How do I correct very low pH in country wines?

Question

Thanks to the comments from the group, my pH meter appeared last week from e-bay. Micorbiologist friend helped with explanations, calibration and calibration solutions.

And I must comment on the wonderfully helpful and polite character of the posters in the group here. And the occasional tongue-in-cheek humour such as seen in the responses to our magnum reloader a couple of weeks back! It's quite refreshing when compared with (or contrasted to) the behaviour on a few other groups I visit.

Back to the meter - does it ever aid in TA measurements!

It's also giving me some interesting insights in other areas. After a rave review a few weeks back about Superstore cranberry cocktail wine, I thought it was worth trying. So put on a couple of gallons (4 half-gallon batches trying different combinations of sugars etc) in mid-June.

Most of my wines have stopped bubbling after 3 to 4 weeks, and have been racked. The cranberry cocktail batches are still bubbling after 7 weeks. One stopped a couple of days ago, so racked it.

SG .997, TA 5.25 pH 1.33 on first go; friend said he'd never seen such a low reading. Recalibrated meter, pH 1.48.......

This probably explains the slow fermentation process.

A couple of others are 2.3 - 2.75. And I believe that they should be a bit over 3 from the literature.

None of my reference material is clear on corrective measures.

Suggestions?

Thanks.

jack

AxisOfBeagles · Accepted Answer

a pH reading of 1.33 / 1.48? Also - explain which metric you are using for TA - most of the winemaking reference material I am familiar with uses weight / volume (grams / liter) and typical wines would be .4% to

1.0% --- if you are expressing with a different metric, possibly your reading is the same as .525 ---- or, as with your pH, your acid readings are "off the charts" (metaphorically speaking).

Personally, I suspect a faulty pH reading. The levels you describe are two orders of magnitude more acidic than 'typical' wine range. Those readings are more acidic than, say, a lime. I mistrust your pH reading because it seems unlikely, to me, that your yeasts would be effective in that environment (need a resident microbiologist to speak to that).

I'll be curious to read other responses -

Jack · Answer

Faulty pH reading. Microbio friend came up with some pH 4.0 buffer solution, and meter was about .9 low - today's reading 2.54.

And you're right about the TA too - my number was ml of sodium hydroxide solution needed.

So the pH is still below 3; is this significant? Other than contributing to the very slow fermentation....

Jack

AxisOfBeagles wrote:

Dirty Harry · Answer

Jack, I am happy to hear someone else is trying out my idea!  I concur with the slow fermentation, I have a carboy that's about 2 months and there are still tiny bubbles rising up.  I want to bring some to the lake to share with my family so I'm going to check the SG today hopefully stabilize it and degas.  The wine is pretty "tart" tasting, what I did with some of it before was add 100% natural raspberry syrup to some for a drink a few people referred to as "Kool-Aid" ...as in it goes down faster then kool aid heheh. Can't wait to hear how yours turns out and how you like it.  Are you in Canada or the US and did you end up going with 100% pure cran or a cranberry cocktail(grape juice added)?

Dirty Harry · Answer

One more quick question, did you use yeast nutrients and if so how much?

Jack · Answer

It's a cranberry cockktail - the label's gone, so not sure what else was in the 4 litre jugs. I added some nutrient - about 1 tsp per gal; no grape. They are a Superstore product - a Canadian grocery chain. And I am in NB, Canada.

It's very tart and flat at the moment - about to br> One more quick question, did you use yeast nutrients and if so how much?

Joe Sallustio · Answer

Hide quoted text -Whoa.  I wouldn't add acid here, if anything you may want to considerhoney.    Cranberries are mostly citric acid, 1.4% (14g/l) is normal.that explains the TA in the 2.4 range.  If your wine is tart pull asample and add sweetener, sugar, honey, whatever you like.  Addingacid will just make it worse.Joe

Dirty Harry · Answer

I'dh ave to agree, I drank some last night and I don't think I would need more acid, I sweetened some of the last batch with 100% natural rasberry syrup for a really good summer drink. Maybe about an OZ or less per bottle of wine.

Jack · Answer

Thank you, gentlemen! Lets give it a squirt and see what happens!Dirty Harry wrote:

frederick ploegman · Answer

pH doesn't measure quantity. pH measures consentration. So - the solution is dilution.

You should always try to balance the must befor the yeast is added. It is always_much_harder to make adjustments during or after the ferment.

pH 2.54 is outside my experince, but much too low. With the ferment already in progress, you can't just dump in water, So I think I would try to correct this as follows:

Remove a portion of the wine. Add the K carbonate. Stir and wait 10 minutes or so for the reactions to take place. Return the sample to the main batch. It's kinda like diluting the acid without diluting anything else.

Don't have my reference books any more but I think the chemical adjustment should be limited to ~0.6pH. HTH

Frederick

Borek · Answer

Concentration is a way of expressing quantity - per liter. So taking it  literally you are wrong.Borek

frederick ploegman · Answer

I just tend to think of consentration as expressing the relationship between 2 quantities, and consentration can be changed by changing either one of those quantities..........

Concentration is a way of expressing quantity - per liter. So taking it literally you are wrong.

Borek

How do I correct very low pH in country wines?

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