Received juice yesterday. 6 gallon pail Lodi Gold Chardonnay. Placed in frig to keep cold. Transferred to 7.9 gallon PF bucket this morning. Juice color was dark yellow/brown. Took a 500 mL sample for testing and yeast starter. Will measure Brix/PH from sample once it warms up a bit. Will begin yeast starter after measurements. Will make any adjustments prior to pitching the yeast in about 6-8 hours.

Measurements:

Brix: 19.6 RM / 19.8 HM @ 65F

PH: 3.81 @ 65F

Began V1116 (K1) yeast stater @ 11:30 AM.

Adjustments:

40g Tartaric

PH: 3.45

Additions:

10g Opti-White

Inoculation:

19:00 - Pitched Lalvin K1-V1116 yeast starter - Must temp: 67F

Thoughts:

I decided not to adjust the Brix upward because I wanted an under 13% ABV white. We drink a lot of white in our house and the 14%+ stuff just wears me out. Looking forward to 12% and more then one glass on a week night.

07:00 - First nutrient addition. 5g DAP/5g Fermaid-K

09:00 - 15.2 Brix @ 72F.

17:30 - 12.0 Brix @ 72F. Second nutrient addition. 7g Fermaid-K

10/11 19:30 - Racked to 6 gal. glass carboy. Brix: -1.0 @ 69F

10/27 19:00 - Racked to 6 gal. better bottle. Added 3.6g k-meta. Added 7g bentonite. Placed carboy in frig for cold stabilization.

05/08/11 11:00 - Racked to 6 gal. better bottle. Wine hazy with suspended particles (yeasts). Added 1 package chitosan (from some kit) to add in clearing in preparation for filtering.