How do you know if MLF is actually finished?

You can watch the wine. You can taste it. You can listen for the crackling in your barrel and look for other signs of activity.

But if you really want to know what's happening, you have to test the wine for malic acid.

The absence of obvious activity doesn't necessarily tell you that all of the malic acid has been converted. One of the easiest mistakes to make during this part of the season is assuming MLF is complete because the wine has been sitting quietly for a few weeks.

Regular analysis gives you a much better picture of what's actually happening in the wine. Measuring malic acid allows you to track its degradation and determine whether MLF is progressing toward completion.

This is especially useful when you're dealing with a wine that seems to be moving slowly. Instead of guessing whether the bacteria are still working, you can compare results over time and see whether the malic acid concentration is changing.

myEnologist offers full wine panel at a low cost that can help you keep track of your malic, lactic and acetic acid concentrations throughout fermentation. We also carry enzymatic test kits from R-Biopharm for wineries that have their own labs.

Don't guess what's happening in your wine. Test it.

#Winemaking #MLF #MalicAcid #WineAnalysis #WineLab #Enology #myEnologist