Acid level in my first raspberry wine

[Mazaruni]

Hi there,
I am working on the levels of must for my first raspberry wine. I'll pitch yeast sometime soon.
I'm wondering what adjustments to make before pitching yeast, because the acid is off.

28 lb red raspberries. Volume of liquid without berries is about 5 gal. SG = 1.094. pH 2.87. TA = 9.7.

My recipe is pretty much the Jack Keller recipe, except I started with a higher ratio of berries to liquid, but adjusted towards the recipe as I went.

Thanks for your ideas!

 

[salcoco]

you can water then add more sugar to get correct ph and acid correct or
you can add calcium carbonate to the level you want.

 

[Mazaruni]

HI Salcoco, Is Ca better than K carbonate for must? I have K but I could get some Ca. And it's good to do this adjustment before fermentation? Appreciate the advice.

 

[wildhair]

I'm no veteran winemaker like Salcoco - but I've used calcium carbonate (aka - precipitated chalk) with good results both in the must to balance pre-ferment and post ferment (but before clarifying or backsweetening) to reduce acid. Made huge difference in smoothing out the acid. I used need less (it seemed to me) if I added it to the must than after it was dry.

Attached is a sheet with info I collected from the interwebs on using Calcium Carbonate - dosages, etc. (other random info related to acidity, too)

I dissolve it in a glass of wine and make sure it's well mixed , then add it to the batch - 1/2 t per gal at a time. Mix it in, let it sit for a few hours, test, taste, repeat.

 

[Mazaruni]

Wow, super resource--thanks!

 

[wrongway]

Yes Thanks I printed that off!

 

[Donatelo]

Calcium carbonate. If you have none you can crush a tums tablet to change the ph. Be prepared for a lot of foaming . Just thought I'd toss that out there. Very handy note for wines that are too acidic, like dragon's blood.