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safe pH level for elderflower/made wines

Hi All,

This is my first post on this group - have only recently found the group, but very glad I have!

As elderflower season is approaching us in the UK, I am assessing records from last year's elderflower champagne batch and trying to learn a bit more about the science behind wine making to improve our drinks. I am particularly curious about pre-fermentation pH. We rely only on wild yeasts for our elderflower champagne and have been wondering wether there is a 'safe' pH zone for desirable yeasts?

In cider making (which I am *slightly* more versed on when it comes to microbiology) I believe a safe pH zone is 2.8 - 3.2. Is this the same for floral wines, or indeed any alcoholic drinks?

Although we have a recipe we are happy with, this year we were thinking about adjusting the pH to an ideal level by adding lemon juice until we reach this point - only problem being we're not sure what this level is! We are hoping this will minimise any possibility of spoilage and maximise shelf life of the final product.

If anyone has any ideas about this (or anything else you think is relevant that I've not mentioned), any help would be much appreciated!

Thanks and all the best,

Charlotte

Reply to
charlottetraynor
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Reply to
Steve Peek

I have made elderflower wine before, but I have no expertise in this area; but thanks for the seasonal reminder!

Reply to
Harry Vaderchi

Thanks Steve,

Unfortunately, an error message is occuring saying "[#2000] You are not allowed to visit this community." Perhaps because I'm not based in the US?

Do you happen to know of any other quite active wine communities? Many Thanks,

Charlotte

Reply to
charlottetraynor

You should be able to get in, we have many members from Europe.

Reply to
Steve Peek

Hi Charlotte

I've not looked too closely at the PH of elderflower wine until this year. I've made it for a few years and last years was a bit too sweet for my liki ng. The acidity was all obtained from Lemon juice so it was likely to be va riable being natural.

The acidity will affect how the wine feels in your mouth and how dry it see ms and I guess getting the balance of sugar, acidity and tannin right is pa rt of the fun.

Previously the recipe that I followed uses the juice and zest from 2 unwaxe d lemons per 5 litres. This year I am going to use the zest and juice of th ree lemons but this year I will make a note of the PH!

You won't go far wrong with this level of acidity; fiddle about with it, ma ke two smaller batches and make changes between them -whatever you do have fun doing it and enjoy the process.

I'm off now to do my first elderflower pick of the year to make elderflower cordial and 'champagne', next week I'll pick elderflowers for wine and the week after for elderflower cider. There will still be enough flowers to pr oduce elderberries for my autumn wine and the trees left dripping in fruit for the birds!

Elder a brilliant way to get into home brewing and you can't really go too far wrong if you look after your sanitisation.

Reply to
tross

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