Topic: Acid
Just the pHacts
MEMBERS ONLYIf you are a winemaker looking to boost your wine’s quality, then tracking pH is a must. Bob Peak introduces the chemistry behind the numbers we obtain and how to use them to our advantage.
Post-Fermentation Wine Acid Adjustment
MEMBERS ONLYGreat topic and great questions. If you’ve read my columns over the years, you’re familiar with my mantra of acid being the “backbone” of wine, as well as the importance of having the correct pH for long-term aging. The higher the pH (lower acidity), the more spoilage organisms like Lactobacillus and Acetobacter can get a
Dealing With Acid Issue on a Raspberry Wine
MEMBERS ONLYI really applaud you for keeping such detailed records and testing regularly. This really helps me when diagnosing issues and coming up with ways to help. I want to start off by saying that raspberries are a really high-acid fruit and that high titratable acidity won’t necessarily track with the pH like it does in
Finding Balance with Hybrids
MEMBERS ONLYHybrid grapes pose certain challenges to winemakers including higher acidity and lower tannins. Three cool-climate winemakers share their advice to create a balanced wine from these grapes.
Adding Sorbate After MLF
MEMBERS ONLYWinemakers typically add sorbate (aka sorbic acid, often purchased as potassium sorbate) when they want to bottle a wine with a little residual sugar. It is often added right before backsweetening and bottling. Sorbate will inhibit the reproduction of yeast cells but it will not “kill” yeast, nor will it inhibit or kill bacteria. It
Testing for Titratable Acidity
FREETitratable acidity, or TA, is often viewed as a more advanced test, but it shouldn’t be. With a simple kit and a good pH meter, anyone can measure TA in any wine. Bob Peak has some straightforward advice for winemakers to help you bring balance to your wines through TA.
Adjusting Acidity in Wine Kits
FREEWine kits are so wonderful because they tend to be easier and more predictable than just starting from a fresh batch of grapes. Kits have instructions to follow and you’re right, most
Bench Trials and Tribulations
FREEA home winemaker details the four bench trials he conducted to adjust the acidity of a low-pH Sauvignon Blanc to show how the process is done and share the impact each approach had on the wine.
When The Acid Kicks In: Don’t just factualize, conceptualize acid in wine
MEMBERS ONLYGetting a wine’s acid levels right plays a big role in perception and profile, but numbers only tell part of the story. Don’t just use numbers to decide how you treat your wine — use some sense and your senses.
Wine Acid 101
FREEBalance is often the key to producing a winning wine. This means knowing how to measure and adjust acidity if needed. Learn the basics of wine acids.
Affects of Acid
MEMBERS ONLYIn general, I think of how TA (titratable, or total acidity) and pH impact flavor and mouthfeel in this simple (and yes, perhaps simplistic) way: TA determines how tart or sour a wine tastes while pH points to how a wine feels in the mouth. TA and pH typically won’t change in the bottle over
Cane Juice Wine
FREEThat’s coming is a long answer but I hope it will speak to the many possible country wine situations in which you may find yourself. A good number of our readers choose
Properly Adding Acid to a Barrel
FREEI agree with you in that acid adjustments, especially big ones, can best be made in two steps. That way you can see if you like the result as you go along.
pH Reanalysis
MEMBERS ONLYThe answer to your question depends on the size of your batch. The bigger your batch, especially if it’s must all mixed together with juice and skins, you need to mix quite a bit longer. Let’s say for example you have a 5-gallon (19-L) carboy of Chardonnay juice and you are adding 1 g/L tartaric
Post-Fermentation Acid Adjustments
FREEI would only adjust with tartaric acid, and not an “acid blend” that contains either malic or citric acids. Both of the latter can be fermented by organisms in the bottle. On
Using Tartaric Acid
FREEI absolutely recommend that you bring your TA up and your pH down after MLF is complete. This is best accomplished by tartaric acid, because wine bacteria will not consume tartaric acid;
Adjusting Acid In An Aged Wine
FREEYou can absolutely adjust acidity in a wine when it is one year old. Though I often say that it’s best to do major adjustments early on in a wine’s life (since
Tartrate Crystals
MEMBERS ONLYI always think that trying to precipitate out some of the worst crystals that could form is a good idea, especially for any wine that may be sold commercially or entered into competitions. You probably won’t change your pH/titratable acididty (TA) balance that much. In my experience, doing a traditional cold stability where you chill
Sugar and Acid Wine Adjustments
MEMBERS ONLYPerfectly ripe. That is how most winemakers — amateur and professional — want the grape crop to come in for every vintage. “Perfectly ripe” involves a whole host of factors. For home winemakers, the first one we usually look at is the sugar content in degrees Brix or specific gravity (SG). With some target in
Post-Fermentation Wine Tweaks
MEMBERS ONLYSometimes, a wine you believed would be balanced during fermentation comes up a little short after fermentation is complete. Learn what you can do to restore it to an order of balance with these post-fermentation adjustments.
Reducing Acidity of Wine
MEMBERS ONLYThat’s great that you are already planning ahead for this upcoming harvest. Indeed, a TA of 10.0 g/L is very high and I would certainly plan on de-acidifying for style as well as to facilitate fermentation. As with just about any major adjustment you’ll make to a wine, the earlier you do it the better.
Making Acidity Adjustments Post-Fermentation
MEMBERS ONLYYou certainly can adjust acidity after fermentation is complete, but many winemakers feel that the acid is better-integrated, as well as less-detectable, the earlier it is added. That being said, by all means measure the total acidity after fermentation (and after malolactic fermentation) and feel free to adjust as you’d like. Indeed, adding tartaric acid
Mastering Wine Acid Balance
MEMBERS ONLYSometimes the acidity of your grapes, juice, or wine will need to be adjusted. Learn some of the finer details surrounding how, and when, to make those acid adjustments to your wine.
pH of Non-Grape Wines
FREEIt seems like you already have the acidity-adjusting situation well in hand — this is often one of the areas in which non-grape wines meet their downfall. As you already have realized,
Organic acid reduction, reusing corks: Wine Wizard
MEMBERS ONLYRaising pH the natural way I am seeking an organic means to raise pH. Any suggestions? Jim Romano Carrollton, Texas The most “organic,” natural way to raise the pH of your wine is to pick the grapes at such a time that you won’t have to do anything to it. I know, I know, that’s