Minimal Additives Riesling Kit
This is the kit I had hanging under my desk for a few months and got it going at the end of April. It’s gone through some ups and downs over the past few months, but today I figured it was time to give it a racking. Possibly its last.
It had developed a thin, but notable layer of yeast down at the bottom of the carboy. The bubbles from the degassing CO2 at the top were starting to dissipate as well. I figured that it would be good to get it off the yeast residue and that the racking would speed up the degassing process. I grabbed a sip as I racked and was pleasantly surprised. It was certainly still bubbly but pleasantly acidic and not overly sweet.
The racking process left me with a bit of headspace again, but I fortunately had a bottle of Frey white hanging out in the basement. I used about half that bottle to get the level back up. (Does that count as an additive?)
I figure it’ll be ready to bottle in a few weeks. I’m a bit torn between dropping some SO2 into there to help preserve it versus keeping it at a pure no-additive level and seeing how that goes. It would be interesting to see what the purist approach leads to. Would it turn to vinegar just a few weeks/months after bottling? Would it develop into something genuinely interesting?
Yeast Trials
The yeast trials I started last week are going strong. The EC1118 and K1 V1116 started very strong, foaming over before I put the airlock on. The D-47 was much slower, with lower foam levels. After a week, the first two are popping the airlock once every couple minutes, but the D-47 is going steadily every 20 to 30 seconds.
So the first lesson I’m gathering from this is the speed and foam levels of the yeast varieties.
Wine in the Basement 
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