Pennsylvania is having a miserable grape year. I got some muscat Sat that had the following readings: Brix: 18.2 TA: 1.09 PH: 3.30
I raise the Brix to 20 and added 71B yeast. Why is the TA so high yet the PH normal? Could there be that much tartaric?
Tim
Tim,
Juice pH also depends on how much potassium is present..... the more potassium, the higher the pH. Vines pick up much of the potassium late in the ripening period, but in general, the longer grapes hang on the vines, more potassium accumulates and the pH gets higher. Since this was a cold year, perhaps this years grapes were harvested later than last years, and they contain more potassium.
lum
So Lum, what effect does the potassium have? Is it masking a PH that is actually lower? Tim
I'm not sure just how to answer your question Tim.
Potassium forms salts (just like sodium), and potassium salts have a slight effect on the taste and mouth feel of wines made from high potassium juice.
I wouldn't use the term "masking," but the pH would indeed be lower if the potassium was not present.
lum
If I may interject,
I think the effect is that the potassium reacts with the acid anion (e.g.. potassium tartrate), and forms buffers, which diminish acid/base swings of the involved acids. Simply speaking.
HTH, Mike MTM
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Well put Mike.
After one week, the Sg has dropped to 1.001 and TA is at .90. I fermented with Lalvin 71B yeast. How much can I expect to reduce with cold stabilization? Tim
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