# Acid test for rosehip wine



## ColourfulCottonCandy (Nov 6, 2011)

I'm trying my hand at making wine without a kit for the first time. I'm trying a 5 gallon batch of rosehip wine. I was able to get the sugar to the right level without any trouble but I'm having trouble with the acid test!

I bought a brand new acid titration kit. My first measure indicated that my TA was 0,2%. I have some acid blend left over from someone else's ventures in winemaking, that must be about 15 years old, so I added 3 or 4 tsps of it to my must before testing for acid again. Once again, I got a measure of 0,2%!

I thought perhaps my acid blend was too old, so I bought some new today from my wine store. I added 3 tsps of it to my must only to get the same results from my test kit - 0,2%.

Now I'm discouraged and worried - is it my test kit that's not working properly? I've watched Youtube videos about acid testing and there is no bright colour change like in those videos. Has anyone had problems like these before?


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## docanddeb (Nov 6, 2011)

Please give your recipe. If you used only water and rosehips... it WILL take a LOT of acid depending on your rosehip quantity!

Debbie


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## ColourfulCottonCandy (Nov 6, 2011)

I'm basing myself on a few different recipes - I've put in the following:

5 kg of rosehips
17.75 l water
6.2 kg sugar
25 ml yeast nutrient
5 Campden tablets
12.5 ml pectic acid
yeast (I added this now but I hadn't yet when I was doing my acid tests.)

My SG is currently about 1.092.


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## arcticsid (Nov 6, 2011)

I have never made rosehip wine!

HOWEVER, one of my favorite wines, one I know is true, is made from using the rose petal flowers from the rosehip plant. I am only able to gather them during the first 2 weeks of june, before the hips develop. It's sort of alot of work but well worth it. I have a recipe posted in here but need to update it as I have tweeked it to perfection.

I have a carboy fulll right now.

I don't have a clue about acid levels in wine, but I have been adding tannin to the must and it most definitely changes things and improves the "mouth feel".

I would like to try the rose hips themseves. I hear it makes a fine wine. We would be interested to see your recipe.


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## Julie (Nov 6, 2011)

ColourfulCottonCandy ,

I can't imagine rosehip having any acid to it so you are going to need a lot. Add a tablespoon and then do a reading. Also, have you thought of adding some welch's white grape concentrate as a base? This would increase your acid and give if some mouth feel.


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## ColourfulCottonCandy (Nov 6, 2011)

arcticsid, the rosehips are a ton of work. I read somewhere that the wine was better if you removed the seeds and it took me quite a few hours to scoop out all those seeds! I haven't added tannin yet but from what I was reading I was thinking I should.

I'll post links to the recipes when I hit a high enough post count that the forum lets me!

Julie, I hadn't thought of that as none of the recipes on which I am basing myself do so. I'll leave this batch without it but maybe I'll experiment in the future!


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## docanddeb (Nov 6, 2011)

I was hoping you had at least a little white grape in it. Even the lilac wines I've tried had it as a base.
I love the taste of a ripe rosehip... I make people try them as I walk along all the time.

Fun stuff!

Debbie


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## buddy (Nov 6, 2011)

ColourfulCottonCandy said:


> I'm trying my hand at making wine without a kit for the first time. I'm trying a 5 gallon batch of rosehip wine. I was able to get the sugar to the right level without any trouble but I'm having trouble with the acid test!
> 
> I bought a brand new acid titration kit. My first measure indicated that my TA was 0,2%. I have some acid blend left over from someone else's ventures in winemaking, that must be about 15 years old, so I added 3 or 4 tsps of it to my must before testing for acid again. Once again, I got a measure of 0,2%!
> 
> ...



I ran your numbers through the ferm calc. program using an initial acid value of .2% and a target value of .6%.
Because you are from Halifax, I am also assuming that you are using a 5 imperial gallon carboy (23 litres) as that seems to be the most widely used size.
The value that I got for acid blend addition came out to 3.0194 ounces, which converts to 17.83 teaspoons.
That seems like a lot so you might want to use half of this and then retest and if all seems well you can add the rest if it needs it.
Because you didn't specify your target acidity I used .6% but if you are aiming for a different number let me know and I will redo the calculation.


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## ColourfulCottonCandy (Nov 6, 2011)

buddy said:


> I ran your numbers through the ferm calc. program using an initial acid value of .2% and a target value of .6%.
> Because you are from Halifax, I am also assuming that you are using a 5 imperial gallon carboy (23 litres) as that seems to be the most widely used size.
> The value that I got for acid blend addition came out to 3.0194 ounces, which converts to 17.83 teaspoons.
> That seems like a lot so you might want to use half of this and then retest and if all seems well you can add the rest if it needs it.
> Because you didn't specify your target acidity I used .6% but if you are aiming for a different number let me know and I will redo the calculation.



Wow, that seems like an exorbitant amount of acid blend! None of the recipes I looked at have anywhere near that much suggested. Could that really be correct?


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## buddy (Nov 6, 2011)

ColourfulCottonCandy said:


> Wow, that seems like an exorbitant amount of acid blend! None of the recipes I looked at have anywhere near that much suggested. Could that really be correct?



Ya, I was shocked by the amount of acid blend required, but that is the amount needed to raise 5 imperial gallons from .2% to .6%.
Here is the link if you want to try it yourself. http://web2.airmail.net/sgross/fermcalc/fermcalc_applet.html
As a double check I used this other program and got the same numbers. 
http://vinoenology.com/calculators/acid-addition/


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## buddy (Nov 6, 2011)

I forgot to add that I don't know what the target value is for rosehip wine as I have never made this wine. Perhaps this wine doesn't require as much acid blend as most other wines.


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