# Help with high post ferment numbers



## Blazedup (May 15, 2017)

Hello all, I need some help with the numbers of my first wine. The wine is made from semi-local Cab Sauv grapes that I harvested 9-5-16. The pre-ferment numbers were SG 1.102, TA .6, ph 3.6 these numbers may not be dead on as i was using basic tools for measurement (hydrometer, cheapand old ph meter, and color change TA kit. The must was split in to two batches fermented dry with no issues using BM 4x4 and D-21. The wine has been through MLF using VP-41. The wine was racked 35 days after confirming complete MLF using Accuvin test and 1/8 tsp kmeta added.

I recently picked up a Vinmetrica SC-300 and tested the wine last night 5-14-17, planning to rack and add kmeta. The numbers surprised me, so i would like some clarification before proceeding. 

Wine #1 bm4x4 free run: Ph 3.86, TA 5.8, so2 26
Wine #2 d21: Ph 3.88, TA 6, so2 20
Wine #3 bm 4x4 pressed: Ph 3.84, TA 5.4, so2 30

I'm concerned about spoilage and browning with such a high Ph. What are the best steps to take from here? Thanks in advance.


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## Boatboy24 (May 15, 2017)

pH isn't too bad - you'd be surprised to see what a lot of commercial wines are. If the taste is good, don't mess with it. If not, bench trials with added tartaric acid. Definitely need some SO2 on all three wines though - probably about 1/8th of a teaspoon for starters.


Edit: 1/8th teaspoon of KMeta assumes you are working with 6 gallon batches.


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## Johnd (May 15, 2017)

Blazedup said:


> Hello all, I need some help with the numbers of my first wine. The wine is made from semi-local Cab Sauv grapes that I harvested 9-5-16. The pre-ferment numbers were SG 1.102, TA .6, ph 3.6 these numbers may not be dead on as i was using basic tools for measurement (hydrometer, cheapand old ph meter, and color change TA kit. The must was split in to two batches fermented dry with no issues using BM 4x4 and D-21. The wine has been through MLF using VP-41. The wine was racked 35 days after confirming complete MLF using Accuvin test and 1/8 tsp kmeta added.
> 
> I recently picked up a Vinmetrica SC-300 and tested the wine last night 5-14-17, planning to rack and add kmeta. The numbers surprised me, so i would like some clarification before proceeding.
> 
> ...



Second what Jim said, don't be scared by the pH in the 3.8's, just learn to manage your SO2 properly, you have the tools to do a great job with it.

Having said that, you can do some small scale bench tests, adding a little acid to the wines to see if you like it better or not. If like the taste of the wine when it's slightly more acidic, and you'd like to lower the pH / raise TA, you're in luck, because you have room to do both, while keeping the TA in the 6-7 range. That will also ease your concerns of a higher pH wine.


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## Blazedup (May 15, 2017)

Thanks for the great replies guys. I will give the wines a better tasting and see how I like the acidity levels. So far, I've only tasted a bit and taste is good, smells really good. How do you recommend I set up the bench tests?

As far as K meta is concerned, my calculations show that Wine A(5 gallons)needs 1.88g of K Meta. Wine B (3 gallons) 1.88g, and Wine B (3 gallons) 1g. I used a sulfite calculator and set the desired free so2 at 80. Does this sound correct?

Should the k meta be added before or after bench trials?


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## Johnd (May 15, 2017)

Use the attached chart to determine the level of so2 required for your wine, then feed that into your sulfite calculator. 80 is an overshoot for your pH, not a lot, but no sense overdoing it if you don't need to.

https://winelandia.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/so2_chart.jpg


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## Blazedup (May 16, 2017)

Thank you for the chart and advise. I entered 55 ( per chart) into the calculator and came up with a much more reasonable so2 addition. Will be doing bench trials for acid addition in the next few days.


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## AKsarben (Jun 1, 2017)

Remember, though, if you adjust the acid up a bit it will make the pH drop some and if you add SO2 before the pH shift you may be a bit high until the SO2 settles down. You will lose some for a while until it stabilizes.


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## skeenatron (Jun 1, 2017)

Sound advice all over this thread. No head space + free SO2 in the 40s + temps in the low 50s = very low spoilage opportunity. Your acid adds won't mess with any of this.


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## Arne (Jun 6, 2017)

If you are trying to add the acid to a tasting glass, turn the spoon around and use the handle to measure the acid into the glass. It doesn't take very much to make a pretty big difference with a glass or cup size container. Arne.


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## Blazedup (Jun 6, 2017)

Thanks for all of the welcome and useful advice. I decided not to adjust the acid levels at this time and to wait until i see the numbers on my 2017 wines this fall. This year going with local Az and a few lugs of California grapes. If i have something with high acid and low ph, I'll blend with this batch. If not, I'll add acid to this years batches. I did add the proper amount of so2 for current ph levels on 5-17.


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