# Citric Acid to raise PH



## Chessdunk (Feb 14, 2016)

My Keller's orange wine 2 (banana and raisin) is lacking in acidity and the ph reads as 3.9. My total quantity is say 9 ltrs. 

Is there a way to calculate the amount of citric acid to be added to the wine to bring the ph to 3.5? How much citric acid need to be added per liter to bring the ph down by say .1 ph?

I am not able to locate this calculation on the internet and would appreciate any help.

I do not have access to acid blend... options are only lemon juice or citric acid


----------



## vacuumpumpman (Feb 14, 2016)

Is this what you are looking for ?

http://www.winebusiness.com/tools/?go=winemaking.calc&cid=2

Yes you can use citric acid - better than lemon juice for calculations


----------



## kyjake (Feb 15, 2016)

By your figures you need to lower the PH nor raise it.The citric acid would do so if needed.What method did you use to determine the PH?I wouldn't think the orange wine would need added acid.


----------



## Chessdunk (Feb 15, 2016)

Yes kyjake... My bad, I need to lower the ph num  and raise the acidity lost quite a bit of acidity in the secondary and kind of tasted like insipid alcoholic soda. 

I used a ph meter to measure the acidity during a racking. Want to get it close to 3.5 or lesser but gradually... so need to know how much citric acid granules.


----------



## Chessdunk (Feb 15, 2016)

vacuumpumpman said:


> Is this what you are looking for ?
> 
> http://www.winebusiness.com/tools/?go=winemaking.calc&cid=2
> 
> Yes you can use citric acid - better than lemon juice for calculations



Yes but this is only for TA not ph... I have ph values hence at a loss.

I read at winepress that 1 tsp of citric acid powder per gallon wine would reduce the ph by .4. This would be a rough measure so might try a gradual increase


----------



## Stressbaby (Feb 15, 2016)

Those formulas that are published will say 1g/L (1tsp/gallon) raises pH by 0.1. However, this is not very reliable because 1) pH is logarithmic, not linear and 2) the change in pH will depend on the buffering capacity of the wine.

Link


----------



## Arne (Feb 15, 2016)

Before you change things too much, draw a glass and add a pinch of your acid, not enough add a bit more. If it winds up not helping you might want to try something else before you add to the whole batch. Arne.


----------



## salcoco (Feb 15, 2016)

I agree with Arne on a approach. 
another is bench trial taste tests. make a solution of citric acid and water, 10 grams acid and 100 ml water.make 100ml samples of wine. add 1ml of solytion to first, 2ml to second, 3ml to third etc. do taste test. each ml added is equal to 1gram per liter addition to finished wine. Remember ph or other measurements are tools only taste is the paramount thing.


----------



## Chessdunk (Feb 15, 2016)

Stressbaby, Arne, Salcoco... thanks a ton you guys. My next racking is going to take a while... will go by your suggestion and let you know.


----------



## Arne (Feb 16, 2016)

salcoco said:


> I agree with Arne on a approach.
> another is bench trial taste tests. make a solution of citric acid and water, 10 grams acid and 100 ml water.make 100ml samples of wine. add 1ml of solytion to first, 2ml to second, 3ml to third etc. do taste test. each ml added is equal to 1gram per liter addition to finished wine. Remember ph or other measurements are tools only taste is the paramount thing.



Sal, this sounds like a fun test. How many samples do I get to slam down before I really don't care how much acid is in there?  Your way of testing is probably much better than mine, tho. I suppose a small taste, go on to the next one and try again. Save the leftover and mix it all together for a big glass at the end. Good advice. Arne.


----------



## Chessdunk (Feb 16, 2016)

Actually Sals method is what Jack Keller seems to recommend. 

However, I couldnt keep away from the wine today. Didnt have citric acid so decided to do Arne's method and added lemon to get an idea of how it tastes... I definitely like 60 ml with more than a quarter spoon of lemon juice in it. So I would need to spike up the acidity quite a bit. Need to perk up the flavor too, hardly feel any oranges. The tannins are a tad on the bitter side... maybe some pith and pip plus the co2. But definitely drinkable with lemon and has good alcohol content. Need to see if back sweetening will make it taste better. Cant wait, cant wait, cant wait!!


----------



## salcoco (Feb 16, 2016)

my suggested ,method is also described in More Wine wine making manuals available from their web site morewinemaking.com


----------

