2013 Muscat: camouflaged

504 lbs of Muscat Alexandria waiting for dawn...

Well, we went back and forth on this a little, but ultimately decided to pick up the grapes on Saturday afternoon to work with on Sunday morning, instead of picking them up at the crack-o-dawn Sunday.

12 42# cases from Lapide, $43 each.  They came right out of their refrigerated warehouse and into Mike's rig.  So the first part of our gamble was right: they'd be damned cold when we got them.  But it's much warmer out this evening than it has been the last few nights - 9:45 PM and still 72 F.  Begorah!  Doesn't look like it'll get cooler than the mid 60's, while tomorrow night is supposed to dip into the 40's.  We'll find out by mid-day Sunday where the grapes are at.

We discussed a number of yeasts today that we might use.  We have the standard Montrachet from the market, but Brooklyn Homebrew also has ICV-D47 and QA23.  I think Mike might pull the trigger on one of these.  The only potential worry is whether either needs nutrients and whether either needs low temps for the ferm - looking at last year's figures we were not able to keep the ferm under 73 F once it really took hold.