I
> racked and sulfited at about 30 PPM and it stopped so I'm thinking it
> was MLF.
>
> I have been using titrettes to measure the SO2 in reds for years and
> had a few batches go slightly fizzy in the bottle as of late. I really
> think it's been MLF all along because my SO2 was too low. That could
> be because titrettes report false high, or it could be because I have
> switched to synthetic corks and I am not using a vacuum corker so that
> little bit of air I push in is driving the SO2 lower as it consumes the
> oxygen. It was a well known issue with Supremecorq, I'm not sure I
> don't have the same thing going on with Nomacorc. I am considering
> jumping in and buying an AO apparatus for measuring SO2.
>
> Joe