Barrel tests Can you tell me what I really need to handle one to one and a half barrels of juice annually? The TA and pH kits that I have seen are quite unreliable. David Stollmeyer Glen Ellen, California I’m not a fan of the pH and TA kits available out there either. pH test strips are pointless as they don’t spit out an actual number and the TA test kits don’t work well for red wine because you can’t see the color endpoint. I’m also not a fan of spending hundreds of dollars on equipment and reagents that you may only really use once a year, not to mention get a college chemistry degree and some serious training to learn how to use. So what’s a well-meaning home winemaker to do? Let the professionals do it! Especially as you live in Sonoma County, California (AKA Wine Country Central) you are better located than most to let your friendly neighborhood wine lab take care of you. Since you are only doing one or two barrels of wine, I
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