I really have appreciated the good reading on this forum on acid reduction. Tom S has endorsed using KOH instead of the more readily available KHCO3 for lowering TA. Any suggestions where to get my hands on that stuff (without getting any on my hands of course)?
"endorsed"? Not really. I usually recommend K2CO3 these days. I used KOH once about 20 years ago, but the last time I looked it wasn't available in either reagent or USP grade so I abandoned it. Haven't needed it anyway; my problems have been high pH (low acid) lately.
Tom S
Since posting I've found pharmaceutical grade KOH NF/USP supplied by Medisca here in Canada. KOH strikes me as clean, trouble-free (bubble-free) chemistry.
It'll do the job, but it's hazardous to handle and the local pH when adding to wine will briefly become extremely high. A chemist friend thinks that _might_ be cause for concern.
You certainly want to cold stabilize afterwards to precipitate the excess potassium.
Tom S
available KHCO3 for lowering TA. Any suggestions where to get my hands on that stuff (without getting any on my hands of course)?<
No need to use KOH, the net effect is precisely the same. In the case of KOH you get water:
H+ + OH- = H20
and with carbonate you get CO2 :
H+ + HCO3- = H2CO3
which splits in H2O and CO2, which bubbles out of the solution with all the other CO2 from the fermentation.
In both cases one K will replace one H resulting in the same amount of total acidity loss. also K2CO3 is a lot safer to handle.
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